The Killer review

THE KILLER: 

DAVID FINCHER AND MICHAEL FASSBENDER MAKE ONE “KILLER” MOVIE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

NETFLIX

Michael Fassbender in The Killer

 

            An unnamed assassin faces off against his employers (and himself) after a hit gone wrong in The Killer, the new film from David Fincher (Se7en, The Social Network, Gone Girl) and based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Alexis “Matz” Nolent. I have not read the graphic novels, nor did I even realize it was based on a comic until I saw the movie, so I have no idea how faithful it is to the source material. 

            Because of that, I will only be judging it as a film and from the perspective of someone who admires Fincher’s work. Alien 3 aside, I enjoyed pretty much every movie David Fincher directed with The Social Network being among my favorite movies, but this is more like a return to gritty Se7en, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone GirlFincher filmmaking…which I have no complaints about. 

            The Killer sees Fincher reunite with screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker (8mm, Sleepy Hollow, The Wolfman(2010)) who had worked together on Se7en and stars Michael Fassbender (X-Men franchise, 12 Years a Slave, Steve Jobs) as the titular killer. The film currently has a limited theatrical release and will drop on Netflix on November 10^thand whether you’re going out to the theater or streaming, this is a fantastic David Fincher movie that effectively follows in the footsteps of Se7en. 

            The film follows an unnamed killer (Fassbender) who gets embroiled in an international manhunt after a hit goes wrong. He targets his employers while also battling his own demons in a blood-soaked showdown that he swears isn’t personal. 

            The film also stars Arliss Howard (The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Moneyball, Mank) as The Client, Charles Parnell (The Venture Bros., All My Children, Top Gun: Maverick) as The Lawyer, Sala Baker (The Lord of the Ringstrilogy) as The Brute, Sophie Charlotte (Serra Pelada, Barata Ribeiro, 716, Passport to Freedom) as Magdala, Tilda Swinton (Adaptation, The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy, Marvel Cinematic Universe) as The Expert, Monique Ganderton (Chicago, The Cabin in the Woods, X-Men: Apocalypse) as The Dominatrix, and Jack Kessy (The Strain, 12 Strong, Deadpool 2) as The Salesman. 

            Overall, The Killer adds another engaging thriller to David Fincher’s filmography with a perfectly cast Michael Fassbender in the lead role. I’ve seen Fassbender give some incredible performances throughout his career, and this might be his absolute best. 

Fassbender in this movie honestly reminded me a lot of Ryan Gosling’s performance in Drive where he doesn’t speak much, but you get an idea of what this person is like through his facial expressions and actions. Though in this film, he does give a narration throughout the movie to progress the story so he’s not entirely silent. 

The plot is centered around Fassbender’s killer and him trying to finish the job which may be a turnoff point for those expecting a James Bond or John Wick-style action movie, it is definitely not that. There are some shootouts and even people getting killed in over-the-top ways, but it also takes a lot of time to let the characters breathe, set up future kills, and focus on the psychology of Fassbender’s character, some may find it boring I was invested all the way through. 

The action scenes are very exhilarating and phenomenally shot and edited with the highlight being this brutal fight between The Killer and The Brute in the latter’s home. It’s a gritty and brilliantly filmed sequence that constantly builds on top of itself going from fistfights to slashing with sharp objects and a shootout. 

Also, the scenes with The Killer interrogating someone and often result in the person he was interrogating being killed have a lot of tension behind them. There were even times where the film threw me off-guard when certain characters I thought weren’t going to die did end up dead by the end which goes back to The Killer’s rule of having no sympathy. 

The movie has an amazing soundtrack with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross in their fifth collaboration with Fincher following The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, and Mank crafting yet another excellent musical score. But also, certain songs are utilized throughout the film that The Killer is listening to similar to Baby’s playlist from Baby Driver including a lot of songs by The Smiths, I was even bopping my head to them in my seat. 

I absolutely loved The Killer and strongly recommend seeking it out whether in theaters or on Netflix. It’s easily up there with Se7en, Fight Club, The Social Network, and Gone Girl as one of David Fincher’s finest as well as one of Michael Fassbender’s best performances, take the job and see for yourself. 

Five Nights at Freddy's review

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S: 

A VERY DISAPPOINTING NIGHT AT FREDDY’S! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: * ½ out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, Carl the Cupcake, and Foxy in Five Nights at Freddy’s

 

            Freddy and his friends escape the video game world to haunt the big screen in Five Nights at Freddy’s, the new horror film from Blumhouse based on the incredibly popular video game series of the same name. I should make this clear, I have never played a Five Nights at Freddy’s game before, but I know of them and have seen videos covering them (I actually watched all of SomeCallMeJohnny’s Five Nights at Freddy’s game reviews the night before seeing this) so I have a basic understanding of what they’re like. 

