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Film Review: Creed III

03.03.2023 by Brooke Wylie // Leave a Comment

Copyright: © 2023 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved

Michael B. Jordan takes the helm for the third installment of the Creed franchise, which finds the titular fighter in the midst of his most personal challenge yet. Creed III opens on Adonis as riding high, ending his career on his terms, fighting Pretty Ricky Conlan before retiring and heading off into the sunset — and his sick LA mansion.

But, when Damian (Jonathon Majors), a mysterious figure from his past, resurfaces, Adonis is forced to reckon with a history he’d sooner forget. But as the wise ones say, the things we try to ignore have a way of catching up with us. So, when Dame, a former boxing prodigy himself, leans on his old friend for a shot in the ring, Adonis lets emotions override logic and puts everything on the line.

Jordan made a splash with his acting chops long before reinvigorating the Rocky franchise with his scrappy take on Adonis. So, it should come as no surprise that he seems almost as comfortable behind the camera as in front of it. Despite being a first time director, he has the confidence to break away from some of the norms of the series without completely abandoning the emotional beats and boxing grit that have kept people tuned in for so many decades. With some clever camera and edit choices, Jordan manages to make the experience of stepping into the ring more personal, immediate and intimate. A fitting adjustment for a story that challenges viewers to set aside the good-bad binary and navigate some nuance.

Make no mistake — Jonathan Majors is breaking bad in this role. And frankly, I don’t like it! Majors is up to pretty much any acting task and he makes us feel, keenly, the same struggle Adonis has in setting aside his old friend and seeing the man he’s become who has nothing to lose. Yes, what I’m really saying is Majors triumphs in his task, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about the feelings, you know?

As Adonis’ personal journey comes into sharper focus than we’ve ever seen, the rest of the narrative does drop someone. The great Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad are mostly left to react to the chaos and turmoil Adonis inadvertently sews. While it’s necessary for the narrative and emotional thrust of the film overall, it does leave some details wanting.

Creed III walks a tricky line, and Jordan is to be commended for finding the necessary balance to pull it off, both as actor and director. This is the first Creed movie that’s not ultimately a Rocky movie. It’s a shift in the structure and tone of the franchise that anchors this third outing for Adonis and ninth installment overall feel for the first time, distinct from the greater Rocky story. What remains, the swelling music, the bursts of joy, the immersive bouts do service to the series roots without doing too much of the same.

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Creed III
Director: Michael B. Jordan
Writer: Keenan Coogler, Zach Daylan (screenplay by), Ryan Coogler (story by)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1h 56mins
Release Date: March 3, 2023

Categories // We Watch Things Tags // creed, creed III, film review, jonathan majors, michael b jordan

Film Review: Living

01.20.2023 by Brooke Wylie // Leave a Comment

Bill Nighy stars in ‘Living’ from Sony Pictures Classics

Living leans on the ever emotive Bill Nighy and a non-linear structure that favors reflection and reveals to revisit the Akira Kurosawa film Ikiru in the context of England in the 50s. 

It’s a classic tale of a terminal diagnosis bringing a new lease on life. The Dickensian glimpse that puts everything in perspective. In this case, career bureaucrat Mr. Williams rouses from a decades long stupor to realize he’s lost meaning in all of his relationships, purpose in his work and joy in his life.

At a relatively lean 102 minutes, the film moves through the expected beats in the expected ways, but there is a charm to the setting and the structure. And a palpable sorrow in Nighy’s performance that renders everything affecting, if not particularly fresh. 

Alex Sharp’s wide-eyed Peter Wakeling is Mr, Williams’ newest report and the film’s secret weapon. His gaze is our gaze, first recognizing Mr. Williams as we meet him and detecting the change in him. A young man with the empathy to appreciate and old man’s journey and take the lessons from it. Living is at its best in the moments Mr. Wakeling and his coworkers take us back to sequences we’ve already seen and fill in the gaps. Their astonishment not only tells us more of Mr. Williams after, but so much of who he was before.

Kurosawa was nothing if not a storyteller led by ethos — decades removed and dressed up with modern talent, it’s still the beating heart that makes this now cliche narrative feel successful, if not transcendent.

Living is well rendered and well acted, but the sense that perhaps it could have done more, been more, shown more, lingers even after the screen fades to black. 

Categories // We Watch Things Tags // akira kurosawa, alex sharp, bill nighy, living

Film Review: Glass Onion

11.24.2022 by Brooke Wylie // Leave a Comment

Image courtesy: Netflix

Glass Onion easily ranks among the most fun experiences you can expect to have at the movies this year. See it on a big screen while you can — Rian Johnson manages not only to make a sequel to rival the delights of Knives Out, he also manages to tackle the pandemic with aplomb even as he reminds us how great it can be to be at the movies together.

Glass Onion finds the great Benoit Blanc on relatable footing to the rest of us. It is the peak of the pandemic and he’s passing hours at a time in elaborate baths, bored, anxious and cracking up a bit at the static state of life without mysteries.

Fortunately for Benoit, ne’erdowells don’t take breaks just because the world is under imminent threat. And soon enough, he receives an elaborate invitation to an indulgent murder mystery party hosted by an eccentric billionaire…on his private island, of course.

The case, the place, the cast, and even the tone, differ from Knives Out. What persists is Johnson’s ability to assemble a damn fine ensemble and craft a movie that is as smart as it is watchable.

Janelle Monae, Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr., Kathryn Hahn, Edward Norton and Dave Bautista make up something of a motley crew and their somewhat unlikely assemblage plays tremendously well. Hudson is a riot, back on screens and unhinged in a way romcoms simply did not allow her to be, much to their detriment. Monae and Craig meanwhile, crackle with the banter of old Hollywood stars.

To call the whole affair a delight would not be wrong. To skip it would.

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