(film review) - Sinners

There has been some talk about Ryan Coogler spending 90-100 million dollars on this movie, and having made 48 million dollars domestically and approximately 15 million dollars internationally on the opening weekend, it has been seen by local trades as "not enough" as it is not profitable and the movie will need to do much more to make that money back. Please remember that this movie is of a specific genre (no spoilers here), and unlike 'Once Upon A Time' by Quentin Tarantino, which made 41 million dollars on its opening weekend and was praised. What is the reason for this? Even Ben Stiller came out to defend this original film from the backlash and negative reports. This is a predominantly black cast, original movie within a specific genre released during a cost of living crisis and within an era where comicbook movies are booming, this movie should be seen as an absolute win for Ryan and his team because not only did he write, direct and produced a movie that did not revamp the art of storytelling or do anything that was extremely ground-breaking, this movie cuts into the layers of history, black history touching on lore, religion, music, escapism and the vamperic nature of people who want under the guise of sharing such as cultural appropriation. It has been mentioned that Marvel approached Ryan to direct the Blade movie they have been having trouble putting together, and he told them he was doing this movie. I am glad he stuck to his guns because this is a great movie. I'll explain. 

After World War I, Smoke & Stack are two notorious twins who arrive back in town after a stint in Chicago, rumoured to be working with Italian Mobsters. With the money they have, their plan is to open a Juke Joint to allow people around the town a place to go for entertainment and fun, but on the day of the grand opening, a few white people arrive who want to enter their establishment and end up causing a major problem for Smoke, Stack and the revellers inside.

I will start off with a few negatives, which are very nitpicky of me. I believe the trailers could have done a better job of showing some of the smaller scenes and other scenes without giving the movie away. They did a great job, but there is a montage at the end of the movie that would have been nice to have included to further throw off the twist, but to further the "something is going on" feel the trailer had. Hearing about the genre of this movie is a spoiler, although I understand why it is needed in some cases, having people talk about it leads you to expect and wait for it, which allows you to preempt moments, scenes and scenarios rather than simply enjoy the movie as it is. I mean, we are going to get there soon, so why spoil it for others? But other than that, this movie is great. Ryan Coogler has directed 5 films, and he is 5 for 5. He is following in the steps of Christopher Nolan and a few others who have not missed.

The story of two notorious twins trying to set up shop in their home town during the Jim Crow era, only for it to be disrupted by white people at a time when the Ku Klux Klan was attacking black people, is an interesting era to have this movie take place. Ryan weaves in religion, witchcraft and lore which includes the word 'Haints', something I heard whilst playing 'South of Midnight', having not known what a haint was before playing and to have it brought up here, a few weeks since 'South of Midnight' was released is a great continuation of folk-lore and history within the black community. With that said, the intertwining of religion and music in a period where secular music was referred to as the devil's music created an uneasy backdrop and soundtrack to the movie. It emphasised the power of music through generations, where it came from to where it is going, the talented people who produced/played music in those times of struggle as music is a form of escapism as well as a tool to create unity between people, which ironically leads to the main antagonist wanting to have, join and be with the people who are enjoying themselves for their own sinister gain under the guise of family and unity, through music.
There is a super deep cut moment for people who have watched the 'House Party' movies (specifically House Party 1), and there is a chant saying, "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire, we don't need no water let that motherf*cker burn" in that movie, which played in my head in this movies as there was a moment of symbolism of people having a great time in a party until the roof caught into flames.

The music, once again provided by Ludwig Göransson is that one-two punch Ryan and Ludwig provide in the films he directs and the other creates music for. These are two collaborators who work well together, just like how Ryan and Michael work well together. There is a specific scene in the movie where the music seems to transcend time, and it was amazing. The music is a character in this movie and plays a heavy, huge and important part, becoming part of the storyline itself.

The casting here is top-notch. Thinking about it now, although this movie is a majority black cast, we have white, native indian and east asian characters, other people of colour, which was interesting and refreshing to see. But moreover, that one-two punch we get with Michael and Ryan directing him is great. Although you are aware that Michael is playing two characters and often in the same frame, there is a distinct difference between the twins. I noticed immediately which twin was the more aggressive and which one was the calmer of the identical twins, which was also interesting as not only do they love and look out for one another and share an inseparable bond, they would also distance themselves when they feel they are in a scenario they perceive as threatening. Michael provides mannerisms and characteristics that make the twins look and feel different from one another. Another standout in this movie came from a new actor named Miles Caton as Sammie, who, in his first movie, THIS MOVIE, was phenomenal. The acting and singing performed by him has catapulted him into stardom. It will not take long for Hollywood to grab him and place him into something else very soon, and the same goes for Jayme Lawson, who was equally as good. I do not recognise her from 'The Woman King' and 'The Batman', so I will rewatch those, but she did a great job convincing me that she is also a young, up-and-coming acting force. Lastly, the other two actors who stole the show and their respective scenes, Delroy Lindo and Jack O'Connell. It is quite possible that I kept these two last, wait, Wunmi Mosaku, these THREE last, because they are British, and these three also carried the movie for me. Delroy as Slim, the old wise man who has lived through and seen a lot to share his experiences,  Jack O'Connell as Remmick, the white man who wants to take something from another but dresses up his needs and his own motives under charm and persuasive tactics in the guise of unity and family and Wunmi as Annie, who provides the knowledge, exposition and heart with an heartbreaking storyline that I found quite touching. To mention Hailee Steinfeld at this point makes it seem as though she was not great, but she is great in everything she is in, from 'Hawkeye' to 'Bumblebee' and the voice acting she does in the animated 'Spider-Man' movies as Gwen Stacy.

