Until Dawn review

UNTIL DAWN: 

BY THE NUMBERS HORROR MOVIE BASED ON POPULAR PLAYSTATION GAME! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

SCREEN GEMS

Ella Rubin in Until Dawn

 

            The world of the survival horror game, Until Dawn hits the big screen in…Until Dawn, the new horror film from director David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle Creation, Shazam! 1 and 2) based on the 2015 PlayStation video game of the same name. Unlike previous PlayStation film adaptations like Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted, and Gran Turismo, I have never played the Until Dawn game before nor do I have any knowledge of it aside from what was shown in the movie’s trailer. 

            I hear the game is great and maybe I’ll finally experience it for myself sometime soon, but for right now, I’m just talking about the movie based on it and judging it on its own merits. The PlayStation adaptations have had a bumpy history from the phenomenal TV adaptation of The Last of Us and the decent Gran Turismo movie to the polarizing Ratchet & Clank and Uncharted films (The latter was financially successful despite mixed critical reactions) so, where does Until Dawn fall under? I’m putting it under mediocre like Uncharted! 

            It isn’t a terrible movie and there are things to admire about it like the atmosphere and creative kills and monster designs, but it’s a very by the numbers horror movie with a setup and stock characters we’ve seen a million times before in other movies. Even the novelty of the night starting over after the people die isn’t that original as Blumhouse’sHappy Death Day already did something like that and did it way better. 

            The film follows Clover (Ella Rubin-Gossip Girl, The Girl from Plainville, Anora) and her friends heading to a remote valley one year after her sister mysteriously disappeared to search for answers. When they come across an abandoned visitor center and start exploring it, they find themselves stalked by a mysterious masked killer that murders them one by one only to find themselves back at the beginning of the evening. 

            Trapped in the valley and forced to relive the same night over and over with a different threat more terrifying than the last, the group realizes they have a limited number of deaths left and the only way to escape is to survive…until dawn. 

            The film also stars Michael Cimino (Love, Victor, Annabelle Comes Home, Hamster & Gretel) as Max, Odessa A’zion (Ghosts, Hellraiser (2022), Fresh Kills) as Nina, Ji-young Yoo (Moxie, Expats, Freaky Tales) as Megan, Belmont Cameli (Saved by the Bell (2020), Along for the Ride, The Alto Knights) as Abe, Maia Mitchell (Mortified, Trapped, Good Trouble) as Clover’s missing sister Melanie, and Peter Stormare (The Big Lebowski, Armageddon, Minority Report) reprising his role from the game as Dr. Hill. 

            Overall, Until Dawn has a lot of things going for it like the ways the characters are killed, the unexpectedness of what the house will throw at them next, and the creepy atmosphere, unfortunately it’s a generic haunted house slasher movie with stock characters and uninspired storytelling. The characters are very one-note and underdeveloped as they’re simply thrown right in with clunky exposition dialogue in hopes of filling in the cracks. 

            The actors themselves do fine with the material, but nothing about them stand out or make them compelling. Honestly, they make the stock characters from The Cabin in the Woods look like Sidney Prescott from Scream or Rocky from Don’t Breathe by comparison, at least they had some character development. 

            The plot is very standard haunted house movie tropes, characters snoop around places they shouldn’t be, make dumb decisions, and the inevitable jump scares. There is one creative scare involving a character getting possessed and her voice changes into all the different people that went missing, that was a legitimately cool and creepy sequence. 

            It’s also unapologetically gory with tons of meaty and fleshy explosions of red painting the rooms. People getting ripped in half, limbs getting bitten off, legs caught in bear traps, and death by water…I’ll just leave it at that. 

            The designs of all the monsters and masked people trying to kill the protagonists are very creative and lead to some fun, creepy scenes. So, where the movie drops the ball on story and characters, it at least succeeds in creature designs and bloody deaths. 

            I also like how the movie looks in terms of the production design and cinematography that effectively capture a bleak and suspenseful atmosphere. This may be David F. Sandberg’s weakest movie so far, but he certainly didn’t slouch on its visual look. 

            I’m not sure what fans of the game will think of this movie as it is a very generic horror movie and video game adaptation that reminds you of other, better films of the genre. Similar to Five Nights at Freddy’s and even the Minecraft movie out now, maybe see it just for the homages and easter eggs to the source material and seeing concepts from the PlayStation game brought to life on the big screen, everyone else should just go see Sinners instead. 

