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Film reviews

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t Review

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Hard to believe that nine years has passed since the gang of magic have last been seen. Now they are taking on a new mission. They want to steal a diamond. After Now You See Me: The Second Act, the fun of magic, twists, and illusions reach new levels. I went in with mixed expectations but walked out more dazzled than I had anticipated. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is a film where the cards are shuffled, but the outcome is more successful than audiences might think. 

The Horsemen are back! Jesse Eisenberg as J. Daniel Atlas, Woody Harrelson as Merritt McKinney, Dave Franco as Jack Wilder and Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves. After being on the run from the law and using their magic skills to make bank, they reunite for a mission involving diamond heists, but more want to be part of the mission this time. There are three new young individuals joining on their heist journey. They are Bosco (Dominic Sessa), Charlie (Justice Smith), and June (played by Ariana Greenblatt). The evil nemesis is played by Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike). Can the Horsemen utilize their magic and tactics to help their new proteges stay out of trouble, and maintain their reputation? A lot is on the line in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.

This sequel has a lot of adventures. I loved how the direction goes to places all around Europe and talks about theories to consider when utilizing magic and the mind in creating areas. So many of the tricks are just illusions, but this film creates areas of irony to maintain the adventure  and develop meaning.  The rapid escapes are still around, and so much of the heists and twists are non-stop.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is a rather joyful continuation. Not amazing, but well worth the time. It is like an interactive escape room that does not end. Also at the same time, it felt good to see the illusion of magic and relativity finding forms of connection, because there is always something to magic that may or may not add up. Three out of four stars for Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.

 

Film reviews

Sentimental Value Review

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This film is an achievement of humanistic approaches with an artistic natural vibe to the writing. Sentimental Value is a title that speaks for itself. Directed by Joachim Trier, he takes the life of a family and the arts to a new level where disconnect and reality present mental and emotional challenges. It is stunning, audacious, and breathtaking. So many human emotions are on full display and interesting layers of art are out of this world in Sentimental Value.

The life of directors has many ups and downs in this story about a family who is curious about finding out where the focus lies. The main characters are sisters, Nora Borg and Agnes Borg Pettersen (Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleas). Their father is Gustav Borg (Alexander Stellan Skarsgard), an accomplished director. All three of these individuals find themselves at the heart and mercy of disconnect as well as a tumultuous relationship caused by their success in the cinematic and theatrical world. There is so much pressure on the sisters from their father, Gustav. Nora finds herself encountering hurdles and struggling to adapt. Gustav comes around a lot more frequently in their lives. At the same time, however, Nora and Agnes work on achieving happiness while they share their lingering disconnect. In the meantime, their father is on the search to make art come to life in his new project.

The film goes from scenes showcasing success to theatre stages and the movies. Suffering from their past comes into play, and at the same time there is love that is present. The feelings stirred by the story can be hard to feel. Trier fuels emotional component hard in Sentimental Value. At times, it gets to the point of making audiences ponder why some people push themselves to the limit.

The new star that Gustav is working with is a young actress named Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning). She is working on building a following. Gustav’s daughters find themselves a bit jealous of her and she ends up right in the middle of all the chaos and family drama. The complex elements of becoming successful are manipulated by the father. Sentimental Value portrays howfavoritism can have serious consequences. The film reveals some astonishing truths and is a unique arthouse film that I found worthy. Three-and-a-half out of four stars.

Film reviews

The Running Man

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Edgar Wright takes an approach with this film that feels like a bit like Hunger Games. It is a game with a death trap, a setting where reality is in the context of a disaster.  It seems that WWIII has come and gone but lingers, and there is a game that lies beneath a lot of wealth for the whole world to see. The Running Man has promising moments but lacks in its approaches. The momentum is much too dry /and lacks energy. Glen Powell isthe lead role and is the biggest component to grab its fans for the film because he is the hero grandeur within the imagery of the film. I just continued to have issues with the writing and quality of how the film goes about things.

Glen Powell plays Ben Richards. He is an individual trying to work to save his sick daughter. He does everything he can to find work but has many violent tones to his personality. He ends up finding one way to make loads of money. He joins a game called “The Running Man.” It is a game show where a victim is manipulated into being a criminal to see how far they can make it  in a world where anyone can hunt them and kill them. The ultimate question is if Ben will survive. The shows following that are with two TV show candidates, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) and Bobby Thompson (played by Colman Domingo). Dan cheats the system in order to manipulate and antagonize Ben. The success of the hunt is based on viewership. The clock ticks as the dangers continue to keep spiking. How far do the games go?

It is a thriller based off of a Stephen King novel. Overall, I found some value to this film with the directing of Wright, because the foundational aspects continue with layers of frustration to create purpose and suspense, especially with thebackground of Powell’s performance having issues with work and going down a rabbit hole. Otherwise, the film keeps falling into its blockbuster tones. Overall, though, the action finds its loopholes to have the meaningful selling points to make The Running Man astounding on some fronts. Particularly with characters who present a lot of surprises. When you have someone like Michael Cera with a basement full of traps, you have found a nerd with a lot to offer in an Edgar Wright sensation. Cera plays Elton, someone with many gadgets thatassist Ben at one point in the film—both together are a match that tango incessantly.

 The Running Man is not spellbinding or amazing, it is neutral. The need for money to save a family hits its peak moments. The pacing though I felt was not established properly, however, I still have respect for Wright.  He tries to keep aspects straight and move forward. I rate this film at about two out of four stars.