One last thing, the costume design and the visuals are stunning. Ryan Coogler with his 'one take' shots that are now usually referred to as 'oners', long takes without a camera cut, panning from one moment or angle in a scene to another. The party scene was great for that, as it all felt seamless and rhythmic, flowing with the music. Needless to say, the shots, pictures, and imagery is stunning. The costume design is also excellent, with Ruth E. Carter's attention to detail. All the characters have a great look to them, with both Smoke and Stack dressing similarly but also very differently at the same time.

This is a solid cast for a small movie where they were all stealing scenes from one another like a 'free-for-all', and the twists and turns this movie makes are enough to have you stay until the very end and see the mid-credits scene, which can set up for a sequel. Although I'd be happy to leave this movie as it is, I can imagine a prequel with Smoke and Stack going through World War I, coming home to leave and go to Chicago to work with crime families there to finally get the money they need to lead us into this new film. I'd love to see the dynamics and storyline there, especially as the prequel could be set up as a completely different genre, and if they do a sequel ot this, maybe that could be another genre setting this franchise up as a franchise with three different genres. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and it deserves all the accolades it gets.

(film review) - Bumblebee

I’m trying to figure out (along with the rest of the world), how this new Transformers movie fits into the universe of the Transformers franchise.  At first, I heard it was a soft franchise reboot, but it comes across as a prequel, kinda.  I mean, Michael Bay has f’ed up this franchise in the most royal way. The Transformers franchise is basically an X-Men movie timeline at this point and nobody is interested in it any more.  We can argue it made money at the Box Office, but when nobody generally likes it, overall, it a question of, "Who Actually Cares?"

Let me get into it.

Bumblebee is a fish out of water story of a boy and his dog.  Well, I believe that is the two idioms you could use to describe a film like this.  A civil war is engaged between the Autobots and the evil Deceptacons.  Losing the battle, Optimus Prime wants to establish a new base of operations and sends Bumblebee as a scout to Earth as a potential base as they retreat to regroup.  "After a battle and being awoken and disorientated, Bumblebee is intercepted and tracked down by two Decepticons who threaten to find his leader Optimus Prime and destroy Earth.  With only his one human friend, Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld), Bumblebee is the only Robot to save it. He is Bumblebee."

Pretty straight forward and straight to the point.  Nothing major or anything we haven’t heard/seen before.  Think if the movie ‘ET’ and ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ had a baby.  This is essentially how the rest of the movie plays out.  If anything, the same plot synopsis of the first Transformers as well, maybe.  I don’t know and at this point, frankly I don’t care, as this film is actually really really good.  At the top, I stated that I am trying to figure out where we stand in the franchise, unless from the very beginning as a reboot, I am totally fine with this and I hope they do intend to go forward in this direction.  Anything else is just confusing.

The first 5mins of the movie was AMAZING!  It reminded me of 'Man of Steel' where we see Krypton.  The little kid in me smiled with glee as we were able to finally see the Gen 1 Transformers fighting on Cybertron.  I mean, I’m just going to spoil the first 5 minutes of the movie because frankly, we need more people to see this movie to get more movies and I would be doing the movie a dis-service if I didn’t mention it.  Soundwave! Shockwave! Ravage!  Just like the toys you played with as a child!  If you are as old as me.  I don’t need to explain the Ravage and Soundwave connection I’m sure, but seeing this on screen was amazing.  Travis Knight clearly had a great vision with this movie and for what he executed in the first 5mins alone was enough to have any Transformers fan salivating for more.  Alas we don’t get any more than maybe 5-10 minutes of that, but the rest of the movie is also very good, albeit with a few nit-picky bits I didn’t like, which could arguably be the Michael Bay influence.

So it goes without saying that I found the movie aesthetically pleasing visually and the story wasn’t great but pretty serviceable.  The supporting actors next to Hailee were throwaway characters and although John Cena as a lead was ok.  He was nowhere near as bad as previous military characters in other Transformers movies.  The movie didn’t have enough Autobots and Deceptacons, but from what I saw, I was fine with.  More for the sequel?  The nit-picky things were things I thought we had moved away from in Transformers movies, and in cinema as a whole.  Maybe I was reading too much into it, but the black man dying first or more importantly, sacrificing himself to save the white man, because essentially, that is what happens.  Or at least it seems that way as you never see him again.  Weirdly enough, I didn’t notice that until my friend alerted me to it.  I did notice the black man being the butt of the joke, which was the wannabe boyfriend.  I get it we needed comedy interjected into the movie, but I thought that was what the "Fish out of water" element with Bumblebee was.  As I said, maybe I was over thinking it, but these were the things I hated regarding previous Transformers movies directed by Michael Bay.  At least there wasn’t any unnecessary explosions and over sexualized shots and 360-degree camera spins…although it was EXECELLENT in bad Boys 1.

I’d definitely suggest to watch this movie, even if you dislike Michael Bay Transformer movies, as this one is different, and it’s executed well.  Other than the nit-picky moments, this is a feel-good movie.