Saw X review

SAW X: 

TENTH SAW FILM IS ONE OF THE LONG-RUNNING HORROR FRANCHISE’S BEST! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

LIONSGATE

The game continues in Saw X

 

            John Kramer/The Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell-Mississippi Burning, The Firm, Unabomber: A True Story) returns for some unfinished business in Saw X, the tenth installment of the long-running Saw franchise dating all the way back to 2004. I’m sure I already went into this in my Spiral review from a couple years ago, but I never really got into the Saw series that much, liked the first one and seen the second and third films, saw the seventh movie in theaters during the big 3D boom that was going on at the time, I actually enjoyed 2017’s Jigsaw quite a bit, and Spiral despite being incredibly flawed was anchored by Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson’s performances. 

            The rest I’ve either only seen clips of or haven’t seen at all mostly because of how repetitive they are. There is a lot of imagination behind the traps, but at the end of the day you’re mostly just watching people maim themselves in hope of survival or face death. 

            For me, the best Saw films are the ones that have more of a story and decent-enough characters to balance out the excessive gore. Needless to say, I didn’t know what to expect when going into Saw X and coming out of it, this might be the best Saw movie or at least the best since the first. 

            The film is set between the events of Saw and Saw II and follows John Kramer AKA The Jigsaw Killer (Bell) traveling to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer. But when he realizes the entire thing was a scam set up by con artists, he takes matters into his own hands and makes the people who wronged him pay…in blood through another gruesome series of traps with the aid of his assistant Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith-The Blob (1988), The X-Files, Becker reprising her role from Saw 1-3 and Saw VI). 

            The film also stars Synnøve Macody Lund (Headhunters, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Ragnarok) as Cecilia Pederson, Steven Brand (The Scorpion King, Hellraiser: Revelations, Teen Wolf) as Parker Sears, Joshua Okamoto (Narcos: Mexico, Control Z) as Diego, Paulette Hernández (Destino, Perdida) as Valentina, Costas Mandylor (Picket Fences, The Pledge, Beowulf) reprising his role as Mark Hoffman, and Michael Beach (True Romance, Insidious: Chapter 2, Shelby Oaks) as Henry Kessler. 

            Overall, Saw X blends its grotesque violence and crazy death traps with a gripping story and a surprising amount of heart, resulting in one of the franchise’s best entries. What I especially like about this movie is that it takes its time to establish the characters and situation which makes the scam reveal more effective and the deaths all the more satisfying instead of just kidnapping random d-bags and locking them in the traps. 

            Aside from a premonition trap sequence, the beginning has practically no Saw violence and plays like a heartbreaking drama about cancer and coming to terms with it. Not once was I sitting there waiting for the traps to arrive as I was genuinely invested in John Kramer’s journey for a cure in the beginning and you actually do feel sympathy towards him in the entire film (Something I never thought I’d say given the fact this is The Jigsaw Killer). 

            It honestly reminded me of what Don’t Breathe 2 tried to do with Stephen Lang’s character where they make this monster into practically the hero of the film. But unlike that movie where the Blind Man’s turn felt underdeveloped and out of the blue, Saw X doesn’t forget the horrible things Kramer and Amanda have done and makes them the protagonists in a way that still fits with their characters. 

            The film also shows John Kramer at his most vulnerable and human where even he has his limits on who should be players in his games while also expressing his beliefs that everyone deserves a chance at redemption. So, even though he’s doing these horrible things to people he doesn’t really take pleasure or joy in commencing his traps despite it being a group of people who scammed him. 

            A lot of why this film works is attributed to Tobin Bell’s performance as John Kramer, I haven’t seen all the Sawmovies nor have I seen much Tobin Bell, but from what I’ve seen this is him at his absolute best. Since this is a more personal Jigsaw compared to other films, it allows Bell to express other sides of The Jigsaw Killer not explored (or at least not explored as much) in its predecessors and you legitimately feel for him in this movie. 

