Quarreling Knights go Cruising with The Rock - Renegade Marquee #10
Tonight, on a very adventurous episode of Renegade Marquee, Captain Kaye, Tyler, Haylee, Drake, and the Streamin' Demon himself talk Disney's return to theme park films with Jungle Cruise, as well as A24's artsy Arthurian epic The Green Knight!
What’s up fellow Renegades? The Director is back again to give you guys… probably one of the weirdest double features we’ve done with the Renegade Marquee, but we’ve had stranger things happen before! I hope you guys are all strapped in, because man, this one is a doozy.
Without further adieu, here’s the Captain himself giving his thoughts on the films of the night!
JUNGLE CRUISE (2021)
“Look, any movie that opens with an instrumental arrangement of Metallica's Nothing Else Matters will immediately grab my attention. Seriously though, I had fun with this one for the most part. Disney's been wanting to do a Jungle Cruise movie ever since the first Pirates of the Caribbean film became a massive success at the box office, and for better and for worse, you can feel the moments when this movie is trying to become "the next Pirates." Those were the moments that didn't quite work for me, despite some impressive looking CGI used to bring Edgar Ramirez's Lope de Aguirre to life. To me, this movie works the best when it's riffing off of classic adventure films like The African Queen, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Romancing the Stone and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Emily Blunt have great chemistry, though I felt their romance was a bit forced. If there's one actor who steals every scene he's in, it's Jesse Plemons as Prince Joachim, the main antagonist. The surprise isn't that he's great, but that the trailers gave so little of his role away that he ends up leaving a stronger impression. As for the music, I alluded to the use of Metallica at the start of the film, but to tell you the truth, I think more rock and metal bands should start collaborating with film composers like a James Newton Howard, who always delivers the goods! I'm not trying to compare this to Curse of the Black Pearl, and you shouldn't either. If you keep your expectations in check, then you'll find just enough to enjoy in Jungle Cruise.” - Captain Kaye
THE GREEN KNIGHT (2021)
“I won't pretend like I'm super familiar with the poem on which this was based, but I'm happy that this the movie scratched an itch I've had for a long time for for fantasy epics on the big screen. However, unlike Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, Lowery is aiming for more of a character study and mood piece. And as it turns out, Dev Patel was the perfect choice to play Sir Gawain, and he does so with a great deal of vulnerability. If I may be so bold, I'd go as far as to say this is a career best performance for Patel. The rest of the cast is great as well, from Alicia Vikander and Sarita Choudhury playing Lady/Esel and Mother/Morgan Le Fay, to Joel Edgerton playing Lord, to Ralph Ineson as the titular Green Knight. More than anything else, the story, at least as presented in this film, is a cautionary tale about one's quest to achieve "greatness," and the sacrifices made along the way. I can't guarantee this will be for everyone, especially if you were expecting a more traditional fantasy epic. It's a slow burn, but if you can get on the film's wavelength, it is absolutely worth it. On a pure technical level, this is a visual masterpiece. Gorgeous cinematography by Andrew Droz Palermo helps to bring life to this incredible production design. And of course, that cherry on top is the score composed by Lowery's musical muse Daniel Hart.” - Captain Kaye
That’ll do it for today! Special thanks to Jacob for editing this episode, and we’ll see you guys in the next episode!
