benjaminskylerhill Reviews

The Marvels (2023)

Well, it's not the biggest disaster...

[4/10 · 10 November 2023]

It's just kind of bad, making it significantly better than I expected it to be.

Starting with the good, I genuinely liked that this movie is intentionally silly. The teleportation premise makes for some genuinely amusing visual gags, and a great deal of absurd concepts made their way in here and the weirdness is embraced with glee.

And, I liked the idea behind the villain and her motivations. Really, many of the ideas present in this movie are compelling ones.

Sadly, none of them retain their intrigue in the execution.

The execution of this film's plot, themes, and character arcs is all so...easy. Everything is written to wrap up in the most obvious, pandering, convenient possible way, leaving plenty of unfinished threads and stripping the story of any intelligence it may have had.

And that's how this movie ends up feeling: unfinished. Aside from smiling a few times throughout, I felt nothing.

The Exorcist: Believer (2023)

Stop letting David Gordon Green make horror films.

[4/10 · 6 October 2023]

He can't do it. He's now had four chances, and none of them have worked. Stop him, please.

I'd say for the first 40 minutes of so of Believer, I was on board. Green's direction was shockingly restrained; the plot, while nothing spectacular, was methodically introduced; and the editing was quite effectively unnerving.

Then the film takes a nose dive into generic bilge and doesn't stop spiralling downward for the remaining hour. The only good thing I can say about this latter half is that the performances remained earnest throughout.

Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil is brought back 50 years later only to have her character eviscerated, forgetting every lesson she learned in the original film. Then she gets pushed aside halfway through the movie and has zero bearing on the plot. She's only present for an insultingly inane attempt at fan service.

None of the characters have the complex compassion, flawed priorities, or stunning courage that was present among the cast of the 1973 classic. This film is full of nothing characters and it becomes more apparent as the story progresses and the writers had no idea what to do with any of the people populating their script.

The generic plot builds up to a climax that's incoherent in every conceivable way: thematically, tonally, and narratively, it's all over the place, earning none of the feeling that it attempts to evoke with its heavy-handed musical cues.

Given the solid first act, this movie's nowhere near as bad as Exorcist II or Exorcist: The Beginning. But I'm still appalled.

I'm appalled that the same filmmaker has now made four movies stemming from classic horror cinema, and all of them have been haphazardly thrown together with no thought given to coherent storytelling.

David Gordon Green, I'm begging you: stop.

The Creator (2023)

Beautifully directed, decently written

[9/10 · 28 September 2023]

Gareth Edwards proves himself to be an astoundingly brilliant director with The Creator, as he crafts a visual and auditory world rich with layers of detail, and characters that we quickly understand and naturally grow over the course of the story.

He made an $80 million movie that looks like it cost at least twice that. This cost less than half of what Thor: Love and Thunder cost. Let that sink in.

Edwards shows he's a better director than writer, as the film is far from original, borrowing concepts and themes from plenty of old classic sci-fi stories. And it's also burdened with some clunky dialogue and rushed, convenient crucial plot points.

Yeah, it's imperfect. But it's made with a confidence and care that goes beyond the degree of admirable. It's an earnest expression of love, redemption, sacrifice, and forgiveness put out by a filmmaker who really cares for the characters whose story he's telling.

It's a work of art that, even with its flaws, deserves to be seen.

No One Will Save You (2023)

Masterful, until it isn't.

[7/10 · 23 September 2023]

It really is incredible how much character and tension is wrung out of this clever concept with so little dialogue.

The camera is a character in itself in this movie and Kaitlyn Dever's central performance is nothing short of remarkable; one of the best of the year.

To say that the action-heavy survival sequences of Brynn fighting for her home and her life are well-directed would be a colossal understatement. They're glorious cinematic perfection.

Where this flick goes awry is in its third act. In trying to tie everything together with a metaphor for grief and grudges, writer-director Brian Duffield makes such a leap away from basic common sense that it's hard not to find it frustrating.

And I wish it wasn't so frustrating, because the direction he takes with the end of this story is so strikingly original. It just goes from being extremely effective to being a unique kind of mess.

It Lives Inside (2023)

Solid writing, poor direction

[5/10 · 22 September 2023]

I counted: there is only one wide shot in this entire movie. Nobody bothered to tell the director that you can hold the camera further than three feet away from the actors.

Sometimes this technique created come great atmosphere. Most of the time it was incredibly annoying, making it hard to get invested.

The scares are even worse than the camerawork. I never felt tense once. Every scare was predictably executed and most of them were ripped off from other, better horror films.

