Halloween Kills the Last Duel! - Renegade Marquee #16
Tonight, on a murderous episode of Renegade Marquee, our beloved Captain is joined by Lord Hades, the Bioshocker, and special guest Tommy Hughes to discuss Halloween Kills, and Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel!
How’s it going, fellow Renegades? The Director is here to bring you the bloodiest episode of Renegade Marquee, as we talk about the sequel to the soft-reboot that is itself a sequel of the legendary John Carpenter franchise! And we get to see whether or not Ridley Scott still has it in him to do something truly special at his 80 years of age!
Before I go ahead and kick it over to the Captain, I’ll just say that we do cover some heavy themes with Scott’s film, so consider this a bit of a trigger warning. The film delves into sexual assault, and gaslighting. So if that makes you uncomfortable, we completely understand if you do not want to listen to discussions surrounding those themes.
Alright… that was a bit heavy, but that’s enough for me! Let’s kick it over to the Captain himself!
HALLOWEEN KILLS (2021)
“From what I understand, the whole point of reviving this franchise was to retcon the reveal in Halloween II that Michael Myers and Laurie Strode were siblings, a reveal that I never really liked. However, the question then becomes ‘where do we go from here?’ Apparently the writers settled on ‘he's just evil, okay!?’ I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, the title of the film is very appropriate, as we see some of Michael's most gruesome murders. I also liked the idea of the whole town coming together to stop him, risking their lives in the process. However, I can't help but feel as if Gordon Green is overcomplicating the mythology, which kind of defeats the purpose of retconning the original sequels. The flashback scenes were cool from a technical perspective, and Thomas Mann does a great job playing a younger Deputy Hawkins, but this away the urgency from Laurie's arc. On the whole, I really liked this movie. It sufficiently delivers the goods for a slasher film, and the ensemble cast absolutely brings their A-game. I'm just not sure if I'm fully on board with the direction the story is heading in, and I hope they can stick the landing with Halloween Ends. Last thing I'll mention before the next Renegade Marquee is how much I love the music. I'm happy that John Carpenter is still heavily involved with the franchise, and the score he composed with his son Cody and guitarist Daniel Davies is awesome! If you liked the previous film, I can comfortably recommend this one as well.” - Captain Kaye
THE LAST DUEL (2021)
“I'll get my two biggest negatives out of the way first, as well as a content warning for victims of sexual assault. The reasons why I cannot give this movie a 5/5 are A.) regardless of its historical accuracy (or lack thereof), I fundamentally disagree with rape being used simply as a plot device, especially if the victim of said rape isn't given the most agency in the narrative, and B.) the first 20 or so minutes feel rushed. I know it's a cliche to assume that a Ridley Scott film should be given a director's cut, but the editing in the first act does imply that material has been left on the cutting room floor. Fortunately, things are immediately improved when Ben Affleck enters the picture as Peter II, Count of Alençon. While not quite the ‘comic relief,’ he certainly gives the showier performance similar to Joaquin Phoenix's Commodus from Gladiator. Outside of those first 20 minutes, the rest of the film is excellently crafted. It's amazing how Scott, at 83 years old, is still considered a powerhouse director. The production design alone is some of the best I've seen all year, and Dariusz Wolski's cinematography is gorgeous. Affleck may have given my favorite performance, but the ones who deserve the most attention are Jodie Comer as Lady Marguerite, Adam Driver as Jacques Les Gris, and Harriet Walter as Nicole de Buchard. I wasn't particularly impressed with Matt Damon as Sir Jean de Carrouges, and I'm not sure if it's because he was miscast, or because I was never supposed to root for him, even during his own chapter in the story. As for what I said earlier about Marguerite's lack of agency, I understand that's kind of the whole point of this story, and why critics (especially females) took issue with the film. It's obvious that this movie exists as a response to the #MeToo movement from a few years ago, and I commend the attempts to add as much nuance to the trial, as well as the Rashomon approach to splitting the film into 3 chapters representing each party's version of the truth. I'll have more to say on the next Renegade Marquee, but for now, I recommend that you go into this movie with an open mind. From a filmmaking perspective, this is easily the best film Ridley Scott has directed since The Martian, but I can understand skipping this one if you're triggered by the catalyst of the narrative.” - Captain Kaye
That’ll do it for this episode! Special thanks to Jacob for editing this episode, and to our guests for joining us! Keep a weather eye on the horizon, and we’ll see y’all on the next episode!