The Legend of Ochi review

THE LEGEND OF OCHI: 

ISAIAH SAXON EFFECTIVELY CRAFTS A LOST 80S FAMILY FANTASY! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

A24

The titular creature in The Legend of Ochi

 

            In the tradition of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and How to Train Your Dragon, director Isaiah Saxon makes his feature film directorial debut with his take on the classic child befriends extraordinary creature story with the new fantasy adventure, The Legend of Ochi. Much like 2022’s Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, this is a rare step into family-friendly territory for independent film studio, A24 so it’s probably a good thing there wasn’t a trailer for Bring Her Back before the movie. 

            I was interested in seeing this when I saw the trailer and posters though I hadn’t thought much about it as it was coming out. I only saw the trailer once in theaters in front of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and everything else was just through posters and images I saw. 

            Well, A24 surprised me with Marcel as that became one of my favorite films of 2022 so, how does Ochi stack up? It’s really good. 

            It isn’t a cinematic groundbreaker nor does it have the emotional weight of Marcel, but I found this to be a very charming, visually breathtaking, and imaginative family fantasy film that’s not afraid to go dark (PG dark) and a solid throwback to 80s fantasies like The Neverending Story, The Dark Crystal, and Return to Oz. 

            The film is set in a secluded northern village and follows a farm girl named Yuri (Helena Zengel-System Crasher, News of the World) who is taught not to go outside after dark and to fear the reclusive and mysterious creature known as the Ochi. But when she discovers and rescues a lost baby Ochi that resembles Grogu from The Mandalorian, Stitch, and Gizmo from Gremlins (The noises it makes even sound like the Mogwai from Gremlins), she embarks on an adventure to return it to its family. 

            The film also stars Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man, The Lighthouse, Nosferatu) as Maxim, Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things, Ghostbusters franchise, Hell of a Summer) as Petro, and Emily Watson (Punch-Drunk Love, Corpse Bride, The Theory of Everything) as Dasha. 

            Overall, The Legend of Ochi hits a lot of familiar beats you’ve seen in other films like this, but they’re executed incredibly well with a lot of love for what the filmmakers and cast are bringing to the screen. I think it helps that it’s a movie from an independent studio like A24 because under a mainstream distributor, it probably would have been significantly modernized and Willem Dafoe’s character would just be a straight-up bad guy, but instead the character is very humanized and goes through an arc. 

            Dafoe’s character reminded me a lot of Stoic from DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon as this gruff father figure who sees these mystical creatures as enemies, but through the person he’s protecting and actually seeing the creatures for himself, he learns they aren’t a threat. I probably don’t need to say Dafoe is amazing in this movie as he’s an actor who brings his A-game to every performance, you could probably cast him in a movie that’s utter garbage and he’ll still be incredibly entertaining. 

            Emily Watson is also a standout as this reclusive woman in the woods with a lot of knowledge about the Ochi. She balances between being friendly and a bit off very well and like Dafoe is very humanized and flawed thus making you invested in her story. 

            The effects on the Ochi are amazing with an immense use of practical effects and puppetry to the point where I was convinced it was created in CGI. Just goes to show that effects made from people’s blood, tears, and sweat is a lot more impressive and inspiring than generating everything in a computer though some computer animation was used in the film. 

            One of the things I enjoyed doing during my viewing was marveling at the film’s breathtaking cinematography and shots of mountain tops, definitely looks incredible on the big screen. Even the way the production design was done and how the movie was shot blew my mind as the film had this grainy 80s fantasy look to it that as mentioned before is reminiscent of films like The Neverending Story, Return to Oz, and others. 

            The movie isn’t afraid to go dark and is definitely a film that earns its PG rating, the opening sequence where Dafoe and his kids are hunting for the Ochi is pretty damn intense, some heavy themes about family dilemmas, and a few bloody injuries. 

            Despite this being a very sweet and solidly crafted family film, I don’t see this being an audience movie because of its slow pace and more artsy approach. Which is a shame because it’s an amazing movie that hits all the right notes yet A Minecraft Movie will probably still dance on its corpse in terms of box office revenue. 

            I really enjoyed The Legend of Ochi on both a technical and emotional level, it’s a family movie that isn’t cynical, doesn’t talk down to kids, and is touching without being shmaltzy. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re fond of 80s fantasy movies aimed at kids or inspired by great filmmaking then this one “Legend” to check out. 

