The New Mutants (2020)

I never thought that I would get to write this review. Seriously, the first trailer for this film was released on October 2017, with the original release date in April 2018. We are in August 2020. Regardless of box office intake, which will be lower than expected projections back in April since several theatres are still closed, the development and delays of this film have earned it a place in cinema history. No reshoots, pickups or anything. The film was just a victim of bad timing.

Usually, if a film is delayed for so long, its because it is awful. Luckily, that is not the case here. I mean, Thank God that the iconic X-Men franchise ends with this rather than Dark Phoenix. The handing of the female characters alone makes it a superior film.

We open the film with Dani Moonstar, who is woken in the middle of the night by her father, who grabs her and runs. The reservation that they are living on is being destroyed by an unknown force, seemingly a tornado. After her father is brutally murder, Dani is knocked out and awakens in a hospital, run by Dr. Cecilia Reyes. From there, she is informed that she is a mutant, and she is to remain there until she can discover what her abilities are, and learn to control it.

She meets four fellow mutants: Sam Guthrie, a Southern boy who can go propel himself in the air, making him invulnerable, Illyana Rasputin, a Russian girl who can create portals and has magical capabilities, Roberto da Costa, a Brazilian boy who can light himself on fire, and Rahne Sinclir, a religious Scottish girl who can morph into a wolf. Throughout the film, we learn about their pasts and the trauma they have endured due to their abilities. The mandated therapy session that Reyes runs isn't taken seriously by the teens, and their trauma isn't revealed there. Instead, their stories come out from natural conversations between each other. The film follows the five of them working together to overcome both their guilt and their fears in order to survive strange events occurring at the hospital.

I appreciated the small cast, giving this film a more self-contained character-driven narrative, an element missing from the uneven ensemble presentation from the previous X-Men films. The 5 young mutants are distinct enough in personality and their abilities that you are invested in their development. In first act is devoted to Dani as she is the audience surrogate, but I like how it became more of an ensemble film in the second and third acts.

The romantic storyline between Dani and Rahne was one of those cute romances that you hope goes well. Personally, I'm not into romantic storylines in superhero films too much as they often feel forced, but a natural connection between the two is apparent when they first meet, due to the chemistry of Blu Hunt and Maisie Williams. The LGBTQA romance was brought up several times during promotion and I did like how it wasn't simply teased or hinted at, unlike other high profile films that use that queer bait. (Cough cough... The Rise Of Skywalker...)

I do wish the film was longer. The characters bond over their mutant experiences much too quickly for me. This is a bit easier to swallow due to the performances of the talented young cast, Anya Taylor Joy and Charlie Heaton in particular. The story is serviceable. It's pretty straightforward in the sense that there are no surprises. It meets the exact expectations, which was a tad disappointing as this certainly not a typical superhero film. One surprise I suppose is the X-Men connections, especially a flashback moment that references one past X-Men film in particular.

As the film was sold as a horror film, there wasn't much of it. The smiley men were certainly creepy, but I don't see myself having nightmares over it. Perhaps by now, I'm desensitized, but even jump scares, the film was light on. The visuals were top tier, especially regarding the abilities of Illyana and the Demon Bear, a given as it isn't an action-heavy film.

I do hope that this film gets a sequel. Personally, I think that this is director Josh Boone's best work, with his past experiences in the YA genre his greatest strength here, and I'd love to see more of these characters from these actors. I guess the ball is in Kevin Feige's court.

The New Mutants features a by the numbers superhero story with not enough horror elements, but it's elevated with intriguing characters, a unique tone, and cool visuals.
7.5/10

Tenet (2020)

Christopher Nolan makes films that are meant to be experienced in cinemas, at least for the first time, and Tenet is no exception. As my local theatre opened back up, seeing this film first just made sense. The trailers for this film looked incredible and presented itself as an original spy adventure. Beyond that and teasing the concept of inversion, the plot was virtually unknown. Love him or hate him, Nolan certainly knows how to intrigue an audience.