            I was also surprised that how invested I was in Shawnee Smith’s performance as Amanda Young who at first is just there to help Kramer with his traps, but even she goes through an arc as the film progresses. On top of having enjoyable chemistry with Tobin Bell, she has plenty of moments to shine in the film and become a thoroughly fascinating character. 

            The fact that I’m waiting until now to talk about the traps shows how good this movie really is, the Saw traps are blood-drenched fun though at times illogical, but you’re able to look past their holes. From a man being forced to slice through his own arms to remove wires holding explosives to them to getting incinerated by a radiation machine, it delivers the Saw goods. 

            I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed Saw X, the tenth installment of a series that felt like it was running out of steam. But through a well-crafted story and compelling characters, it managed to exceed my expectations in just about every way, well played, Jigsaw. 

PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie review

PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE: 

SUPERPOWERED FUN FOR VERY YOUNG KIDS, INOFFENSIVE FOR THE PARENTS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4 (For the kids) 

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND NICKELODEON MOVIES

Rocky, Marshall, Chase, Skye, Rubble, Zuma, and Liberty in PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie

 

            The PAW Patrol is back on the big screen (This time with superpowers) in PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, the (highly anticipated?) sequel to 2021’s PAW Patrol: The Movie based on the Nickelodeon animated series of the same name. I already mentioned in my review of the first movie that PAW Patrol was not something I grew up with, but I certainly see the appeal and I even kind of enjoyed the first film when I saw it. 

            Well, because it was a critical and commercial hit, we have a sequel where the PAW Patrol become superheroes (Sure). I was debating whether or not to see and review this one since I already talked enough about PAW Patrol in my review of the first film and figured there’d be no point in repeating myself. 

            I eventually caved in and decided to give a shot and…yeah, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie is about the same as my thought on the first movie. It’s harmless animated film that kids (specifically little kids) will absolutely love, but there’s just enough in it for the parents to feel like they weren’t dragged to it. 

            The film follows the PAW Patrol and their human boy leader, Ryder (voiced by newcomer, Finn Lee-Epp replacing Will Brisbin from the first film) stopping emergencies whenever they go and keeping the streets of Adventure City safe. But when a magical meteor crash lands in the city, it gives the PAW Patrol superpowers thus resulting in them becoming the Mighty Pups each with their own unique power which is especially exciting for Skye (voiced by Mckenna Grace-Annabelle Comes Home, Spirit: Untamed, Ghostbusters: Afterlife) as she is the smallest member of the team. 

            What starts off as a dream come true suddenly takes a turn for the worst when the PAW Patrol’s arch nemesis, Mayor Humdinger (voiced by Ron Pardo-Ned’s Newt, Braceface, Totally Spies) escapes from jail and teams up with a meteor-obsessed mad scientist known as Victoria “Vee” Vance (voiced by Taraji P. Henson-Ralph Breaks the Internet, Minions: The Rise of Gru, The Color Purple (2023)) with a plot to steal their superpowers and turn themselves into supervillains. Not if the PAW Patrol have anything to say about it. 

            The film also features the voices of Marsai Martin (Black-ish, Little, Spirit: Untamed) reprising her role as Liberty, Christian Convery (Descendants 3, Sweet Tooth, Cocaine Bear) as Chase, Lil Rel Howery (The Carmichael Show, Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah) as Sam Stringer, Chris Rock (Saturday Night Live, Madagascarfranchise, Spiral: From the Book of Saw) as Kitten Catastrophe, Alan Kim (Minari, Theater Camp) as Nano, James Marsden (X-Men franchise, Enchanted 1 and 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2) as Hank, and Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Frozen 1 and 2, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) as Janet. 

            Overall, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie will be best enjoyed by its young target audience, but there is enough imagination, heart, and decent humor for parents watching it with their children. Like its predecessor, it doesn’t talk down to kids nor is it cheap, manufactured garbage with zero passion behind it like something like Oogieloves, there is actual thought put into this movie even if it exists mostly to sell toys and entertain the little ones for an hour and a half. 

