Army of the Dead
Seventeen years after his directorial debut Dawn of the Dead, Army of the Dead is Zack Snyder’s highly-anticipated return to the zombie genre, and his first film since the much-ballyhooed Snyder cut. Now, the director is free from restraints imposed by the DCEU and Warner Bros. for the first time since the critically panned commercial flop Sucker Punch from 2011.
Snyder’s latest flick finds Dave Bautista’s Scott Ward and a ragtag group of mercenaries tasked with retrieving $200 million from a locked vault underneath a Las Vegas casino before a nuclear strike wipes the walled off, zombie-infested city off the map. In other words: Ocean’s 11 with zombies. Snyder attempts to set it apart with an emotional father-daughter through line, but many of the characters are glossed over with underdeveloped backstories and incomplete motives, which is common in films overstuffed with as many characters as Army of the Dead.
After a superfluous opening credits sequence, Snyder returns to more old habits: bloated storytelling, excessive use of green screens, and the overuse of slo-mo violence. Army of the Dead isn’t going to win over any Snyder skeptics. While he attempts to sprinkle in some political subtext, it’s not enough to drive the point home amidst the mayhem. With the zombie scene as inundated as it is today, Snyder is not stumbling upon any revelations here, but the mad mélange of genres makes it worth a stream on Netflix, even though much of it falls flat.
6/10
A Quiet Place Part II
As one of the first major films to be delayed due to the pandemic, A Quiet Place Part II roars into theaters with much significance. The first film’s small-scale, B-horror-esque gimmick (which Krasinski used brilliantly) intrinsically rendered a worthy successor unlikely, which is why many approached a sequel, even its own maestro, with apprehension.
Since its thin premise likely wasn’t enough to support a full-feature, A Quiet Place Part II wisely flashes back to a world full of noise, before it was invaded by sound-sensitive monsters. Here, writer-director (and burgeoning auteur) John Krasinski meticulously crafts one of the franchise’s most bracing, most visceral sequences to date, reminiscent of the iconic car attack from Children of Men. It would be difficult to imagine a scene more tailor-made to welcome audiences back to theaters.
After the prologue, the story picks up in the immediate aftermath of the first film, as the Abbot family reels from the death of their patriarch Lee Abbot (Krasinksi). The sequel returns all its heavy hitters: Emily Blunt and Noah Jupe (and introduces a new character played by Cillian Murphy), but it is the still relatively unknown Millicent Simmonds whose character Regan emerges as the true hero of this story. At the center of many of the film’s thrill and chill-inducing moments, Simmonds makes every ounce of this opportunity count. Krasinksi separates this cast of characters into multiple groups and cross-cuts between them, continuing to ratchet up the suspense with little to no dialogue.
A Quiet Place Part II somehow manages to function great as a stand-alone story while also remaining incomplete enough to leave the viewer wanting more. By all accounts, there will be.
9/10
Cruella
Although watching Emma Stone chew her way through Cruella’s scenery is absolutely tantalizing, the film’s larger point remains a mystery. Its dizzying array of outfits and other fashion-based scenes would frazzle even the likes of fastidious cinematic designer Reynolds Woodcock. Its refusal to lean into the well-known darker sides of the character (skinning puppies and smoking cigarettes) is continually frustrating, although not a mystery (Disney has had an anti-smoking policy in place for some time now). Cruella’s performances from its pair of Emma’s is worth the price of admission, but what necessitated this 2 hour-14 minute-long origin story remains a mystery.
6/10
In the Heights
Long before Hamilton became the cultural sensation it is known as today, Lin Manuel Miranda began developing the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights for Broadway in 1999. Now, it has finally made its way to the silver screen.
A summer slam as refreshing as piragua, In the Heights is overflowing with joy, exuberance, and optimism. Unlike La La Land’s bittersweet ending, its final set piece only reinforces these ideals. The inspiration taken from Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing drips off the screen as Miranda and Chu examine the immigrant experience of the American Dream through the lens of magical realism. In The Heights demonstrates the distinctive power that musicals have, making ordinary moments extraordinary through the power of song.
8.5/10
Petrified Fountains of Thought 