And Aging is Half the Battle! Or Eating Bacon at Woodstock! - Renegade Marquee #9
Tonight, on a very OLD (in more ways than one) episode of Renegade Marquee, Captain Kaye and the Streamin' Demon hit the beach to review M. Night Shyamalan's new film Old, as well as the G.I. Joe spin off film Snake Eyes!
What’s up fellow Renegades? It’s me, THE DIRECTOR, back to get you the long delayed episode of Renegade Marquee. We’ve actually got A LOT of catching up to do, and the next few days are going to be very stacked for the site, so please stay tuned for that! For now though, we have some thoughts on the new M. Night joint, as well as Hollywood’s latest attempt to launch the G.I. Joe franchise to the big screen… as well as some other recommendations.
For now though, I’ll kick it over to Captain Kaye for his thoughts on the following films!
SNAKE EYES (2021)
“Speaking as someone who's a casual G.I. Joe fan at best, I thought this was a pretty solid new origin for one of the coolest characters in that franchise. Is there a fundamental issue with giving an entire origin story to a silent ninja and casting one of Hollywood's most charismatic leading men to play the titular hero? Perhaps, but judging the film on its own merits, it's Golding and Andrew Koji as Tommy, a.k.a., Storm Shadow, that ultimately carry this movie. If you know anything about these two characters, then you understand there's only one way for their story to end. The third act is where things get messy from a narrative perspective, but before that I was genuinely invested in this Point Break rip-off with ninjas. When it comes to the action scenes, here's where I'm torn. On the one hand, the choreography itself is great! Kenji Tanigaki, best known for his work on the live action Rurouni Kenshin films, was brought on board as the fight choreographer, which does help the action scenes stand out. However, the editing does NOT do said choreography any justice! Granted, I didn't have too much of a problem with it as a number of my peers, but this style of quick cuts and shaky cam in a post-John Wick landscape is inexcusable in Hollywood action blockbusters. Despite all that, I still enjoyed the film as a whole, and there's enough good material in this for a possible continuation. Whether or not that happens is up to the audience, but I personally recommend that you check this out.“ - Captain Kaye
OLD (2021)
“For those who have been keeping up with his career, the best way I would describe this movie is that it's a very high concept premise a la The Happening, but with far better execution. The reason I can't go full 5 is because the ending doesn't completely work, and tonally feels inconsistent with the rest of the film. But that Shyamalan went ahead and took that big swing deserves all the respect! One specific example of why I called this the "better executed" version of The Happening is because the performances are all genuinely great. It's hard to pick a standout from this ensemble, because they all were spectacular, but Thomasin McKenzie is probably going to get the most attention, and for good reason. Between this and her upcoming role in Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho, I wasn't expecting her to become the next big scream queen, yet here we are. I haven't read the graphic novel, so I cannot comment on the faithfulness of the adaptation, but as a horror/thriller, this was about as effective as it needed to be. Right up until the third act reveal, Shyamalan did a really great job of capturing that fear of the unknown with an exaggerated depiction of our powerlessness against the passage of time. As I mentioned before, the problems with the last 30 minutes are not the fault of laziness, but rather Shyamalan going for broke and hitting a foul ball. My opinion could change after a rewatch, but as of this writing, I dug the hell out of Old! If you're in the mood for a good ol' fashion high concept thriller with a premise inspired by the Twilight Zone, then you're in for a treat!“ - Captain Kaye
ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS (2021)
“I loved this stupid movie, and since the budget is only slightly increased from the original, I hope its success spawns an ongoing franchise. One thing I like from a character perspective is that we do see some growth between our two main leads. Even though she hasn't quite gotten over her fear of flying, Taylor Russell's Zoey Davis still enters the picture with more confidence, and is determined to do whatever it takes to bring Minos to justice. Logan Miller acted as great support as Ben, the other survivor from the previous Escape Room, and I was honestly not expecting to see Deborah Ann Woll's Amanda back for this installment. Having a higher budget allows for the film to come up with more elaborate death traps for this new group to face, the best one I'd say is the bank vault. Those who didn't like the first movie may or may not be won over with this one, and part of the reason is because the ending makes the same "mistake" of setting up another sequel as opposed to giving Zoey and Ben that much deserved closure. However, I got exactly what I came her for, which was a breezy 88 minute romp with creative death puzzles, a fun ensemble, and a great score composed by Brian Tyler and John Carey.” - Captain Kaye
That’ll do it for this episode! Thanks to Jacob for editing this one, and if you’re still young enough, go ahead and keep a weather eye on the horizon for the next installment. A lot of posts are coming real soon, so stay tuned!