The Accountant 2 review

THE ACCOUNTANT 2: 

BEN AFFLECK TEAMS UP WITH JON BERNTHAL IN VERY ENJOYABLE SEQUEL! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

MGM AND WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Ben Affleck in The Accountant 2

 

            Ben Affleck (The Town, Argo, Gone Girl) returns as Christian Wolff in The Accountant 2, the I guess, much anticipated sequel to the 2016 action film, The Accountant. I reviewed the first movie back in 2016 and thought it was okay, it’s a mostly run of the mill action thriller with an interesting premise that didn’t quite deliver on its full potential though Ben Affleck’s turn as the titular accountant assassin who’s on the spectrum was extraordinary and honestly carried the entire movie. 

            Now we have the sequel released nearly a decade since the first once again directed by Gavin O’Connor (Miracle, Warrior, The Way Back) that seemed like it came out of nowhere (No joke, I wasn’t aware of this movie coming out until I saw a standee for it in a movie theater lobby a few months ago). I didn’t really have any expectations going into this movie not even after seeing trailers for it and revisiting the original film a couple days prior, but this movie surprised me. 

            The Accountant 2 is an action movie sequel that’s infinitely better than its predecessor as it plays on the strengths of the first while reducing or omitting its more awkward moments. It takes the scattershot and at times convoluted plot of the first and turns it into a buddy action film that pairs Affleck’s Christian Wolff up with Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, Baby Driver, The Punisher) reprising his role as his estranged brother, Brax which makes it a lot more entertaining and fun than the first. 

            After the FinCEN’s (A department in the Department of the Treasury) Director Raymond King (J.K. Simmons-The Cider House Rules, Spider-Man trilogy, Whiplash; reprising his role from the first) is murdered by unknown assassins, Treasury Agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson-Spartacus, Arrow, Rings of Power; reprising her role from the first) enlists the help of accountant and assassin, Christian Wolff (Affleck) to solve Raymond’s murder. However, it turns out this puzzle is more complicated than Christian and Marybeth anticipated as they are forced to team up with Christian’s estranged but highly lethal brother, Brax (Bernthal) in order to piece together the puzzle while also catching the attention of some of the most ruthless killers alive. 

            The film also stars Daniella Pineda (Jurassic World 2 and 3, Cowboy Bebop (2021), Plane) as Anaïs, Robert Morgan (Life (1996), Hacksaw Ridge, Babylon) as Burke, Grant Harvey (Animal Kingdom, The Crossing, Emancipation) as Cobb, and Andrew Howard (Revolver, Limitless, Tenet) as Batu. 

            Overall, The Accountant 2 fires on all cylinders from beginning to end resulting in a fun, intriguing, and even heartfelt buddy action film that guarantees a great time at the movies (Unless you’re streaming this on Prime Video and are just now reading this review). I can’t believe I’m praising a sequel to a movie I hadn’t thought about in nine years, but this really is the Fast Five, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and Bad Boys for Life of Accountant movies. 

            What makes the movie work is the dynamic between Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal, they have spectacular chemistry in this and most of the film’s fun comes from their banter and bickering which is very much like what brothers would do. Yes, it is fun seeing them shooting the bad guys and saving people, but I honestly would have been fine with a movie of just the two of them talking and annoying each other for two hours, that is how well they work together here. 

            Jon Bernthal especially brings his A-game to the movie as a character who I can best describe as a jokey, less angry Frank Castle (Ironic given that he plays Frank in The Punisher series and Daredevil), but still just as lethal as The Punisher. He perfectly offsets Affleck’s more restrained and calculated, Christian Wolff and technically the closest we’ll probably ever get to a Batman and Punisher crossover. 

            The action is good with lots of gunfire, stabbing, and bloody wounds complete with a full-on climactic shootout between Affleck and Bernthal and a bunch of Mexican traffickers, but ironically it’s nowhere near as entertaining as Affleck and Bernthal’s chemistry. Get a load of this, an action movie where the action is not the big highlight of the film. 

            Like the first film, the plot is pretty convoluted with various plot points and character motives that spontaneously appear as you’re trying to connect the dots and piece together the mystery. But it’s one of those movies where you just roll with it because amidst the convoluted storyline, you’re getting an enjoyable and action-packed ride with the charismatic duo of Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal. 

            The Accountant 2 is an action movie sequel that greatly improves upon its predecessor by offering a fun, buddy movie with two very charming leads and enough intrigue to make it go beyond dumb, popcorn entertainment. Like Christian Wolff himself, The Accountant franchise is full of surprises and I’m intrigued to see where the series goes next. 

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