This is all a shame because the screenplay is actually pretty solid.

It's not a masterpiece of writing by any means, but it has thematic depth to spare and no shortage of investing character dynamics.

I could've appreciated the story and themes of community love much more if they had been presented by a filmmaker who knows how to present such a story visually in a captivating way.

Expend4bles (2023)

Who is this for?!

[3/10 · 22 September 2023]

This sequel nearly a decade in the making clearly isn't made for long-suffering fans of this franchise, as most of the iconic cast barely has any screen time. The title should've been "Jason Statham and some of the Expendables."

And this also isn't made for people who like dumb cheesy action movies, as this movie plays it completely straight most of the time, rarely allowing campiness to show.

It also isn't made for people who like slick, cool action movies, as director Scott Waugh continues this series' streak of having directors who can barely string a coherent series of shots together to tell a story. Nearly every shot looks cheap and the progression of events is clunky as hell.

Woeful incompetence is how I'd describe most of what's seen in this film. It truly has some of the worst special effects I've ever seen put to screen. And it still cost $100 million.

So, I ask again, who is this for? Whose idea was it to make an action sequel that will appeal to absolutely NONE of its potential audiences?

If it weren't for the fact that this movie does have a half-decent third act and one impressive fight scene, I'd be saying that this is easily the worst of these movies.

But it's a contender for that title, and even so, I can still say this is one of the worst action movies I've ever seen in theatres.

The Retirement Plan (2023)

A completely wasted opportunity

[4/10 · 15 September 2023]

The best things that The Retirement Plan has going for it all hinge on the inherent comedic edge of its wacky premise. Sadly, these things are hardly ever the focus.

In fact, if you've seen the trailer, you've seen almost every good moment in this movie.

A handful of impressive moments arise when the great Nic Cage is allowed to flex his humorous energy as he kills people in hilarious fashion, and these moments were the one saving grace that kept the movie watchable.

Sadly, for most of the runtime, we're treated to a whole lot of nothing.

It's very poorly directed, having all the style of a straight-to-DVD Steven Seagal movie. And the script gives the characters absolutely nothing of interest to do and no intriguing interactions to have as they fumble their way through this generic, convoluted, banal, creatively bankrupt story without an ounce of a soul.

Oh, and the music sucks too. I'd be shocked if it all wasn't just stock action-movie music pulled off of iMovie.

A Haunting in Venice (2023)

Ken really does love his Dutch angles

[5/10 · 15 September 2023]

Whereas the last two Branagh Agatha Christie adaptations were movies I sort of liked at first and started to realise were "meh" over time, this latest entry is one that I recognised as mediocre upon first viewing.

Granted, it was really refreshing to see that this time, the filmmakers clearly put effort into the locations and production design. The film looks authentic and gorgeous, as opposed to its predecessors that were over reliant on unnecessary CGI backgrounds.

The story does have some interesting ideas and compelling character interactions, but they unfortunately take a back seat half the time. For the other half, we get a lot of weak attempts at horror and red herring plot points that really do amount to nothing.

I don't know what happened with the performances, but half of them are pretty great and the others are...well, awful. The actors clearly didn't agree on what kind of movie they were in, with some thinking it ought to be straight drama and others thinking they should play it corny.

Like the previous films, this is a middling whodunnit, with all the rote machinations you expect from the genre, nothing shocking, nothing gripping, but nothing so bad as to tank the experience.

It's the definition of mediocre.

Dumb Money (2023)

Intermittently entertaining

[6/10 · 14 September 2023]

Even with its admirable intentions, in its writing, Dumb Money is, well, dumb. It's incessantly preachy and shallow, clinically moving from plot point to plot point while never examining any of its characters or happenings beneath the surface level.

Granted, it doesn't necessarily need to. But it also doesn't present its scant narrative with enough style to make it compulsively watchable.

Still, I found it impossible to dislike this movie. It tells the populist story that united everyone-right, left, and center-for a brief moment of euphoric social harmony. How can I not get wrapped up in reliving all that?

Most of the cast brings charisma to their characters that was not on the page, and they are what is compelling about this film. That, and, even though the script has a dearth of insight, it's funny. It had loads of fast-paced dry wit that make it tough to not smile throughout.

The performers and the humour really saved this movie, and though I don't think it'll have the impact the filmmakers were hoping for, it's a solidly good time. Just don't take it too seriously.

The Nun II (2023)

A significant improvement.

[6/10 · 8 September 2023]

Given that The Nun (2018) was nothing more than a polished-looking series of loud noises and nonsensical happenings, I was not looking forward to the sequel.

