Joy Ride (2023)

Despite my enjoyment of the Joy Ride trailer, I was prepared to be underwhelmed by the movie. There was enough good word about it to make it something I wanted to prioritise, but I worried that I might have already been made aware of all the best bits. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

Ashley Park plays Audrey, a young woman with a successful career who is tasked with heading to China to complete a major business deal. Although everyone assumes that Audrey should have no problems in China, due to her being Asian, the fact that she was adopted at a very young age means that she isn’t necessarily well-equipped for the trip. As she doesn’t speak any form of the language, she heads there with her best friend, Lolo (Sherry Cola). Lolo ends up bringing along her awkward, K-pop-loving cousin, “Deadeye” (Sabrina Wu), and Audrey turns the trio into a quartet when she connects with another friend, Kat (Stephanie Hsu). Kat is a successful actress, having made her reputation as a wholesome and virginal “good girl”, despite some very raunchy episodes in her past. The business deal is the focus, but Lolo also tries to convince Audrey to seek out her birth mother.

Directed by Adele Lim (who helped to write a little film you may have heard of called Crazy Rich Asians), this is an enjoyably bawdy comedy that also manages to insert some interesting commentary and genuinely moving moments without everything feeling forced. There are at least a few big laughs, one gag prompting me to laugh louder than I have in the cinema in years, and plenty of dialogue and moments that manage to both entertain and allow viewers to consider the way society treats race, gender, sex, and family.

The screenplay, written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao (neither of whom have the biggest body of work, but both seem to have worked together well on the TV show “Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens”), fleshes out an idea that Lim helped to create, and uses a familiar comedy feature template to give equal time and space to each of the four main characters. Although a lot of the beats are fairly familiar and predictable, there are enough little moments that stray from the formula to make this feel a bit more special than other films in the genre. It would have been very easy just to make this into another Bridesmaids with some different wardrobe choices throughout, but it manages to avoid feeling too indebted to that film, despite it being the closest cinematic touchstone.

Park is a good lead, able to play the “straight” acting more than the others, but certainly not without the ability to play into the comedy, but kudos to her for often just being present in scenes where the others shine. Cola, Wu, and Hsu get the majority of the laughs, with each one seemingly dealing with their own hang-ups as the fun trip that was planned starts to turn into one mishap after another. Or perhaps the hang-ups belong to other people, and those other people should just let people be their natural selves. Ronny Chieng has a fun few minutes of screentime, and there are sweet, and all-too-brief, moments for Daniel Dae Kim and Michelle Choi-Lee.

No matter who you are, if you have ever wrestled with your own identity (in terms of your family tree, in terms of your sexuality, in terms of a fandom you are part of, in any way) then I recommend Joy Ride. It has plenty of food for though, some big laughs, and a big heart. It could have been trimmed slightly, there could have been a few more jokes dotted throughout, but it’s a fun time that should have you smiling broadly as the end credits roll.

8/10

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Hellboy (2019)

Hellboy is the weakest film yet from director Neil Marshall, who has been away from cinema screens for far too long (his last solo project was Centurion, almost a decade ago). But a weak film from Neil Marshall is still something that I'll happily watch ahead of films from many other directors. Because Marshall has consistently provided me with entertainment, thrills, and some of the best moments in modern genre cinema. So, despite the critical and commercial failure of this movie, I was always going to give him my time.

David Harbour is the actor now taking on the main role, and Ian McShane is his father figure, but this will all feel very familiar to fans of the property. All you need to know is that an evil sorceress, a "blood queen" named Vivienne Nimue (Milla Jovovich) is trying to come back and get her revenge, despite having been dismembered and her body parts placed in different locations, and part of her plan involves Hellboy taking charge of Excalibur and unleashing a kind of hell on Earth. Hellboy is helped in this adventure by a young woman who can communicate with the dead (Alice, played by Sasha Lane) and a skilled soldier type (Ben Daimio, played by Daniel Dae Kim).

I could spend just as much time writing about all of the little mis-steps that stop this from being a great movie, but I am choosing instead to try and heap a little praise upon it. Enough people have told you why you should give it a miss. I am going to try and convince you to give it two hours of your time.

First of all, forget the previous Hellboy movies. They are fantastic, and few people have the same attention to detail when it comes to creating cinematic worlds as Guillermo del Toro. So it's important to remember that as you go into this. It's not a Del Toro film, and it's not trying to be. I think too many people gave this a viewing while still holding on to their love (and well-earned love, at that) for those other movies.

