The Medium ร่างทรง

 

A Thai-Korean horror film whose central conceit was its mockumentary/found-footage style of filming. Both the Thais and Koreans are known for producing great horror flicks although their heydays are a couple of years back. Nonetheless, a collaboration between them did come with a certain level of anticipation, and it is safe to say that The Medium did meet them - sort of.

The Medium was a slow burn horror thriller that took its time to establish the supernatural elements of its story, primarily because it dealt with a culture and beliefs - Northern Isan Thai - that were not so commonly known. 

At over 2-hours long, the film had three distinct acts. 

The first act, as aforementioned was establishing the conceit and background of the film and its characters. In this regard, director Banjong Pisanthanakun did very well. The mockumentary style gave us a clear sense of perspective and identity into its lead characters, and clues and hints were dropped early that foreshadowed things to come. Atmospherically, there was a pervasive sense of dread mixed with a certain mystery and unknowing-ness of how the story will develop.

In the second act, we finally get a clearer picture of what kind of subgenre of horror The Medium belonged to - no spoilers here - but the fun was then in trying to figure out the why and how. Why is it happening and how will they (the characters and the film makers) sort it out. And at this point, the typical creepiness commonly seen in first acts of horror films started to creep - ha! - in. As did the usual plot twists and ah-hah moments one would expect from the genre. 

Then we come to the third act, where The Medium just went all out. Think Ring meets The Exorcist meets Rec meets Dawn of the Dead. But at the same time, it was also not terrifying scary. A lot more gory, creepy, gross, morbid, icky than straight up frightening and scary. Thankfully also, Pisanthanakun kept the jump scares to the minimum. But boy, what an ending. A few zags when you thought it was going to zig, and a few zigging when they have just zagged. The final pay off was worth it which is really what one wished for with any decent horror films.

Let's be honest. The Medium was no Ring or Shutter but it did linger on after it ended and it will surely generate post-film conversation. Furthermore, the story and concept did leave the door open for possible sequels or anthology-like series. Therefore, do expect some possible afterlife incarnation.

The Suicide Squad

Let's just put it upfront now: Beebo still rules! iykyk

And secondly, making something better than its precursor (or previous incarnation...or prequel...or whatever you may want to call it) does not automatically make it good. 

Undeniably, James Gunn's version of Task Force X aka the eponymous Suicide Squad was a lot more fun than David Ayer's 2016 embarrassment. For starters, at least it did not take itself too seriously and embraced the violence and psychosis that comes with having villains as leads. However, Gunn - for all his stylistic choice and Guardians of the Galaxy-esque needle drops - still bordered on being too safe and generic (read: commercially) friendly. 

The film's irreverence was mostly irrelevant; it never pushed any boundary and only flirted with being biting or dark or edgy.  The humour was juvenile at best with most jokes barely landing and setups seen miles away. As for the violence it was not as gratuitous as its much-publicised R/M18 rating would suggest. In actual fact, other than moments of excessive violence played mainly for laughs, the film was rather tame. 

Then we come to the plot itself. At 132 minutes long it could have jolly well lost approximately 15 to 20 minutes (all that wasted Peter Capaldi as The Thinker subplot) if we were being generous.  Gunn's screenplay meandered too much in its first two acts, busying itself with setups that never really paid off other then so that he could include one or two "cool" scenes. Yes, granted the scenes were cool and obviously Margot Robbie is a big - and effortlessly charismatic - star, but constant repetition with nothing new gets old and this is already Robbie's third outing as Harley Quinn. 

Further, just like the gags, a lot of the plot was predictable with only one genuine plot twist that happened in the first act. Thereafter, the story just felt rote and familiar all the way to the big, climatic showdown which scored points for a surprisingly emotional heel turn that was well earned and paid off earlier dues. The end also some good laughs and sight gags, and an interesting, albeit not too surprising - again - final takedown.

Honestly, if you have seen television's D.C. Legends of Tomorrow, seeing Starro the Conqueror is no big deal. Starro is nothing compared to Beebo!

Lastly, we got to talk about the cast. This was a definition of a mixed bag. Individually, most of the squad members worked. The biggest sore thumb was John Cena (ask Peacemaker) who still cannot act and we cannot just blame it on Gunn's direction. While the biggest surprises were David Dastmalchian (Polka-Dot Man) and Daniela Melchior (Ratcatcher 2). The latter held the emotional heart and core of the film, and really should have been the audience surrogate; and the former gave the best comedic performance - wry and dry and ultimately Tragic. 

However as a team, they lacked cohesion and chemistry. Their group scenes lacked sizzle and pizzazz with the bantering falling flat and clunky. But in certain pairings they found their grooves: Joel Kinnaman and Robbie, Dastmalchian and Melchior, and Idris Elba and Viola Davis. 

Wow! That last pairing was absolutely the best scene of the film. That was a masterclass in acting. Raw, emotional and terrifying without any superpowers displayed. Again, pity it happened within the first 30 minutes. But, seriously, get Elba and Davis in a room together again! How about the new James Bond and M?

Oh, also, long live King Shark! Nom nom nom...

Music was by John Murphy and cinematography Henry Braham, and neither aspects will likely be getting much accolades come awards season. As for the constant needle-dropping throughout, Gunn's taste here seemed a lot more eclectic with less pop-friendly choices but did its job to spice up the action sequences.