And even though The Nun II has its share of cheap scares and a few unintentionally funny moments, I was shocked by how much better it is than the first film.

Flashes of greatness are seen here-more often than not it's directed with considerable skill and far more restraint than the first movie was. It's quieter and more patient at first, fleshing out its characters before things get insane in the third act.

As for these character dynamics, they're actually interesting this time around. The dialogue is sometimes cheesy, but there's a sincerity to the humans in this story that gives a gripping quality to the film's perilous moments.

There's certainly quite a bit of bad to be found here, but I actually liked more of this than I didn't. Hopefully these movies will get back to being good.

Golda (2023)

Setting politics aside, it's a really good film.

[7/10 · 5 September 2023]

As difficult as it is to review a film like this objectively without analysing the loyalties and views associated with its politics, I'm going to try.

I'm viewing this film as a character study into the psyche of a woman burdened with secondhand grief and guilt. And it works rather splendidly in this regard.

Helen Mirren's anxiety-riddled performance, the deliberately off-putting musical score, and director Guy Nattiv's expert handling of the camera elevate this story that could have been thoroughly dull to become a deeply moving dive into the psychological burden of war carried by those who give the orders that lead soldiers to their deaths.

I could see many people being put off by the movie's slow pacing and lack of triumphant payoff. But I found it refreshingly honest. Politics is messy and is made up of a lot of mistakes. There is no clean victory.

My primary gripe with this movie is the rushed ending. It makes a huge jump forward in time and the events did not feel narratively earned. It put quite a blemish on an otherwise far above average historical biopic.

Retribution (I) (2023)

Competent but kinda dull

[5/10 · 25 August 2023]

I went into this not knowing anything about it; I didn't know it was a remake nor what the plot is. Turns out, it's a contained thriller that's quite well-paced, managing to wring enough tension and suspense out of its simple premise with strong editing.

Neeson and some of the other cast members really do give it their all, and they bring life to the film that makes up for the bland direction and cinematography.

While most of the time the movie is compulsively watchable, what really holds it back is the script. It's bad.

It's a strange kind of bad that really does feel like this screenplay was generated by ChatGPT. Nearly all of the dialogue is stilted and generic, and the story moves kind of haphazardly, as though a machine were calculating what was the next appropriate action movie plot point to throw in next.

I guess it's better than many of the other beige action flicks Neeson has churned out over the years, but it's still far from good.

The Hill (2023)

Dennis Quaid, man...

[8/10 · 25 August 2023]

Usually Christian drama flicks like this get extremely bogged down with heavy-handed prioritisation of their messaging over their stories, technical craft, and characters.

While The Hill does sometimes get preachy and sometimes is held back by corny dialogue or poor supporting actors, it excels because it gives thought and care to the important elements of filmmaking.

It's gorgeously shot on film and sensitively directed, always visually emphasising its characters' psychology to great effect. And the script avoids succumbing too much to sports drama cliches by always keeping the focus on personal triumph over merely winning the game. It's a human story in the shell of a Christian sports film.

And these humans are brought wonderfully to life by these actors. Aside from a handful of poor supporting cast members, the leads really kill it-even the child actors.

Dennis Quaid is the obvious standout, bringing so much life and emotion to his character that isn't necessarily on the page. His character's arc is the soul of this movie, and if there were any justice in the industry, Quaid would be in serious consideration for awards next year.

Long live baseball, and long live Dennis Quaid.

Blue Beetle (2023)

Only for the least demanding audiences

[4/10 · 17 August 2023]

For a movie being heralded as one of the least-white superhero films, Blue Beetle is white in one respect: it's as bland as plain white bread.

Starting with a couple positive remarks, newcomer director Ángel Manuel Soto has a keen eye for action. There's a rough-and-tumble quality to his camerawork that makes the fast action intermittently fun. The performances are also quite fine, with George Lopez being the primary standout and the one bright spot of personality in the film.

That's about all in terms of positives. This script has the intelligence of an actual beetle, the tact of a jackhammer, and the consistency of a pandering politician.

Characters? Bland. Jaime, our protagonist, complains and is cowardly until the film's last 20 minutes when a character arc is rushed upon him with no skill or feeling.

Plot? Perhaps the most predictable I've ever seen in the genre. Every single moment of the movie plays out exactly as you think it would. I predicted the end of literally every single scene. Not an ounce of creativity is present in this piece of writing.

Dialogue? Inane. It's always contrived, corny, and shows blatant disregard for its audience's reasoning capabilities.

In short, it's a sometimes flashy piece of total redundancy that's a complete bore from start to drawn-out finish.

