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Reviews
Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
OK in parts but mostly unnecessary sequel
The first film is great, if you haven't seen it do yourself a favor and check it out.
Going in I wasn't sure that I necessarily needed a sequel as the first film tells a pretty complete story but I suspect there was money to be made and so here we are.
The first 2/3rds or so is a fairly good imitation of the original.. it's not as good but it's serviceable. There are a few instances where characters do not act consistently with their portrayals in the first film, but it is still entertaining on some level.
The last 3rd of the film however, is a complete mess. Not only are there plot holes and/or characters doing nonsensical things only because the plots needs them to do it.. most troublesome is the technical problems.
Several scenes are laid out in such a way that it's difficult to discern when or where they take place within the narrative. Are these scenes happening at the same time or is this the next day? Hard to tell. Are these characters miles apart or only a few feet? We are given conflicting information. Helicopters are "5 minutes out" yet it seemingly takes hours for them to arrive? What?
Overall its OK but the ending is really a mess. There's also a few subplots that seem to add little to the overall plot. If you enjoyed the first one you might find something here but don't expect the same experience as the original.
Hotel Artemis (2018)
Terrible
The premise to this film sounded like a lot of fun.. take the criminal hotel from John Wick and set it in the near future with a quirky Jodie Foster in charge.
Unfortunately what follows is a mess of a film that tries it's hardest to be a Quentin Tarantino-esque character piece but completely devoid of the interesting characters or snappy dialogue that makes the QT films work so well.
It's a shame really as the cast is really good but they never rise about the mundane script which just drags. Sequences happen for little or no reason, character interactions seems oddly improvised and boring instead of fun. There's also a number of plot holes and character inconsistencies which just make everything seem like a total mess.
I was literally counting the ceiling titles when Jeff Goldblum showed up.. I was hoping he would bring some of his magic to the film but unfortunately his contribution is more or less a brief cameo.
Ultimately I found this film to commit the worst of all movie sins -- it's boring. There's really nothing here that's compelling as it fails on almost every front. The premise (while a bit derivative) had a lot of potential but you need a good foundation to make it work. Unfortunately the script here is so bad it makes the film almost unwatchable.
I rarely give movies such a low rating but had I not been with a group I probably would have walked out. I should never be this bored at a cinema.