Okay so you're either gonna be in this demographic or you're not. I definitely am. By that I don't mean the probable target for the film, I mean people that enjoy bad horrors. I like a silly horror movie, I like horror cliches, I like American high school cliches, I'll take it all. I don't discriminate, I enjoy horrors of all qualities. Wish Upon hits that up. A teenage girl finds a magical box that grants wishes but everything comes with a price.
Joey King plays protagonist Clare Shannon, who's dumpster diving dad, who I will wholeheartedly discuss in a moment, finds a box covered in ancient Chinese writing. He gifts it to her as an early birthday present to which she says, sure I'll make a wish, what's the worse that can happen? Death is the answer to that. Somewhat interesting concept for a modern horror, which was enough to pique my interest. I figured even if it wasn't very good she's still gotta wish and the box still has to mess things up so even if it's bad, stuff is going on.
It's pretty funny, the best friend characters almost get a few chuckles in and same with the mean clique but most of the jokes come from the cliches and not from them trying to be funny. Some of the deaths are pretty comical, I won't ruin any but they're all pretty predictable. There's a girl fight in the high school that's also pretty funny. To the point where it almost appears as the cast think it's pretty silly too. The acting wasn't great, it didn't need to be but it wasn't great. I thought King was okay until I saw everything else she's been in and now I think with all that under her belt she should be better. Her friend Ryan Hui is played by 30 year old Ki Hong Lee, who played Dong in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. And her dad is played by Ryan Phillippe.
Let talk about Phillippe. I forgot how long ago Cruel Intentions was. It's long enough ago that he is old enough to play a dad now. And I'm gonna be straight with you, he's pretty dilfy. So he dumpster dives, for what exactly I don't know, just stuff of value. He wears a big jacket and a beanie and hasn't shaved in a little while. He also has a saxophone for some reason. After seeing him dumpster dive yet again Clare gets annoyed and wishes for her dad to no longer embarrass her. So he shaves. That's legit it, he shaves and plays his sax again and her friends suddenly realise he's hot because they didn't know him in 1997. This is one of the silly wishes. It feels more like there was an idea for a death and so they thought up a mediocre wish to justify it. The box specifies 7 wishes, which let's be real, is about 4 too many.
It was well rounded enough, hinted at things at the beginning, became full circle. Script was alright but a little messy, writer Barbara Marshall hasn't written many features. The director John R. Leonetti has an odd mix of works behind him, having director, cinematographer and camera department credits. Cinematography was whatever, nothing in particular, had a few classic horror shots, edited in an over zealous manner to some standard horror music. Pretty average as far as that goes.
It's not a great movie, but interesting enough. I had a lot of fun watching this and I know I will watch it again. It's like one of those films you see on Netlflix and say, sure I've got a time to spare, I'll try it. Again, if you're a fan of silly horrors, this will be right up your alley, if not, you probably won't find many merits.
A high five out of ten if you will. If you're looking for the next classic horror to chill you to the bone, this is not it. But honestly, it's a good laugh with friends, just a reminder that a movie doesn't have to be good to enjoy it. 5/10
CINEMATES - A
Lucky enough to catch one of Odeons Screen Unseen premieres this week, where you buy a ticket for a fiver and you don't know what it's going to be. Previous films this year have been Get Out and Baby Driver. Both films Odeon deemed to be potential classics, so we had high hopes for what we were about to see. It was The Big Sick and it didn't disappointment.
The Big Sick is about a couple that deals with their cultural differences as their relationship develops. This is based on real couple writer and actor Kumail Nanjiani and his wife, fellow writer, Emily V. Gordon. Nanjiani, brown, from Pakistani, trying to rebuff every advance for arranged marriage his mum pushes. Emily, white, American, didn't really want a relationship but that Kumail man is pretty charming. Nanjiani is a stand up comedian who is trying to make his way forward and get acknowledged and Emily is finishing her degree and looking to become a psychiatrist. They don't really deal with their differences until they become a problem, because if it ain't broke, you know? There's a break up due to culture clashing and thoughts of deception but before we have a good chance to deal with this Emily gets sick. She gets the big sick. After being taken into hospital Kumail goes to look after her and meets her parents for the first time. This moment is almost when the film really begins. I think how we are shown each character and their family is pretty great. We see only see Nanjiani's family when they are with him. Whereas in contrast we only see Emily's family when she isn't there. This changes towards the end of the film, where people start to intertwine as they should, but it's still quite a strong choice. It's Kumail with both sides, with both cultures.