The film follows The Protagonist, a CIA agent. He goes undercover with Russian operatives to secure an object with a small team. After the item is recovered, the Russians realize that they have been duped, and torture him to reveal what he knows. He persists and manages to chew on a suicide pill. Except that it wasn't a suicide pill. He wakes up after a coma and finds out that the Russians found and killed his entire team, and had taken the mysterious object for themselves. From there, he is given only a word, "tenet", and a mission that will have a significant impact on the entire world.

He then learns the science behind inversion, and the capabilities, sending people and objects back in time. As the title Tenet is a palindrome, a word that is spelled the same way frontwards and backward, I thought that was quite clever. Materials from the future keep showing up in the present, hinting at an upcoming war, and The Protagonist is recruited to help prevent it due to his skill set. How inversion is presented to us is interesting. From the perspective of the characters and the audience, it is things moving backward. From cars on the highway to bullets reentering the gun before it is fired, effectively catching it. There is even a sequence where characters speak backward, and behind the scenes, this wasn't even a digital trick. The actors learned to speak and perform some action sequences backward.

Like Nolan's previous films, especially Inception or Interstellar, this is a film that requires your full attention. The concept of Inversion has a lot of rules that unfold throughout the narrative, and you do not dare take your eyes off the screen, or you will be lost. There are little moments throughout the film that get a callback that would make an audience member go "Wait. Didn't I see this before...Woah". It's all in the details. Anyway, with the mission clear, The Protagonist goes fo retrieve the several items that are required to prevent Armageddon.

The exposition does get a little heavy, especially in the middle act, and little things will be lost during a first time viewing, but it doesn't drag, and as written in the previous paragraph, the payoff makes it worth it in the final act. As big as the film is, the narrative is mostly focused. The concept that it presents us with, it has to be. Nolan has a lot of characters in this film but keeps the focus on The Protagonist.

There is an honest trailer from ScreenJunkies looking back at Nolan's first eight films. One constant is that the wife or girlfriend character is secretly evil. Two main female characters avoid that. One is Priya, the wife of an arms dealer who is presented from her introduction as morally grey. The other is Kat, the wife of Andrei Sator, a Russian oligarch who can somehow communicate with the future. Both are full characters that add creative value to the film. With Kat, in particular, we have an inside look at a dysfunctional loveless marriage that Nolan usually avoids. The closest we have gotten to this from Nolan is the relationship between Dom and his imaginary dead wife in Inception.

John David Washington serves as a charismatic leading man. The amount of swagger that he presents on screen, it is almost enough to make you forget that we are spending 2 and a half hours with him, and we never learn his name. While the film isn't humorous, as some critics may criticize the film for, though that was never Nolan's style, to begin with, The Protagonist does break the tension here and there with a comment that makes him feel like a real person, helping the audience root for him. That was important, as not being given a name could have made this some impersonal. Robert Pattinson's Neil serves as the heart of the film. The relationship and chemistry between his and Washington's characters were the most engrossing for me to watch, besides the massive action sequences of course.

The action set pieces are as thrilling as expected. With Nolan's insistence on practical effects, there is an epic nature to it. The highlight for me was the airport sequence, as teased in the trailers that involve crashing a massive plane.

Nolan's usual collaborator, Hanz Zimmer wasn't available to compose the score for this film, instead choosing to work on the upcoming Dune, which he described as a passion project. Instead, rising star Ludwig Goransson(The Mandolorian, Black Panther) composed the score and co-wrote the original song sung by Travis Scott played during the end credits. Yes, Christoper Nolan has a hip hop song played in his film. Honestly, it works. Nevertheless, Ludwig does great work here, and the way the music is used as if it was a natural extension. it is integral to the story. The use of breathing sounds will make sense with context, but nevertheless, it is highly effective.

I felt that the editing was a bit off during the first act. As long as this film is (150 minutes), there were some moments that I felt that the filmmakers were rushing. Other moments, the music was a bit loud that I had trouble hearing the actors.

Tenet is a thrilling epic spy adventure created with technical precision and elevated with brilliant performances and top tier directing.
8.5/10

The Tax Collector (2020)

David Ayer is a filmmaker that is generally mixed on. Opinions on him and his films tend to run either very hot or very cold depending on the film. I feel that his body of work is large enough that we can identify his style and the kind of elements he finds engaging: gritty crime, religious undertones, and gory shoot-out sequences.