Jules (I) (2023)

A delightful genre-blend

[10/10 · 15 August 2023]

My expectations were on the floor for this, as it's a tiny indie film that has had zero marketing force behind it. I think this was a gigantic mistake, and I implore anyone with a beating heart to go see this film. It really is one of the best movies of the entire year.

Low-budget sci-fi is hard to come by, but Jules makes me yearn for more of it. It has one of the most riotously funny and genuinely heartfelt screenplays of the year and it's brought to life by a knockout veteran cast that has impeccable comedic timing and deft dramatic chops as well.

Blending comedy, drama, and sci-fi was already a tall order, but Gavin Stickler's script also weaves together universal themes like loneliness, mortality, communication, and the contagiousness of kindness and contemplates them with sincerity, wit, and nuanced intelligence.

The low budget is very much apparent, with basic camerawork and a couple of cheap-looking VFX shots. But I can easily forgive this as I was stunned by how much was achieved with actual makeup, sets, and props. A great deal of love and care was put into this little project, and it shows.

This is the kind of movie that inspires me. You don't need anything flashy to make a film that moves you. I laughed. I cried. And when the credits rolled I yearned to be a better person. The power of cinema shines through even in the smallest projects.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)

Impressive but too drawn-out

[7/10 · 11 August 2023]

We've gotten two theatrically released Dracula films this year. Truly we are living in good times.

I was extremely excited for this movie. A gothic horror film on a ship? A golden premise. And, delivers on its premise more often than not.

The film has glowing, gorgeous cinematography, a haunting musical score, and is acted to perfection, with even the child performance being quite good. And I was even more impressed with the production design. The ship creaks and becomes a character unto itself, with eeriness lurking in the shadows.

The writing is mixed, though. The script does make great use of the small location and has sufficient thematic depth and a few strong character beats. But unfortunately it's also bogged down with a lot of empty characters and too many scenes of meandering, repetitive conversation.

And even with the great visual craft on display, I found the scares particularly weak. Not a single one was unpredictable or frightening.

Even with its weaknesses, I implore you to see this film. We need to keep getting fresh films like this that take risks and show us original concepts.

Gran Turismo (2023)

Crowd-pleasing and frequently riveting

[7/10 · 10 August 2023]

This was far better than I expected it to be. Even with its bloated runtime, rough CGI, and overstuffed plot, Gran Turismo is mostly well-acted, features many heartfelt and compelling scenes, and boasts terrific sound mixing and editing that heighten the speed and danger of the racing sequences.

Sport biopic formula is predictably followed, but the central characters are given plenty of depth and unique traits to make their interactions largely believable and sometimes moving.

Although the lack of color grading sometimes makes the film look ugly, some clever gleefully gimmicky directing choices give the driving footage a dose of video-game-feeling and it makes them unique to watch.

I certainly didn't love everything about this, but I found myself pleasantly surprised by how often I was getting wrapped up in the story and how often the filmmaking impressed me.

Video game movies are getting pretty good, and I'm here for it.

The Magician's Elephant (2023)

Compelling but clumsily written

[6/10 · 5 August 2023]

Director: "Looks really good! Just one thing, have you ever seen a cloud before?" Animator: "No." Director: "Me neither. I'm sure it's fine."

This one's got quite great deal of tender, genuinely moving scenes. And for the most part the animation looks striking and original despite the obviously lower budget.

(Aside from the clouds, which I know are supposed to look odd but they're just...so obviously not clouds.)

The compelling story is unfortunately often dampened by poor dialogue. It's unbearably contrived and stilted, too often clumsily telling us what has already been expressed visually just in case we're too dumb to pick up on characters' emotions on our own.

But there's so much vibrant content and heartwarming elements that it's impossible to disregard this film, or even dislike it, entirely.

Meg 2: The Trench (2023)

Most brain-dead film since Moonfall

[3/10 · 4 August 2023]

Did you think the first Meg film was dumb? You've seen nothing yet.

The three writers of Meg 2 collectively share one brain cell, and I have it on good authority that this one brain cell fired approximately three times during the writing of this script.

Everything. Every. Thing. Is brain-dead. From the plot to the villains to the inconsistent characters to every scenario they're thrown into. All of it is devoid of an ounce of anything that could be considered rational or smart.

But they upped the stupidity while sucking out the fun. The first two thirds of this movie takes itself unbearably seriously and is rarely fun.