            This is a very inoffensive and safe animated film for kids, but the only thing about it that I found extremely offensive was that it earned a PG rating for seemingly no reason whatsoever. It has the exact same tone as the first movie (Which mind you, was rated G), it’s based on a show on Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr. preschool block, and was preceded by a Dora the Explorer short film, but it earned the same rating as Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Spider-Verse because apparently superheroes require Parental Guidance which is so dumb, that’s like giving a PG rating to a movie based on the VeggieTales LarryBoy segments, it just feels wrong. 

            Okay, PG rant over! The plot is very predictable and doesn’t really have any surprises to the point where I was able to pinpoint exactly where this film was going. However, for any other movie I would have made a big deal about this, but because this movie is aimed at a very young audience, I gave it a pass. 

            The movie does have a lot of fun with the superpowers like super strength and flight for Skye (Essentially a dogSupergirl), the dalmatian has fire powers, the police dog that wears blue gets super speed (Just like Mario), and another dog can turn into a dog wrecking ball that’s eerily similar to the spin-dash (Just like Crash Bandicoot). There’s even a dog that can turn himself into water which you don’t see often in other superhero movies, so I guess PAW Patrol did a superpower before the MCU. 

            I remembered the first movie had a lot of focus on the police dog, Chase and even went into his backstory which I found genuinely heartfelt and even got pretty dramatic. This film puts a lot of attention on the smallest member of the team, Skye and explores her origin which reminded me an awful lot of the beginning of Disney’s Oliver & Companywith how she was the smallest and weakest dog of the bunch (The runt of the litter), couldn’t get her share of food, and was never adopted until Ryder found her, it’s a surprisingly heartbreaking flashback that adds a lot of emotional weight to the film. 

            While everyone from the previous film acted pretty much the same here, Taraji P. Henson is having a ball as the new villain. She is very funny and has some enjoyable bits between her and Humdinger, but she does pose a legit threat against the PAW Patrol so there is more at stake here compared to Humdinger from the last film. 

            If you got little kids who want to see it, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie is harmless, superpowered fun that they’ll probably love with enough in there for parents to have fun alongside them. Definitely not a movie I’d personally ever watch again, but for a one-time viewing I don’t regret reuniting with this team of super-pups. 

Dumb Money review

DUMB MONEY: 

FILM ABOUT GAMESTOP STOCK IS ANYTHING BUT DUMB! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES AND STAGE 6 FILMS

Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Seth Rogen in Dumb Money

 

            A financial analyst and freelance YouTuber changes the game (literally) in Dumb Money, the latest film from Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, I, Tonya, Cruella) based on the 2021 GameStop short squeeze. The film is riding on the success of other movies about financial disasters such as Wall Street, Margin Call, and The Big Short and there will be many comparisons to those films amongst moviegoers. 

            I didn’t really follow the GameStop short squeeze when it was happening though I eventually figured it out through word of mouth online and when the 2022 documentary film, GameStop: Rise of the Players was released chronicling the events…I still have not seen it BTW. I was, however, very much aware of GameStop’s inevitable plummet and various controversies surrounding that company during the end of their run so I at least have a basic idea of what went down with GameStop as a company. 

            Now that the very first feature film based on the events is finally here, I can say that Dumb Money is…good. I don’t think it’s one of the absolute best films based on a real-life financial crisis, but I found myself really enjoying it for the most part. 

            The film is set during the COVID-19 pandemic and follows Keith Gill (Paul Dano-Prisoners, The Batman, The Fabelmans), a regular guy working as a financial analyst in Brockton, Massachusetts and freelance YouTuber under the name, Roaring Kitty struggling to provide for his family and his content is constantly mocked by his brother Kevin (Pete Davidson-The King of Staten Island, The Suicide Squad, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts). But when he notices that the stock of the once-successful video game store, GameStop is falling he decides to put his life savings into buying stock in it and regularly livestream updates with his viewers. 

            Suddenly, his social posts start blowing up as well as his life and the lives of everyone following him as the stock tip soon becomes a movement as everyone starts getting rich…until the billionaires start fighting back. 

