Send Help. Director Sam Raimi and co-writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift have made a wildly entertaining, wickedly funny and exhilarating thrill ride from start to finish. The first act spends at least 15 minutes or so with exposition which makes it clear that Bradley, Linda's new boss and CEO of the company, is a sexist bully who's about to marry his fiancée, Zuri (Edyll Ismail), who's just as shallow and toxic as he is. Send Help begins with an off-kilter albeit light tone before it veers toward dark comedy in a way that's over-the-top and even somewhat crowd-pleasing. There's one particularly well-written scene that provides some humanizing backstory to Linda and Bradley while also grounding the film in some tenderness. You'll even learn a little bit about Bradley's childhood and how he ended up such an asshole without any flashbacks. That said, there's one flashback, though, in the third act that spoon-feeds the audience too much without trusting their intelligence enough. There are plenty of clever twists and turns here including a particularly memorable one that involves the filmmakers' trust in the audience's imagination. To be fair, the third act feels somewhat rushed and leaves too many plot holes behind while requiring some suspension of disbelief. Logic isn't among the film's many strengths. However, that's forgivable because, as Hitchcock once astutely observed, logic is dull; imagination is more important.,
Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien play off of each other amazingly well, especially when they banter. They both are clearly having a lot of fun in their roles while handling the dramatic and comedic moments very convincingly. Of course, there's also the breathtaking scenery on the island which becomes a character in itself. The pace moves briskly enough and slows down at just the right moments. It's also worth mentioning the terrific music score by Danny Elfman. Ultimately, Send Help manages to be as fun and exciting as the third chapter of Triangle of Sadness with as much biting satire and tongue-in-cheek humor. At a running time of 1 hour and 53 minutes, it opens in theaters nationwide via 20 Century Studios.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Mason (Jason Stathan), an ex-assassin hiding out on a reclusive island, rescues a young girl (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) from a storm at sea before defending himself from the organization, MI6, that's now trying to kill him in Shelter. Director Ric Roman Waugh and screenwriter Ward Parry have made an uninspired, clunky and pedestrian action thriller with a fleeting amount of suspense and excitement. The screenplay's systemic issue, though, besides the on-the-nose dialogue and over-explaining, is that it reveals too much information too soon, so by the hour mark, the audience already knows who the villain is and there are no surprises left. In other words, Parry has a poor handle on exposition, a very important aspect of any kind of film. The action scenes aren't very memorable or exhilarating while the plot takes itself too seriously with not nearly enough comic relief. Jason Stathan is typecast in a role that we've seen before in better movies like The Transporter and even The Beekeeper. That said, it's great to see Bill Nighy playing a role that's darker than usual, but he deserves better material. Shelter would be the inferior B-movie in a double feature with the more gripping and intelligent Black Bag. At a running time of 1 hour and 47 minutes, Shelter opens in theaters nationwide via Black Bear Pictures.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
On a remote island, a father (Luke Evans) protects his daughter, Willa (Billie Boullet), from deadly monsters known as "breakers" and teaches her how to fight them in Worldbreaker. Brad Anderson and co-writer Joshua Rollins have made an intense and gritty, but tedious and uninspired sci-fi action thriller. The weak screenplay suffers from not enough world-building and a plot that barely spends time getting to know its characters. It has a concept that's similar to a post-apocalyptic zombie movie or werewolf movie: if someone gets bitten or scratched by one of the monsters, they turn into a monster/human hybrid. The breakers can only be killed by being decapitated; shooting them only slows them down. The filmmakers don't take that concept far enough. It's more important where filmmakers take ideas to than where they take ideas from. Milla Jovovich is wasted here as Willa's mother and barely a few minutes of screentime. Worldbreaker pales compared to her mindlessly entertaining sci-fi thriller Resident Evil manages to be much more entertaining on a visceral level. It would be the inferior B-movie in a double feature with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. At a running time of 1 hour and 35 minutes, Worldbreaker opens in select theaters nationwide via Aura Entertainment.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