I would've rated this even lower if it weren't for the last 35-40 minutes, when the movie suddenly goes full self-aware stupid mode and it's some of the most purely dumb fun I've had at the movies this year.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

First iteration with real effort behind it

[6/10 · 2 August 2023]

You mean to tell me that of all the New York City gangsters the turtles fought, not a single one of them had a gun?

In all seriousness, I truly appreciated how wild, daring, and full of energy the animation of this film was. It's like Spider-Verse meets the Peanuts cartoons and I was here for it the whole time.

Dopamine-triggering action scenes are plentiful here, and the movie has quite a bit of heart and a largely satisfying climax.

These treats for the eyes made it a lot easier to sit through the rougher parts of the movie, namely the largely unfunny humor and the plot thats's pretty bereft of anything surprising or subversive.

Haunted Mansion (2023)

Competent but stale

[5/10 · 30 July 2023]

This is a frustrating one for me. I saw so many good ideas on display and committed performances from a game cast, but it all just felt kind of...wasted in the end.

And it's because it really felt like the cast and crew were working on a short leash. Everything about the narrative and visual presentation felt safe, sanitised, by-the-numbers, undercooked, and dull.

The film never gets silly enough to be memorable, even if it does get its share of decent laughs. And it also never gets scary or edgy enough to be memorable either.

There's no distinct style or vision here. It's like store-brand vanilla ice cream. There isn't even anything particularly wrong with it; it's just so bland that it's not going to be remembered for anything at all.

Talk to Me (I) (2022)

A slickly crafted spook-fest

[8/10 · 29 July 2023]

Talk to Me has a narrative that's a bit overstuffed and has a handful of character and plot threads that aren't developed sufficiently. But this is a complaint that can be easily overlooked in light of the plethora of things this film gets right.

It's familiar theme of grief is given a unique spin (at least for the horror genre) in that what's primarily explored is the tendency we have to believe in lies and succumb to manipulation when we're burdened with grief.

It's really compelling stuff when this is the movie's focus, which is more often than not.

The whole cast is great, but Sophie Wilde as Mia had me hooked from scene one and only continued to impress me afterward. Sold every emotion and reservation and is easily worthy of awards consideration, though it likely won't happen, sadly.

The Philippou brothers directed the hell out of this. It's a darkly atmospheric horror film that, while kind of messy, is a more than satisfying spooky flick.

Go West (2023)

Won't be for everyone

[6/10 · 22 July 2023]

As is the case with any feature film based upon and written by a sketch-comedy property, Go West is a mixed bag of material.

Some of the scenes really fell flat with repetitive "jokes" that were devoid of any sort of structure that could be construed as comedy.

But the infectious personalities of the cast and the blend of dry delivery and absurd style of humor really worked for me more often than it didn't. The film's finale also had plenty of cleverly-inserted payoffs to jokes that were set up earlier in the film.

These types of movies usually have a few bright spots amidst a total mess, but for me this had some really messy spots amidst a mostly admirable effort from a small studio.

Oppenheimer (I) (2023)

Not enough Josh Peck.

[9/10 · 21 July 2023]

Oppenheimer is a wonderful, immaculate film-a beautifully crafted, powerful story chronicling the human impact of its historical events. It's full of character and tension.

The only thing keeping it from a 10/10 is that Josh Peck, our beloved god-king, only had 4 lines of dialogue in the film.

If they had given him a larger role, expanded his character's backstory, perhaps given him a sex scene, and allowed our master to showcase his unmatched talent and glory, then perhaps Nolan's latest film could have reached its coveted masterpiece status.

But, as it stands, it's a pretty great film with not enough Josh Peck.

Barbie (I) (2023)

Funny, charming, and somewhat confused

[5/10 · 21 July 2023]

Barbie is a film with undeniably gorgeous production design and distinct visual charm, and it's at its best when it embraces its surreal absurdist humor and runs with it. This has some of the funniest sequences of the year.

Robbie, Gosling, and most of the rest of the cast have impeccable comedic timing. The line delivery is somehow both dry and full of energy.

The world that the story presents is gleefully ridiculous and when it fully leans into this tone, it's wonderful.

The problems arise when the script fluctuates wildly (and frequently) between goofy dumb comedy and heavy-handed social messaging. It's jarring and often seems to be treating us, the audience, like we're stupid.

The script is so heavy-handed in presenting a shallow view of the world and reductionist view of both men and women, yet is seemingly so convinced of its intelligence and wit.

A caricatured world is all good and fun, but it's not exactly conducive to making a commentary on incredibly nuanced issues.

Thankfully, the film sort of figures out how to balance all of this by its final minutes, and it really does have a knockout ending.

There's a lot to love here. It's just kinda messy in delivering the good stuff.