The cast was great, Nanjiani is funny and charming as he is in most things including Silicon Valley. He's sweet and genuine and even when Emily finds reason to dislike him, as an audience you don't. Emily is played by Zoe Kazan, wonderfully cast, I think personally because she hasn't been in too many big things. So it was even easier to just see her as the character. That and the fact that half the film we're told what she's like from other people and not from her. It's like she exists. Her parents are played by Holly Hunter and Ray Romano. Hunter is a strong mother in this as she is as Elastigirl in The Incredibles (2004), in case you're wondering why she sounded familiar. It was great to see Romano as someone new, he was great, funny and again genuine, this film has such fresh performances from the cast.
Now Judd Apatow produced this, and not directed, and you can tell because the film isn't 40 minute too long like most of his directed features. It had some of the same humour but you could definitely tell it was written by Nanjiani and that it was written by a couple. It did really well to have genuine stand up moments, being awkward and not completely funny. As if they knew they wanted the stand up to be funny but not as funny as the real life happening around it. Some of the stand up I recognised from Nanjiani, his own works and interviews. The interactions between him/his character and Emily are real, they don't feel forced. That was something that was written and cast well. His family were well written as to use cultural differences to add comedy but not as the butt of the joke. Race jokes were of course there and there is a particular 9/11 joke that had the entire audience cackling. As much as race and culture were involved in the comedy it wasn't there just as a punchline.
Very sweet film, only a slight bit too long I'd say. Lots of laughs, and a good amount of tears too, if you're into romantic comedies this might be a tad bit heavier than you expected but definitely worth the watch. A refreshing 7.5/10
CINEMATES - A
The first Despicable Me came out in 2010, since then we have had an onslaught of minion merchandise. I for one don't care for them, didn't think they were particularly funny and I don't understand why people who don't understand memes have adopted them, but there we are. Despicable Me 3 follows Gru, ex villain, as he connects with his long lost twin brother Dru who wants to have one last family heist.
Alongside that narrative we have the super villain Balthazar Bratt, who was a child star in the 80's and kind of a one hit wonder. He goes downhill after his voice breaks and ends up believing he's the character he played. He was a lot of fun, voiced by Southpark's Trey Parker, he was stuck in the 80's meaning he played a lot of 80's music and all of his tool and weapons were throwbacks to the decade. A bit of a novelty, I think a lot of parents will enjoy this throwback but the use of a portable cassette tape will be lost on the aimed demographic.
So what do the target demographic like? Minions. They were there. They have a falling out with Gru and try it on their own and end up in prison. It was interesting I guess to see them make their own decisions or just see them in different environment. But eh, same old same old, all I can ever think about is how they will be sold. Now there can be a bunch of minions in prison uniforms. And in the last scene wearing something different. I think they've been exhausted, unfunny but there, no real merit to the story but what you expect from them.
Steve Carell is great, some of the scenes it really felt like he was having so much fun playing both Gru and Dru. He's a likable guy and that comes across with both characters. The brothers grow together despite some differences they still have a lot in common. The few scenes that actually warranted a chuckle were basically Carell talking to himself. Each of the characters get their own side line stories to follow the main theme of the film, there's sweet development for Lucy, Gru's wife, as she learns to fill the mother position for the girls, Margo, Edith and Agnes. Agnes goes on search to find a real life unicorn with Edith as Margo ends up in a pickle with a local boy. Each sideline felt a little forced as just something for them to do whilst Gru pasted the time but they did manage to tie them both together with the overall message alright.
The animation was spectacular, as should be expected with Dreamworks at this stage. The parts I found particularly engaging were the adverts for Bratts show, the animated characters using toy action figures that looked real. That was really impressive. And to be honest a little confusing to see something look so real with such exaggerated animated characters. No spoilers but there's a particular scene in the final act on a beach with Bratt's final show stopper and seeing that looked pretty amazing. The sound was great but Pharrell Williams is involved so what else is there to say. They used the theme 'Despicable Me' as well as a song from the original film. Lots of 80's tracks which were fun and worked well.
Pretty forgettable to be honest, but I say that as someone that find the first two the same. The kids in the screening didn't sound that impressed either, very few laughs. 5/10
CINEMATES - A
Okay so you're either gonna be in this demographic or you're not. I definitely am. By that I don't mean the probable target for the film, I mean people that enjoy bad horrors. I like a silly horror movie, I like horror cliches, I like American high school cliches, I'll take it all. I don't discriminate, I enjoy horrors of all qualities. Wish Upon hits that up. A teenage girl finds a magical box that grants wishes but everything comes with a price.