The Suicide Squad was no John Wick, and to be honest, if you were expecting a Deadpool-esque, GOTG/Avengers mashup, then you would be sorely disappointed. However, taking it for what it is, it was a fairly enjoyable romp but ultimately may be just as forgettable as its predecessor.

Old

After all these years, M. Night Shyamalan still remained almost divisive as ever. However, the one constant throughout his career is that his films/projects all have an interesting - sometimes fascinating - concept. It is usually the execution and delivery that makes or breaks a Shyamalan film. 

And in Old, which was based on a Swiss graphic novel, the central conceit was tantalising and Shyamalan's direction, and camerawork with Mike Gioulakis were highly effective in capturing the tension, foreboding and dread. However, it absolutely failed in the writing (screenplay credited to Shyamalan) and the acting. 

Firstly, the direction here was really good. Shyamalan managed to capture my interest with a mystery box thriller and the narrative clipped along at a good pace. At only 108 minutes long, this was efficient storytelling. The mystery box was slowly revealed but, like all good J.J. Abrams shows, never fully explained which was acceptable if you have already conceded to the genre. Genre-fans just want a plausible ending the befitted the story's internal logic, and in this sense, Old succeeded. Further, Shyamalan ratchet up the thrill factor with innovative camerawork, camera choices and editing, and not just relying on shock and scare tactics. 

However, for all the good the directorial work did, the dialogue brought it all back crashing down. The screenplay was atrociously clunky and heavy-handed, with characters laden with exposition rather than reflection. 

And then we have the acting which bordered on amateurish and caricature-like especially when the usually talented actors were asked to deliver clunkers. We know Gael Garcia Bernal and Rufus Sewell to be better actors than this. Perhaps, only Thomasin McKenzie and Alex Wolff came out unscathed from this (and maybe Eliza Scanlen too). Shyamalan should have focused more of the film on the children.

It might have been truly better - and perhaps even more innovative - if Shyamalan had directed this a la A Quiet Place, Bird Box or even Sound of Metal. The psychological dread, so masterfully triggered by the directing, could have been amplified to the n-th degree with the absence of one of the senses. A few of the best scenes in Old were just like that. Although, if maintained for a whole film, Shyamalan might be accused of being unoriginal. 

Old had a very interesting concept and I can see this being a very successful television series (mini or otherwise). There is a very strong Lost vibe to it and with better writing - and a great cast - this could have been another M. Night Shyamalan success story. But for now, it will likely languish with the likes of The Village and Glass. At least it was not as bad as The Happening or After Earth.

Gunpowder Milkshake

A deliciously campy action-comedy that never took itself too seriously and - most importantly - does not ask its audience to do so too. Director and co-writer Navot Papushado understood that the main mission was to deliver entertaining fun and he accomplished it. Armed with an outstanding cast that seemed to be having fun and a paper thin, generic script that only served as the backbone to hang on the stylish fight sequences choreographed against groovy tunes, long takes and slow-mos, Gunpowder Milkshake was a delightful near 2-hours romp (though it could stand to loose maybe 10 to 15 minutes).

The film was peppered with enough dark self-awareness to be funny but, for better or worse, it never did give itself a chance to develop an emotional core deep enough for us to care. What we cared about was just the undeniable likability of the cast and the chemistry between them. 

Karen Gillan - my, my, how our custard-dipping, fish fingers-eating Amy Pond has grown! - was charismatic enough to lead the ensemble. She has the dramatic chops but unfortunately not much was called of it here. Fortunately, she had an easy chemistry with young Chloe Coleman - talented and a standout - which helped to sell the film's flimsy central conceit. And further, thankfully, she did make for a convincing-enough professional assassin, ably kicking asses and giving sass. The latter definitely helped the film move along. Especially when Lena Headey came into the picture.

Ah...Headey aka Cersei. We wished you had channeled more of Cersei's badassery. She and Gillan made a good pair and their banter felt natural. However, Headey did not have much action sequences to show off other than holding some sort of firearms. If she was just gonna be sauntering and standing around, the writers might as well give her some delicious lines to swish around - or spit out - like fine wine. 

As good as some of the action sequences were and two great ones comes to mind: two early scenes with Gillan at a bowling alley and the doctor's office. What this film really lacked was the visceral hand-to-hand combat that many male-fronted action flicks seemed to have. Other than the aforementioned two scenes, most of the action sequences were mainly gunfights with some interspersed hand combat. But what a waste considering that you have Michelle Yeoh and Carla Gugino in your cast. No disrespect to Angela Bassett, but Yeoh and Gugino have more action creds.

Actually, Yeoh, Gugino and Bassett were ultimately kind of under utilised. Their scenes were standouts and as characters, they were a lot more interesting than Gillan's and Headey's. The Powers That Be ought to consider a prequel about them three a la The King's Man, i.e. The Librarians.

Cinematography was by Michael Seresin and that bowling alley sequence was awesome! As was the final diner one. Music was by Frank Ilfman and his score complemented that the rollicking tunes that punctuated many of the fight scenes.

Gunpowder Milkshake was a campy, fun watch that understood its purpose and gamely delivered on its promise of an entertaining, unserious romp.