            The film also stars Shailene Woodley (The Spectacular Now, The Divergent Series, The Fault in Our Stars) as Keith’s wife Caroline, Seth Rogen (Superbad, 50/50, This is the End) as Melvin Capital Management founder Gabe Plotkin, Vincent D’Onofrio (Men in Black, Jurassic World, Marvel’s Daredevil) as Steve Cohen, America Ferrera (Ugly Betty, How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, Barbie) as Jennifer Campbell, Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation, Fargo, Jump Street) as Kenneth C. Griffin, Anthony Ramos (A Star is Born (2018), In the Heights, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) as GameStop employee Marcos, Sebastian Stan (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Logan Lucky, I, Tonya) as Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Dane DeHaan (Chronicle, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, A Cure for Wellness) as Marcos’ boss Brad, Myha’la Herrold (Industry, Bodies Bodies Bodies) and Talia Ryder (Never Rarely Sometimes Always, West Side Story (2021), Do Revenge) as college students Riri and Harmony, Rushi Kota (Grey’s Anatomy, The Divorce Party, Never Have I Ever) as Baiju Bhatt, Clancy Brown (DC Animated Universe, SpongeBob Squarepants, John Wick: Chapter 4) as Keith’s father Steven, Kate Burton (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Where’d You Go, Bernadette) as Keith’s mother Elaine, Larry Owens (Fairfax, Search Party, Harley Quinn) as Chris, Olivia Thirlby (Being Flynn, Dredd, Oppenheimer) as Gabe’s wife Yaara, and Deniz Akdeniz (Tomorrow, When the War Began, Once Upon a Time, You Hurt My Feelings) as Keith’s financial colleague Briggsy. 

            Overall, Dumb Money doesn’t quite have the same impact as something like The Big Short, but it’s still a well-crafted and fascinating look at one of the wildest moments in recent years. I personally thought The Big Short had a much stronger narrative and was better paced than this and while I was entertained throughout, at times it gets a little unfocused. 

            The film sets up Paul Dano’s Keith as the main character which makes sense since he plays the largest part in the story, but then it’ll spend too much time setting up other characters and focus a lot on them to the point where the narrative feels busy. This movie is also under 2 hours with a 1 hour and 44-minute runtime so perhaps if the film was longer or if it narrowed down the things to focus on, I think it would have been much stronger and better paced. 

            With that said, the movie did a decent job at filling me in on the details of what went down during the GameStop short squeeze and how it affected the country. The way the film is written honestly reminded me a lot of Aaron Sorkin’s writing and if you’ve seen films like The Social Network, Moneyball, and Molly’s Game you probably know what I’m talking about, there’s a lot of talk about statistics and analyzing but not to the point where it loses your attention or that it’s hard to follow. 

            What really makes the film work is the performances, Paul Dano is a very charismatic lead actor, and you are invested in his character’s life, family struggles, etc. He brings this likable energy to this real-life person, and you want to see him succeed. 

            Pete Davidson has some fun moments as Keith’s vulgar brother, and I especially enjoyed his interactions with Dano. Davidson is a hit-or-miss comedic actor, but this is one of his performances that genuinely works. 

            Other memorable performances include Shailene Woodley, America Ferrera, Seth Rogen, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Nick Offerman who all have their moments to shine in the film. While not every cast member is heavily focused on, they use their screen-time very effectively. 

            Dumb Money is ironically a smart and fascinating tale about one of the craziest moments in recent American history that’s elevated by the performances by the cast, clever dialogue, and a riveting story. It isn’t perfect and there are aspects that could have been improved, but for what I got I was entertained throughout by this wild “Game”. 

The Creator review

THE CREATOR: 

A FLAWED BUT WELL-CONSTRUCTED SCI-FI ADVENTURE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

20^TH CENTURY STUDIOS

A conflict between humans and AI robots is about to begin in The Creator

 

            In the tradition of films about artificial intelligence such as A.I., Ex-Machina, M3GAN, and…Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, writer-director Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla (2014), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) decides to throw his hat in the ring with his latest sci-fi adventure, The Creator. Along with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Oppenheimer, this was one of my most anticipated films of the year, I admire Edwards as a filmmaker even though his films aren’t necessarily great (I enjoyed his Godzilla movie and Rogue Onedespite their flaws). 