I generally try to be positive, but this film is a mess. The negatives massively outweigh the positives. If the global pandemic hadn't occurred, I am sure that this film would still go straight to VOD. How bad is it? Well, in comparison, Suicide Squad (2016) had a plot that made sense. The weirdly cut trailer was the first warning that this film wouldn't be good.

We follow David Cuevas and his best friend Creeper who work for the crime lord Wizard who is currently in prison. They serve as tax collectors for the gangs of Los Angeles. While Creeper has fully imbraced to criminal lifestyle, enjoying killing without any compunction and prone to extreme violent acts, David has found more of a work-life balance, living comfortably with his wife Alexis and their two children. Its business as usual for the crime duo until a rising star Conejo, arrives and begins to collect his own taxes from the gangs. He offers David and Creeper roles in his new empire. Refusing to bow down to a new reign, a crime war is imminent.

The first thing I noticed that told me I wouldn't enjoy this was the choppy editing. The cuts from beginning to end were sudden and jarring. The cinematography is beautiful, with the world and style of Ayer's vision of LA beautifully captured.

Ayer is only in his element during the shootout sequences. As put on display in Suicide Squad(2016) and Bright (2017), they inject the film with energy and contain style with slow-motion shots as if Zack Snyder visited the set. Despite this, the climactic final battle was dull and badly captured. Seriously, the 30 million dollar budget must have been spent on catering. Shoestring short films have done better than this.

Shia Labeouf's onscreen presence is the film's greatest strength, and he is criminally underused. Had Creeper been the main character instead, the film would have been much more engaging, as his magnetic performances hint at an interesting back story that is never explored. All the characters in this film are underwritten and contain a lack of depth. Considering that Ayer broke out writing Training Day (2001), a film with fully realized complex characters with flexible morality, this is a jarring shift. If Tax Collector came before Training Day, I'd understand. Bobby Soto is the lead and his performance falls flat. With the lack of developed characters to either root for or against, the stakes are essentially nonexistent.

For a director of Ayer's caliber, this film was a massive letdown, and a decline from his previous much more engaging work. This genre is sone where his strengths lie, but it was written as if some ill-informed teen just wrote about every Latino stereotype he ever heard. I also can't get over the fact that Shia LaBeouf got a massive tattoo on his chest for the role and when you finally see it in the film, it is brief and he is covered in blood.

Ayer is a talented individual and I hope that his next film is much better than this. As this film was independently funded, he can't turn to blame over to studio interference.

The Tax Collector shows brief glimpses of a compelling crime drama but brutally falls short with incoherent storytelling, underwritten characters, and choppy editing.
3/10

Stargirl - Stars & STRIPE Part 1 and 2

The end of the first season is here! The return of STRIPE! JSA vs ISA! Etc, etc! The reason why I am reviewing the final two episodes together is that it is a two-parter, and the success of part 1 is reliant on part 2. I am happy that I kept up with this series, hopefully showcasing my resolve in keeping this blog active. For this review, rather than give an in-depth summary as I have done for the rest, I'll give the board strokes.

We catch up to the Whitmore/Dugan family, and immediately remember that unless you are in the Marvel universe, secret identities are very important. Courtney and Barbara are attacked at the house by Tigress as they are packing. The fight itself continues the top-notch choreography that this show is destined to be known for, but despite the intensity, Tigress loses the fight. The first time Tigress fought on screen, the battle ended in a stalemate when Pat showed up in his robot, but Tigress and Sportmaster definitely would have won. I get that with the cheesy nature of this show, it was a forgone conclusion, but seeing her training would have made her victory easier to swallow. Sure, Barbara helped out a little, but still.

Pat vs Sportsmaster was better. Mike is finally brought into the loop as Pat brings him to the auto shop to tell him the truth. From then, Sportsmaster attacks Pat and taunts him throughout the fight. Mike surprises him with a drill, letting Pat knock him out. This victory was acquired due to pure luck, so I wasn't taken out of it.

