Get Out Cert: 15 / 104 mins / Dir. Jordan Peele / Trailer
Oh. March. The third month of the calendar-year, just after the earnest hand-wringing of the Oscars and before the deafening explosions of the Summer blockbuster, is regularly the release-window for substandard weirdness (cf 2016, 2015, 2014), indeed that's what we've come to expect. But even I'll admit that the trailer for the Blumhouse-produced Get Out looked like it could be set to buck that trend by bringing far more to the party than was expected of it...
Setting off for to meet his girlfriend Rose's affluent white parents for the first time, young photographer Chris is already fairly trepidacious as they haven't been told he's black. When they arrive however, the atmosphere is weirder than even he imagined; the parents are nothing but welcoming, yet something is very, very wrong. As the weekend progresses, tensions rise and strange events escalate, but will Chris solve the puzzle, or just be one of the pieces?
A combination of a particularly heavyweight awards season and an off the cuff comment by someone who should really know better has perhaps written a reputational cheque that Jordan Peele didn't realise he'd need to cash. Don't get me wrong, this is certainly a good film but I'd struggle to call it more than that. Third-act silliness prevents Get Out from being quite as incisive as it'd like. In terms of Satire™, the film is more of a sledgehammer than a scalpel, although obviously some nuts are harder to crack.
But great performances from Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams as the central couple are key to the film's cinematic efficiency. The supporting cast range from textbook to scenery-chewing, but they're largely fine given the context of the film. Unexpected praise also goes to LilRel Howery as the 'funny best friend on the end of the phone' archetype, who is far better than a film like this would normally allow (although he does more than his share of plot-lifting, too).
Leaving aside the obvious current socio-political relevance, the mechanics of the movie are... well, pretty mechanical. The creeping paranoia is implemented fantastically, being psychological rather than supernatural. Foreshadowing plot-points are meticulously laid out and counted neatly back in again although never with a heavy-hand, a move which should make re-watching the film workable (no mean feat with this narrative structure). Get Out is a big fan of traditional jump-scares too though, which lets down a screenplay that's clearly more self-aware than its contemporaries. None of it's badly done, but this certainly feels like Jordan Peele has managed to paint an interesting picture using the same old worn out brushes we've seen other artists use.
All in all, Get Out is more than reasonable, although I'm already worrying about the movies which will try ride in its slipstream.
But if the weight of real-world politics is perhaps putting you off this psych-horror, don't worry too much; the film features an almost unhealthy amount of Microsoft product placement. Now I'm someone who raises an eyebrow when everyone on-screen uses devices with an Apple logo on them, but seeing the MS/Windows branding this much, all in the same place? Rest assured, you're watching fiction...
For full tension, yes.
If you already have any kind of hearing-damage, no.
It does.
Probably not best, but it'll be one of the best-remembered.
Nope.
Nope.
Level 2: Daniel Kaluuya also appeared in Sicario, alongside Benicio 'as-yet unnamed character from The Last Jedi' Del Toro.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
The cynic in me (and as regular readers will attest, that's who holds the majority-sway in my psyche) would perhaps wonder if Disney's current programme of retooling older animated content as sumptuous live-action holiday-bait means they're finally running out of ideas. But even the cynic shut the hell up less than five minutes into Pete's Dragon and just went on the ride. Because when they're making them this good, who cares?
A complete restructuring of the older movie, the 2016 version sees five-year old Pete suddenly orphaned and alone in dense woodland when he befriends the dragon he names Elliot, after a character in a storybook he has with him. For six years, the two survive as companions until their makeshift home is disrupted by deforestation/construction works. The film then follows the 11yr-old boy's rehabilitation into a civilised world he barely remembers, as well as the separation-anxiety for both Pete and Elliot, and of course the builders' reaction to an actual live dragon. Herein lies adventure...
Of course, being Disney, this film is pro-level Twee™ and is so preachy that's the screenwriters have hand-carved their own pulpit. Yet it's still thoroughly charming for all that, in a way which only The House Of Mouse can make look effortless. The wistful sunsets and easy-listening soundtrack threaten to get a little heavy-handed from time to time, but both suit the tone of the film perfectly.
Set in a nondescript time-frame (no mobiles, no laptops, little in the way of TV although the kids have got BMXs), the film lifts some of the more memorable beats from E.T. and Jurassic Park while never feeling like it's really stealing them. In fact, it seems to be the case that director David Lowery is more Spielbergian that even Spielberg himself can manage, these days. That said, there's also a dash of Predator thrown into the mix*1, which was a nice surprise.
Pete's Dragon turns out to be everything that The BFG should have been (and The Jungle Book, come to think of it). Although in common with those films, once again the best performances come from the young lead actor and a CGI counterpart. Oakes Fegely is fantastic as young Pete, and while his role is a lot more lighthearted than Jacob Tremlay's in Room, there's a dynamic to both the character and performance which makes it comparable.
As much as I enjoyed this, I know it'll be too saccharine for some audiences. Under the normal run of things, it probably would have been for me, too, but something just clicked the first time the gurning, grunting Elliot appeared on camera.
I had smiles, I had goosebumps, and on at least one occasion I might have had something in my eye. Pete's Dragon is another great example of a magical story told with absolute sincerity, and being all the better for it.
Despite what I've said there, The BFG, and probably Disney's live-action Cinderella, too.
You could do far worse during the Summer holidays, if your padawans are pestering you to go out and do something.
It does.
It'll be the high-watermark which director David Lowery and lead actor Oakes Fegely will be judged against.
Certainly around these parts, anyway.
Nope.
There isn't.
Level 2: This movie's got that Robert Redford in it, who we saw in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, of course, playing opposite Mace Windu himself, Sam Jackson.
*1 Not only can Elliot the dragon make himself go invisible to evade his enemies, he's also got a broken tusk like Dachande from Steve Perry's Aliens vs Predator novels (a look which was also directly referenced in AVP: Requiem, one of the only cool things about that movie). Hang on, I'm not the only person who sees an adorable green furry dragon and thinks of Predator, am I?
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