            Regardless of whether or not I love or simply like a movie of his, I’m usually very excited whenever a new film of his comes out and this was no exception. Especially since artificial intelligence has become so relevant in recent years (Most infamously it being the cause of the 2023 Writers Guild of America Strike) and how advanced it’s gotten. 

            So, after much anticipation and repeatedly watching the trailers featuring the Aerosmith song, Dream On, I can say that I enjoyed The Creator. I don’t think it’s a perfect film especially in terms of its narrative, but there is a lot to admire about it. 

            The film is set in 2065 during a war between the human race and forces of artificial intelligence and follows a hardened ex-special forces agent named Joshua (John David Washington-BlacKkKlansman, Tenet, Amsterdam) grieving over the mysterious disappearance of his wife Maya (Gemma Chan-Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Crazy Rich Asians, Eternals) being recruited to hunt down and kill the elusive architect of advanced AI simply known as the Creator who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war…and mankind itself. But when Joshua discovers the weapon is actually in the form of a young child named Alphie (Newcomer, Madeleine Yuna Voyles), he realizes there may be more to this little robot girl than he expected. 

            The film also stars Ken Watanabe (Inception, Godzilla 1 and 2, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu) as Harun, Sturgill Simpson (The Dead Don’t Die, The Hunt, Killers of the Flower Moon) as Shipley, Allison Janney (American Beauty, I, Tonya, Bombshell) as Colonel Howell, Ralph Ineson (Harry Potter franchise, The Green Knight, The Northman) as General Andrews, Marc Menchaca (The Alamo, Ozark, Sick) as General McBride, and Veronica Ngo (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Da 5 Bloods, The Old Guard) as Kami. 

            Overall, The Creator may not be the most original film about artificial intelligence, but it’s still a well-constructed sci-fi adventure with excellent performances by the cast and tons of relevant, thought-provoking themes. The plot is very derivative of other sci-fi films about AI to the point where it can get predictable at times, but it utilizes familiar elements in a way that makes them feel new when you see it. 

            I wasn’t constantly comparing this film to other movies with similar subject matter or storylines and if anything, I was engrossed thanks to its spectacular cast. I’ve talked about John David Washington as an actor before in other movie reviews and he is once again a very endearing leading man for the film, but the person who steals the show is easily Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Alphie and the #1 reason to see the movie. 

            This is Voyles’ first acting credit, and she knocks it out of the park here, she is so sympathetic and so likable in this movie while also having very charming chemistry with…just about every single one of her co-stars. Voyles is giving her all in every scene and finds a perfect balance between cute and innocent and dead serious, easily one of the best child actor performances since Haley Joel Osment from The Sixth Sense and Jacob Tremblay from Room. 

            Despite taking place several years in the future, The Creator hits on some very relevant themes specifically with AI, how far it should go, and the difference between intelligence and artificial intelligence. We all know how big AI has become in the news lately and how it’s been subjected to both excitement and controversy and this film depicts those real-life aspects very effective while also showing sympathy for the artificial intelligence, it reminded me a lot of James Cameron’s Terminator movies if the Machines had a sense of humanity to them which I found very fascinating in the film. 

             The CG effects are also stunning with the absolute best being the ones you don’t even notice like the robot parts of Alphie and other AI robots, or some the technology used in this world. There was a trailer for the new MCU movie, The Marvels before it and just about all the CGI looked very fake and overly digital despite having a significantly larger budget than this so kudos to the filmmakers and graphic artists here for actually trying to make the effects look as good as possible. 

            At times, the film’s pacing feels rushed with certain plot elements being glossed over or were originally explored more but had to be trimmed down to fit the runtime. It didn’t bother me too much, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a director’s cut comes out that expands upon the world and storyline further and is better paced than the version released in theaters. 

            Despite its flaws, The Creator is definitely worth checking out especially in a theater with a large screen. You get a fun sci-fi adventure while also getting a much deeper storyline about modern technology VS society and if there’s a middle ground that could be reached. 

Rose City Comic Con 2023 Recap