Meewella | Critic

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Tag: Jamie Lee Curtis

QuickView: Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

“Every rejection, every disappointment has led you to this moment.”

Waymond Wang

Perhaps the most joyful exercise in unleashed creativity since Kung Fu Hustle, the multiverse-bending action comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once deserves to be seen by everyone everywhere. Although the film draws inspiration from all manner of pop culture sources, it is neither derivative nor mere pastiche. Rather, the writer-director duo “Daniels” use these as a common language and as ingredients to produce a unique heady concoction that uses the concept of the multiverse to explore the theme of nihilism and how to counteract it. I am loathe to reveal anything more of the plot which unfolds like a vertiginous roller-coaster ride. Unlike their feature debut Swiss Army Man, the Daniels seem now more confident in the emotional weight of their story rather than continually undercutting its tone with puerile humour. Central to this success is a sublime performance from Michelle Yeoh, a veteran of Hong Kong martial arts cinema who deftly adapts to Everything Everywhere‘s variously comedic, emotional and action beats. Returning cinematographer Larkin Seiple (whose CV blends films like I Just Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore with music videos like Childish Gambino’s This is America) delivers visuals that are as much a kinetic assault on the audience as the fight choreography. It can at times be messy and silly, but Everything Everywhere All At Once is, above all, a very welcome breath of fresh air.

9/10

QuickView: Knives Out (2019)

Knives Out quad poster

“That’s some heavy-duty conjecture.”

Ransom Drysdale

Knives Out is Rian Johnson’s modern remix of the classic whodunnit. The traditional elements are present: a deceased patriarch, a squabbling family with secrets and a large mansion with plenty of space for intrigue. Whilst Johnson’s love for the genre is evident, he highlights some of its contrivances like the idiosyncratic civilian detective inexplicably given free rein to investigate. As in his debut, Brick, the language often jars with the modern setting, but his flair for dialogue makes it fit this specific world. Unusually our viewpoint is not that of the sleuth (Daniel Craig with a distracting Southern drawl) but rather the deceased’s nurse, Ana de Armas wonderfully portraying both vulnerability and determination. The ensemble cast is delightful, deriving humour largely from the absurd, although its sporadic placement results in a slightly uneven tone. The mystery itself is expertly plotted over the course of two hours which rapidly fly by, and some secrets remain until late in the proceedings without a sense of cheating. The result is far superior to the recent adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. The height of praise for this sort of film is that — even where I could anticipate certain elements — watching them unfold remained entertaining. With its eccentric characters, stylised dialogue and constrained setting, Knives Out feels theatrical rather than cinematic, but that should not diminish one’s enjoyment whatsoever.

8/10

"A film is a petrified fountain of thought."

(CC) BY-NC 2003-2023 Priyan Meewella

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