            The games, created by Scott Cawthon and revolved around you controlling a night security guard, monitoring security cameras, and defending yourself from hostile animatronic characters at an abandoned Chuck E. Cheese/Showbiz-inspired pizza restaurant were so simple yet so impactful that it became a huge phenomenon with spin-offs, merchandise, and countless cosplays of the characters at conventions. So popular in fact that talks of a film adaptation of the series dated back to 2015 shortly after its inception the year prior with it originally being a co-production between Warner Bros. and The Jim Henson Company and Gil Kenan as the director which never happened. 

            After the success of other films cashing in on the concept like The Banana Splits Movie and Willy’s Wonderland, Five Nights at Freddy’s has finally hit the big screen courtesy of producer Jason Blum (The Purge franchise, Halloween (2018 trilogy), The Invisible Man (2020)) and Emma Tammi in her mainstream feature film directorial debut. So, after much anticipation especially among Five Nights at Freddy’s fans I can say that Freddy Fazbear’s cinematic debut…does not live up to the hype! 

            I’m not calling it one of the worst video game adaptations of all time as there is an attempt at capturing the spirit of the source material. Unfortunately, it gets bogged down by unnecessary plot elements and a serious lack of scares and campy fun. 

            The film follows Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson-Zathura, The Kids Are All Right, The Hunger Gamesfranchise), a troubled security guard beginning his new job at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a beloved family pizza restaurant from the 80s that was shut down due to reports of missing children. However, during the night shift Mike starts to notice unusual activity in the restaurant and that its animatronic characters are alive and causing all kinds of mischief and terror. 

            With the aid of his younger sister Abby (Newcomer, Piper Rubio) and a local police officer who is very well-educated about the Freddy Fazbear’s restaurant’s history named Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail-Once Upon a Time, Dead of Summer, You), Mike will uncover the dark secret behind the restaurant as the three of them fight to escape. 

            The film also stars Matthew Lillard (Scream, Scooby-Doo 1 and 2, The Descendants) as Mike’s career counselor Steve Raglan, Mary Stuart Masterson (Benny & Joon, Blindspot, For Life) as Mike and Abby’s Aunt Jane, and Theodus Crane (The Walking Dead, Underground) as Mike’s previous co-worker Jeremiah. 

            Overall, Five Nights at Freddy’s is a film that should be scary and fun, turns out it doesn’t really succeed at either. When it actually is Five Nights at Freddy’s, the film can be somewhat entertaining with a few inventive kills, campiness, and 80s nostalgia, but during the daytime, it becomes a slow, shallow, and just not very interesting mystery that audiences can figure out relatively quickly. 

            Probably the biggest problem with the film is that it is not scary with only one or two jump-scares in the whole thing. Again, I haven’t played the games, but I know jump-scares play a huge part in the game so having very little of the source material’s signature jump-scares almost feels as insulting as turning Bowser into a human being with a de-evolution gun. 

            The film is riddled with these dream sequences of Josh Hutcherson’s Mike in a forest with the ghosts of the missing children that exist only to drag the movie out to feature-length, and I guess, try to give some motive and backstory to Mike’s character with his brother getting kidnapped when he was young, but I thought it severely clashed with the campy and terrifying nature of the Five Nights at Freddy’s premise. There’s also a subplot with him in a legal battle against his aunt over child custody over his sister that felt very unnecessary and out-of-place. 

            So yeah, when it’s Five Nights at Freddy’s it’s a little fun, but when it tries to be a real movie it doesn’t work in the slightest. Which is a shame because the performances are perfectly fine, Josh Hutcherson is a decent leading man here and I did enjoy the dynamic he has with his younger sister, Matthew Lillard is also a treasure in this movie (And I’m not just saying that because I met him earlier this year at a convention) and I very much appreciated his efforts at trying to breathe life into the film. 

            The animatronics are fantastic and look like they’re ripped straight from the game which is one of the few things I constantly praise in the movie. I enjoyed how they move and interact with the human characters, their appearances blurring the line between playful and creepy, and the fact that the overall costumes, puppets, and animatronic machines do have real weight to them. 

            But aside from appealing practical effects and production design, some decent performances, and a few creative scares, Five Nights at Freddy’s can’t seem to make the transition to the big screen thus becomes another lackluster video game film adaptation. Maybe fans of the game will say otherwise as there are a ton of Easter Eggs and callbacks, but if you’re looking for a well-made animatronic horror movie that actually delivers, Banana Splits or Willy’s Wonderland. 