The heroes then gather at a remote cabin, which I got to say is interesting. A lot of superhero stories on screen has at least one story of heroes in a forest. From there, the character interactions between characters took the forefront of the episode. Yolanda is still thinking about Henry's death, but like the previous episode, it is not highlighted and is forgotten seconds later. It feels like the writers want us to just move on from the repercussions that come from a major character's death. Rick and Pat finally realize the code in Rick's father's journal, which contained a map of the underground tunnels so the team knows where to go. Ss far as season-long mysteries go, this was... eh. It drives the plot forward, but I finally hope that it would add some character development for Rick, perhaps help him grow closer to his parents or something like that.

Speaking of lost potential, Tigress kills The Fiddler, who was the school's principal. We never saw her in action, or really involved in the ISA's plot. The moment was played to shock us, but it fell flat. I mean, look above. I didn't even bother to learn her name.

Courtney, Yolanda, Rick, and Pat go to the tunnels, as Beth and Barbara go to Jordan's office and discover his master plan. While on the surface, his goal seems better for all mankind, he turns out to be a low-rent Thanos, and his mind control plan would end up killing millions. The Gambler, working the computers turns on the machine using Brainwave's abilities, which have grown in the wake of Henry's death, and all the adults in Blue Valley are frozen in place, including Morgan Stark's foster dad. Just joking, but Lexi Rabe, the young actress from Avengers: Endgame makes a significant appearance.

The team manages to free but Pat and Barbara from Brainwave's control. Before they reach the main machine, they come face to face with the ISA. The JSA vs ISA fight is exactly want you would expect. It is a massive scene to watch, the entire frame filled with so something to watch. While it is composed of solo one on one fights, there is a little teamwork throughout. Noteworthy moments included Cindy getting freed, and killing her dad, and the entire team ganging up on Jordan.

In an effort to turn the battle in their favor, Gambler sets Solomon Grundy loose. We finally see him in all his CGI glory. He reminded me of the Hulk's look in the 2008 film. Seeing Grundy vs STRIPE was dope. Soon, Grundy gets the upper hand and almost kills Pat before Rick steps in to get his revenge. Rick beats Grundy into submission and almost strikes the killing blow, but sees that Grundy is a mindless beast that only does as he is commanded. Despite his quest for vengeance, he lets Grundy go. This was a massive moment for Rick and sets a good foundation for him to become a better hero for season 2. Yolanda also gets a massive moment in Part 2 as well. After defeating several minions, she is about to take out the last one when he removes his mask and reveals himself to be Henry. While initially overjoyed, she realizes something isn't right and slashes his throat, and he dies. It is revealed to be Brainwave using a mind trick on her. Beforehand, she tried to sway Rick from killing anyone, and now she crossed that line. I know that given the way that the show was gone, we won't see how that affects her, but it was an interesting change between the two young heroes.

As Courtney destroys the mind control machine, Jordan returns to the office, kills Chuck inside Beth's goggles, and takes Barbara with him. At a clock tower, Pat goes to face him but is really the distraction as Courtney attacks. The two fall over the rail. Jordan seemingly shatters while Yolanda catches Courtney. As Jordan recovers and is about to go full Icicle, in a comedic moment, he is killed as a truck crashes into him. The driver? Mike. The character who I called the weak link is the one who got the kill the main villain.

So, yeah. The day saved. Gambler and Cindy getaway, making plans for season 2, while Sportsmaster and Tigress' fates remain unknown. Fast forward to Christmas. We finally find out what was inside Courtney's Christmas box. She presents it to Pat, saying that she was waiting to present it to him for a while. It is a "Best Dad Cup", which perfectly ends the story between the two. Their relationship was a great strength in the comics, and the show is no exception.

Overall, this season was a decent start. Little oversights in storytelling and lack of character development for some definitely hurt it. Perhaps next season, the ensemble is used more effectively. There are several superhero shows that have large casts that are used more effectively so I know that I am not being too harsh. There are fun teases for next season. Starman still being alive is a big one.

Stars and STRIPE part 1 and 2 concludes this season with good payoff and mostly resolves everything, and promises a potentially better second season. Hopefully, the overlooked talented cast gets a chance in the spotlight.
8/10

Season 1 overall:
7.5/10