Quick Reviews: Abigail, Godzilla X Kong, Monkey Man, The First Omen
Abigail
I went into this movie thinking I would enjoy it for the sheer absurdity of the premise (a pre-teen ballerina vampire terrorizes her kidnappers in a mansion). And I did, but I enjoyed it far beyond what I anticipated. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett helmed this feature, and I was really impressed with their film “Ready or Not” and their work on the 5th and 6th “Scream” movies I also appreciated. “Abigail” is very close in tone to the former, with horror elements often followed by moments of finely-crafted comedy, and Abigail I would argue is probably funnier and unquestionably bloodier than “Ready or Not”. This flick is very fun and very funny, and honestly much of that credit should go to Alisha Weir’s performance as the pre-teen fanged terror. I often find child performances to be somewhat of a mixed bag in terms of quality, though admittedly it’s not like many screenwriters look to write a truly challenging juvenile role that often. Weir’s performance in “Abigail”, on the other hand, is far more dynamic. She nails the choreography, she delivers some delightful lines of dark comedy throughout, she can balance displaying emotions in a manner that at different times frightening and hilarious, and let’s be honest, any film where a 12 year old vampire ballerina is terrorizing a group of adults while frequently shouting expletives is comedy gold. The supporting cast comes through here as well; it felt like just about everyone had a true character and it made each character demise more impactful overall as a result. This is a loose remake of “Dracula’s Daughter”, but other than that DNA, this felt like an original and refreshing spin on the vampire subgenre, and thank goodness because vampiric cinema has certainly been saturated with a lot of repetitive content. Abigail is one of those movies that you feel energetic exiting the theater because it gave you things you wanted that you would never think to ask for.
9/10
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire
I can’t in good conscience give this film a positive review because the preposterous lengths it goes to embrace being a bad film would make any legitimate praise come across as an insult. When you have a movie where King Kong is wielding a device that looks like a Nintendo Power Glove on his arm, the movie has all but given up on trying to incite the viewer to get lost in the material. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t somewhat amused by the film for the entire runtime because of it. This feels like a film that was written because the director went to any playground where kids are asking each other “wouldn’t it be cool if Godzilla did (BLANK)” and proceeded to construct a film based on these concepts. But that also leads to a movie that is a collection of a lot of fun sequences that utilize spectacle but aren’t linked together with a cohesive story and with human characters that are easily disposable. Worth a stream for sure to have on in the background, but not essential viewing for either character.
5/10
Monkey Man
Actor Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire”) makes his directorial debut with this feature. Rather than developing a stirring drama or a standard Oscar bait effort, Patel’s freshman effort feels more like if “John Wick” was a story that existed within the caste system. Our hero, Bobby (also Patel), does not have the benefits of the sports cars or magazine of high tech weapons that Wick has available. He doesn’t bounce back from injury as easily, and he emotes in the film in a manner that makes every fight he engages in feel really resonant. This is a movie that doesn’t want any aspect of the presentation to feel clean; it’s a harsh environment Bobby is trying to survive in, as we see at the beginning of the film when we learn he’s being paid to take the fall routinely in an underground boxing league. From this opening shot it establishes a character who has become accustomed to withstanding tremendous pain, and one who will let us dedication to his goals not be deterred by physical discomfort. Choices like these show Patel’s understanding of character and how actions can often detail more regarding character than a thorough monologue ever could. The gritty cinematography only aids the tone that was intended, as the imagery reflects the harsh tone of the story. While the action sequences in this movie are really impressive, and I am sure will be the reason most people are interested to see it, I was somewhat frustrated with the editing in the movie. The “shaky cam” style used in the “Bourne” movies so effectively really adds to the material in that franchise, but it has felt largely frustrating in films outside of that series, and this is no different. I even think it’s surprising Patel would want to film this way, because the guy looks INCRDIBLE in the film physically and with what he pulls off from an action standpoint, so why as the director would he not want to showcase that more? “Monkey Man” is a revenge action thriller, and there are certainly many movies that fit that description. But Patel manages to make a film within that framing that feels very personal to him and delivers on the kinetic wonder we hope for in movies in this vein.
8/10
The First Omen
Did someone make a legacy horror sequel that is not only good, but is one of the better films in the franchise it was attempting to reboot? While the original Richard Donner classic still remains the gold standard for movies chronicling young Damien Thorne, the latest film is a perfect companion to have for a night of double feature viewing. It is shot in a manner very similar to the 70’s original, the music is clearly heavily sampling the original Jerry Goldsmith score, and there is clearly a lot of reverence and respect for the original by the filmmakers. So much so that in a few moments it may lean slightly too much into a desire for fan service. There’s one sequence in particular that directly replicates one of the most infamous scenes in the Donner film that occurs during Damien’s birthday party. If you’ve seen both movies you’ll know what I am speakin to. Still, while the film feels slightly like a remix of the plot in the original, the performances in the film deliver and it ties into the rest of the series in a logical way. I had developed a habit of frequently catching horror prequels to classics such as this once they ended up on streaming or digital simply because they are often so subpar. But “The First Omen” clearly set out to make the franchise proud of it, and for the most part, it succeeded in doing so.
7/10