Dicks: The Musical review

DICKS: THE MUSICAL: 

LARRY CHARLES’ UPROARIOUS MUSICAL COMEDY IS ABSOLUTELY CHAOTIC! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

A24

Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, Bowen Yang, Josh Sharp, Aaron Jackson, and Megan Thee Stallion in Dicks: The Musical

 

            In the tradition of raunchy musicals for adults like South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, and The Book of Mormon, director Larry Charles (Seinfeld, Borat, Brüno) grows some balls and does his own take on adult musical comedies in Dicks: The Musical, the very first musical from A24 and based on the off-Broadway musical Fucking Identical Twins by Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson. I’ve always admired Larry Charles’ work from his writing on Seinfeld to his collaborations with Sacha Baron Cohen including Borat, Brüno, and The Dictator all of which he directed, so you can bet I was intrigued when his next film, Dicks: The Musical was announced. 

            And boy, this is definitely a movie let me tell you! The best way I can describe it is like a musical version of The Parent Trap mixed with Bros, the shock humor from Borat, and the bizarre visual humor from Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny with the end result being genuinely funny. 

            The film is definitely not for everyone and there are quite a few moments where I could see audiences getting offended by the subject matter and humor. But as someone who watched a lot of South Park, Family Guy, and several Adult Swim shows, not to mention comedies like Borat, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Superbad, and Tropic Thunder as a tween and teenager, I was laughing quite often during my viewing of Dicks: The Musical. 

            The film is set in New York City and follows two business adversaries, Craig and Trevor (Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson in their feature film debut) who realize they’re actually identical twin brothers and that their parents have divorced, and each took custody of one child after they were born. Upon discovering the news, they decide to switch places in hopes of reuniting their parents, Harris (Nathan Lane-The Lion King, The Birdcage, The Producers (2005)) and Evelyn (Megan Mullally-Will & Grace, The Kings of Summer, Hotel Transylvania 2) and becoming a family again…oh, and something to do with Sewer Boys…yeah, that’s a plot-point! 

            The film also stars Bowen Yang (Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, The Lost City, Bros) as God, Megan Thee Stallion as Gloria, The late Sonya Eddy (Matchstick Men, General Hospital, Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday) as Sonya the Old Lady, Danielle Perez (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) as Danielle the Stooper, and Nick Offerman (Sin City, Jump Street, Dumb Money) as Steve Chaney and features the voice of Tom Kenny (SpongeBob Squarepants, The Powerpuff Girls, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) as one of the Sewer Boys. 

            Overall, Dicks: The Musical is an uproarious and gleefully profane musical comedy that will both offend and make people laugh. As mentioned earlier, this is not a movie for everyone, and your enjoyment of the film will depend on your tolerance for extremely shocking, vulgar, and downright bizarre humor. 

            For the most part I found the movie to be very funny, but I can easily see someone watch the movie, see how certain subject matter is depicted, and get offended by it. Then again, this is a musical comedy from the director of Borat so what did you expect, Les Miserables? 

            The film also isn’t afraid to get weird and there are quite a few oddities during it such as the already mentioned Sewer Boys that Nathan Lane’s character takes care of (And actually have some pretty impressive practical effects and puppetry) to another random character popping up as the film goes on and the film’s completely bonkers ending sequence which features probably the most offensive gag in the entire movie. I have to give Charles, Sharp, and Jackson credit for going all-out with the film’s content and it actually did take me back to my teenage years when movies this shocking and controversial were more commonplace. 

            The performances are very amusing and help balance out all the film’s chaos, Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson especially have a funny dynamic together, Nathan Lane is always a delight on-screen and he has some great moments in the film, and Megan Mullally who I thought was going to get on my nerves as their clueless mother, but she ended up giving some of the funniest lines in the entire movie. Also, Bowen Yang as a scene-stealing comedic depiction of God is almost as legendary as Morgan Freeman from Bruce Almighty. 

            The songs are genuine toe-tappers, and the musical numbers are lively and full of comedic energy with Nathan Lane’s Gay Old Life being the absolute best and likely won’t leave my head anytime soon. The musical numbers themselves sort of have this Book of Mormon or a live-action version of a Family Guy song sequence energy that practically leap off the screen when a character breaks into song and in an age where Disney animated musicals and adaptations of West Side Story and Wicked are the norm, it’s so refreshing to see the cast, crew, and dance performers put all this passion and life into musical sequences that are essentially riddled with vulgarities and topical humor. 