Second, this is a good cast. Harbour does well in the main role, and McShane has become a master of stealing scenes while appearing in smaller roles in recent years. Jovovich has a blast as the big baddie, and is especially fun in the roles that have her still waiting for her body to be fully assembled. It's a shame that Lane and Kim aren't as much fun as they could be, let down by a script that doesn't seem to know what to do with them for large sections of the runtime, but that's compensated for by the performances from Sophie Okonedo, Thomas Haden Church (in a brief cameo), and Stephen Graham, voicing a "henchman" creature named Gruagach.

Although the script by Andrew Cosby may not be as strong or interesting as it could be, everything moves along energetically enough, with some fun set-pieces interspersed throughout that allow Marshall to deliver some blood and guts around people who roll their eyes and swear at the monsters attempting to push them off their mortal coil.

The special effects are varying in quality, the score from Benjamin Wallfisch is foot-stampingly good, and the whole thing is just a flawed bundle of messy fun. Which is sometimes the best kind of fun (hey, get your mind out of the gutter). Give it a watch and you may agree.

6/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy the movie here.

Netflix And Chill: Always Be My Maybe (2019)

You pick a rom-com to watch when you want something comforting and familiar. Always Be My Maybe provides you with all of those familiar comforts. The two leads (Sasha, played by Ali Wong, and Marcus, played by Randall Park) seem destined to be together, various obstacles get in the way of their happiness, and the finale allows for some last-minute reveals and earnest speeches. I am sure that cynical viewers will either avoid this entirely or watch it and then criticise it for everything that it gets absolutely right. Everyone else can have a fine time.

That's not to say that this film does everything in ways that you've seen before. Let me get the basics out of the way and I'll highlight a couple of key differences that put this in the upper echelons of the modern rom-com arena.

We first meet Sasha and Marcus as kids, fast becoming firm friends. Things keep going well until a tragedy leads to a moment in which they have sex. And it starts to unravel from there. Fast forwarding to the present day, we now see that Sasha is a very successful celebrity chef, while Marcus still living at home with his father (James Saito). Fate brings Sasha and Marcus together, of course, and then looks as if it is determined to keep them apart.

There was very little point in me even writing that briefest of plot summaries. This is about as predictable as they come, in some ways. There are other elements that add to the simple pleasures. A plot strand about Marcus still being part of the band that he's been with since his youth, and how he doesn't take the step needed to try and get them more exposure, works well as both an amusing "b-plot" and also a display of the main character flaw that affects his relationship potential. There's also a cameo from Keanu Reeves that sees him playing an exaggerated version of himself, pretty consistently hilarious in a scene which has him as the fourth person at a dinner table quartet.

Director Nahnatchka Khan impresses with her feature directorial debut (after a good bit of time spent working as a producer on TV shows, most notably on Fresh Off The Boat, which also stars Randall Park), helped by the sharp script, co-written by Park, Wong, and Michael Golamco. It may seem light and easy enough, simplistic even, but there's care taken to lift the material at every opportunity. First of all, and arguably key to the whole thing, is the Asian-American cultural filter that changes everything slightly. Although many have been quick to cite Crazy Rich Asians as the closest comparison, the differences are just as important as the similarities, with this film showing the experience of integrating into America rather than the experience of reintegrating into the traditions held dear by families who may resent some of the trappings of modern America. There's also the fact that this is a rom-com based on both leads feeling as if they missed a major opportunity. That may not seem like a big deal but, trust me, it really changes the feeling of the whole thing, especially when compared to movies that have a guy moping over his lost love as he tries to better his life, or a woman making big eyes at someone she has yet to confess her feelings to.

Wong and Park are brilliant in their lead roles, very easy to like even while showing their character flaws. Saito is very sweet and likeable, Vivian Bang is wonderfully offbeat as Park's girlfriend, and Michelle Buteau is the good friend to Wong who helps her and comments honestly when it's needed. Daniel Dae Kim does well in his small role, and I cannot even mention Reeves again without getting a big grin on my face.

Sharp, cute, sometimes very funny, Always Be My Maybe is perfect entertainment for those who are seeking something that will keep you smiling and give you a sweet love story without ever feeling too sickly.

9/10

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