SPOILERS, obviously.
When the trailer for this movie dropped, I knew it would be something special. Now that I have seen it at a Regal $5 Monday mystery preview screening, I can confidently say I was right. It does not dethrone Late Night with the Devil as my favorite movie of the year so far, but I will definitely see it at least one more time before it leaves theaters. It has officially eclipsed Monkey Man as my action movie of the year, so at least that’s something. It feels very much like the Sisu of this year, but another film could easily dethrone it. Deadpool & Wolverine does release in a few months…
The cast is interesting. The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, Pennywise, Jean Grey. Archer, the lead from Warrior, the dude from District 9 (which I still need to see) who was also in Monkey Man, that one comic relief character from Stranger Things, the lady from Happy Death Day, and that dude from The Raid movies that isn’t Iko Uwais. What an odd and eclectic mix of talent. And they all fulfill their roles beautifully, although I wish Andrew Koji was in the movie more and also got more than just two action scenes, which were mostly gunplay. He’s not the main character or even his mentor, but the dude proved in Warrior that he can really lay it down. The Raid guy got quite a lot of time to show his stuff. Why not Andrew? They even invent an excuse for his character not to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Which, you know, is odd.
In brief, Pennywise got ripped and plays a mute and deaf man seeking revenge against the woman (and her family) who killed his family. His inner voice is Archer, H. Jon Benjamin, doing a standout job with comedic timing and powerful enunciation, as is his bread and butter. The action choreography is mostly excellent, bloody and visceral. Really earning that R-rating. A few quick cuts here and there, but quite a lot of long shots zoomed out. The blows hit home as many look real painful. The actors who obviously can’t do that stuff don’t, with one glaring example of making way for the stunt actress by her putting on a motorcycle helmet when stuff goes down. Bill Skarsgård clearly put in the work to get ripped, so he’s doing some of these movies now. I have a feeling his remake of The Crow is not going to be very good, but this movie is awesome. It knows what it is and relishes in it.
I won’t spoil it, but there is a twist late in the movie. Part of that was something I saw coming a country mile away, but the other part of it is very messed up. It does play into the fact that a certain type of actor was in the movie and had been noticeably absent for most of the runtime after the first fifteen to twenty minutes. And it does help to explain that character’s motives that seemed incredibly mean-spirited in retrospect.
The movie does just sort of end, but the “final boss fight,” as it were, is long and packs quite a wallop. A nicer narrative resolution might have put a pretty bow over the whole enterprise, but there is sequel potential without obvious bait for it like in Nobody. The movie feels like Ready Player One with balls. I preferred the book anyway (read it in one sitting.) They even make a joke, which is in one of the trailers, absolutely parodying the dumbest line in that movie. On that note, some of the trailers reveal a little too much, including the death of a character you thought might be in the movie more. He does get cashiered in about the first half hour, so at least his death wasn’t late in the film. Still, could have done without that.
This movie joins many action films as of late that seem tailor made for me. Hardcore Henry, Nobody, Sisu, the John Wick franchise, etc. The creative team behind this movie definitely has my attention for their next project. I highly recommend this film. It leaps into theaters Friday, April 26th.