            While Dicks: The Musical may not be one of the all-time greatest musical comedies for adults, I was laughing and tapping along throughout the entire film. It’s definitely an acquired taste and won’t appeal to everyone so I only recommend it to those who have the gonads to handle its hysterical anarchy. 

Killers of the Flower Moon review

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: 

MARTIN SCORSESE’S 3 ½ HOUR WESTERN IS ONE OF HIS FINEST! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS

Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon

 

            Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street, The Revenant, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) joins forces with Robert De Niro (The Godfather: Part II, Taxi Driver, Joker) and director Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, The Departed, The Irishman) to bring David Grann’s best-selling novel to the screen in Killers of the Flower Moon. I love Scorsese as a filmmaker and think he’s made some truly excellent movies for quite a long time now from his classic gangster films like Goodfellas and Casino to religious movies like Kundun and Silence and his more experimental work like Shutter Island and Hugo, you can tell this man really cares about what he’s bringing to the screen and pours his blood, sweat, and tears into every shot. 

            The same can be said about Killers of the Flower Moon which had just been released in theaters and will be followed by a digital release on Apple TV+. I’ve never read the book the film was based on, but damn Scorsese once again knocked it out of the park. 

            The film is set in 1920s Oklahoma and centers around a series of murders in the Osage Nation after oil was discovered on tribal land thus sparking a major FBI investigation. At the center of it all is Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) who had just returned from World War I and his rancher uncle William “King” Hale (De Niro) who acts like a friendly neighbor to the Osage people but has plans of his own for them. 

            The film also stars Lily Gladstone (Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian, Certain Women, First Cow) as Ernest’s wife Mollie Burkhart, Jesse Plemons (The Master, Black Mass, Judas and the Black Messiah) as BOI agent Tom White, Tantoo Cardinal (Dances with Wolves, Legends of the Fall, Smoke Signals) as Mollie’s mother Lizzie Q, John Lithgow (3^rd Rock from the Sun, Shrek, Interstellar) as Prosecutor Peter Leaward, Brendan Fraser (George of the Jungle, The Mummy trilogy, The Whale) as Attorney W.S. Hamilton, Scott Shepherd (Side Effects, Bridge of Spies, First Cow) as Ernest’s brother Byron Burkhart, Sturgill Simpson (Queen & Slim, The Hunt, The Creator) as Henry Grammer, Gary Basaraba (The Last Temptation of Christ, The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), Sound of Freedom) as William J. Burns, and Steven Eastin (Field of Dreams, Con Air, Catch Me If You Can) as Judge Pollock. 

            Overall, Killers of the Flower Moon is three-and-a-half hours of Martin Scorsese excellence and like Oppenheimer, it doesn’t feel as long as it is. I was thoroughly invested in the story and getting wrapped up in the characters and their dilemmas. 

            I will admit, the film does take a while to get going and there are a lot of slow scenes or scenes that go on for a long time. However, this is also a movie that’s taking its time as there is a lot to unravel, and the film is very well-paced with interesting characters guiding the way, so you never feel bored as you’re watching it. 

            The plot is extremely captivating as a grim reminder of one of the darkest moments in American history and how it can echo current events in today’s society. This is a very important and horrific story to tell that isn’t often discussed with themes of hate crimes, racial violence, and greed and given what’s been going on in the modern world, this film came out at just the right time and is sure to leave a lasting impression with moviegoers even after it ends. 

            Here’s something you probably never heard before about a Scorsese movie, the performances are superb and will likely gain Oscar attention during awards season. Leonardo DiCaprio is phenomenal and gives a very unique performance as this man who truly loves his wife a lot but is also trying to murder her family for wealth which adds this really interesting conflict to his character and DiCaprio plays both sides of Ernest wonderfully. 

            Robert De Niro is also excellent as Ernest’s uncle who plays the part as if one of his gangster characters from other movies was posing as a friendly neighbor and town friend to the Native Americans so he can kill them and get their money. Lily Gladstone is the true star of the film, I found her character to be very endearing throughout and felt genuinely sorry for her character when terrible things start to happen in her life, Gladstone is the heart and soul of the movie and rightfully deserves an Oscar for her performance. 

            The production design and cinematography are amazing, Martin Scorsese and production designer Jack Fisk really make 1920s Oklahoma come alive in every shot of the film. From scenes of the busy town to simple shots of the landscapes and scenery, Scorsese and Fisk’s work capture the size and scope of the event and looks outstanding on the big screen, easily Scorsese’s best-looking film since probably Hugo. 

            Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is a cinematic achievement not to be missed and not only ranks among the best films of his career, but also one of the best films of the year. Whether you’re seeing it in theaters or streaming it on Apple TV+, this is a mandatory viewing that will leave you speechless. 

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