Nobody
expected the first Frozen to be as big a hit as it became. Which
explains (in part) why this sequel at times feels a bit tentative: when a film
becomes a surprise hit, it’s hard to figure out exactly what it is that
audiences are responding to.
Obviously the relationship between out-of-place
and superpowered Elsa (Idina Menzel) and her feisty and devoted younger sister
Anna (Kristen Bell) was central, and so it is again; living snowman Olaf (Josh
Gad) was a big laugh-getter for the kids and so he’s stumbling around again. As
for Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), the film makes his why-exactly-am-I-here? status
a plus, as he struggles to propose to Anna while wondering if a relationship is
even what he really wants (inspiring the film's best song).
But the story itself is a bit of a mish-mash, tying
the origin of Elsa’s powers (which aren’t really explained anyway) in with her
kingdom’s unsurprisingly dark colonist past in a way that works reasonably well
as a story but still comes off as a bit hollow thanks to some fuzzy motivation
and muddled plot points.
On the plus side it looks great, the songs are strong (if not particularly memorable),
and the central female friendship gives the film real heart. It’s a solid enough sequel
– just not an equal to the original.
Cosy murder
mysteries have been a television thing for so long now that even after the
recent success of the Murder on the Orient Express remake this twist on /
salute to the genre still feels like a bit of a risk. Which is part of the
point: Knives Out starts out as your typical whodunnit before throwing
in enough fresh twists of its own that the real fun isn’t trying to figure out
what’s going on but just sitting back and enjoying the ride.
The set-up is
classic rather than clever: when a wealthy author (Christopher Plummer) dies
(an apparent suicide), his venal children start circling, only to find that a
quirky detective (Daniel Craig) and the dead man’s good-hearted nurse (Ana de
Armas) are standing between them and his estate.
Much of the satisfaction here –
aside from a smart but not smug sense of humour and a first-class run of excellent performances (the kids include Jamie
Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon and Chris Evans) – comes from the way this piles on
the twists without ever cheating or getting post-modern: even at its most convoluted the
story is constantly moving forward rather than serving up new information via
flashbacks (until it’s time to solve the mystery, of course).
Even if you don't like mysteries (that would be me), it’s a thoroughly
engaging and entertaining ride.
- Anthony Morris
No comments:
Post a Comment