Happy Death Day 2U (2019)

I really enjoyed the timeloop slasher shenanigans of Happy Death Day so I knew I would be keen to see a sequel. My enthusiasm for it was not at all diminished when I heard that it takes things in a surprisingly different direction from the first film, focusing on more comedy than thrills, and I think that most people should be aware of that before the film begins. Because this IS a very different beast from its predecessor, despite early scenes trying to pretend otherwise (for all of ten minutes).

Tree (Jessica Rothe) is delighted to have finally reached the day after her birthday, the day that she was stuck in for the duration of the first movie, waking up every morning in a bed in the dorm room of Carter (Israel Broussard).  Unfortunately, the same problem is now affecting Carter's roommate, Ryan (Phi Vu). But there's every chance that it has something to do with the science project that he has been working on with Samar (Suraj Sharma) and Andrea (Sarah Yarkin). And it's not just time that has been pushed out of whack, there are parallel universes to also consider.

As well as all of the returning faces in front of the camera, Christopher Landon is back in the director's chair, and also gives himself the writing duties this time around. There's not as much needed this time around when it comes to establishing the visual signposts, and Landon uses the freedom to get things moving along as quickly as possible, removing the tension and upping the quirkiness and the comedy. It's a bold choice, and not an entirely successful one, for reasons that I'll get to after the next paragraph (see, I DO plan what I write sometimes).

All of the leads do great work, with Rothe and Broussard once again proving a great pairing to anchor the main events. Vu is immediately likeable as soon as he is pushed front and centre, while Sharma and Yarkin get a nice selection of scene-stealing lines and moments between them. Steve Zissis is the stereotypical angry dean who gets in the way of things, and he is fun in that role, while Ruby Modine, Rachel Matthews, and Charles Aitken all seem to enjoy portraying their characters with a bit of a twist, compared to how we viewed them the first time around.

I quite enjoyed the comedy of Happy Death Day 2U (there's a death montage that is one of the most enjoyably twisted and amusing things I have seen in a "teen movie" in years). I didn't even mind the more dramatic moments, forced as they were, when Tree was once again struggling to deal with the loss of her mother. I could have done without that particular strand, and I think the film would have been better without it, but it's perfectly fine, for what it is. So it's a shame there's so little tension this time around, the little that is there dissipates by the time we get to the third act. And it's an even greater shame that more intriguing possibilities teased in the earlier scenes are then just dropped for the rest of the film. Those are the two main failings of the film, major enough to at least drag this just below the bar set by the first film.

If you ensure that you have calibrated your expectations before pressing play, Happy Death Day 2U is fun. It's just easy to see ways in which it could have been so much better.

6/10

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

Mubi Monday: The Bling Ring (2013)

Based on a Vanity Fair article ("The Suspects Wore Louboutins") by Nancy Jo Sales, The Bling Ring is a very unique crime film that also plays out very much like a time capsule showing certain types of shallow narcissists who have begun to multiply and thrive at the start of this century.

Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, and Claire Julien are the youngsters who discover an easy way to become just like so many of the celebrities they idolise. Rob them. When they see articles describing various people hosting, or heading to, parties that are out of town then they know that they can find out where those celebrities live, find a way to access the house, and help themselves to a few trinkets that probably won't even be missed. It's a great way of life until they start getting themselves noticed, ironically enough.

Directed by Sofia Coppola, The Bling Ring is a strange movie to enjoy. For starters, the cast are an annoying and vapid bunch who start to blend into one another. They're defined more by the clothing and accessories they covet than any actual personality, and that's really the whole point. The script is also a fairly shallow and pointless affair, again in line with the characters, and the direction sees Coppola spending most of the time just letting viewers hang out with the gang and being relentlessly worn down by their attitudes to possessions, fame, and success.

Everything that Coppola does here, and everything she asks of her cast, has a point. In that regard, the film succeeds. Unfortunately, the film spends 90 minutes making the same point, pretty much, over and over again. If you don't enjoy the first few scenes then you sure as hell aren't going to enjoy any of the rest of the movie.

Chang and Broussard are the leads, basically, but Watson, Farmiga, and Julien conribute just as much by being so similar in attitude and self-centred inability to even think of the bigger picture, or the repercussions that may befall them. Leslie Mann is the one adult to get some decent screentime, but she's not given that much to do, and there are some obvious celebrity cameos (either in acting roles or utilised in snippets of archive footage).

It can often be hard to enjoy a movie about crime, or criminals, if you suspect that it's somehow glorifying either the act or the people. The Bling Ring avoids that, despite showing the main characters usually being so absorbed in the opportunity to have a piece of an "unattainable" lifestyle that they're not being overtly malicious in any of their actions. That doesn't mean that viewers won't want to see them get their comeuppance, however, and there are a number of scenes in the final act that make it worth having endured some of the more annoying moments elsewhere.

I can see it being very easy to hate The Bling Ring. It's a frustrating experience. But it's also one worth your time, if only to fully understand the bizarre disconnect between reality and what can be seen on a computer/phone screen. A gaping divide always looking to be bridged by those looking up to online celebrities, promoters, and lifestyle gurus.

6/10

You can get some bling here.
Americans can get it here.

Happy Death Day (2017)

Just because everyone else has mentioned it already doesn't mean that I will refrain from using the same words; Happy Death Day is best described as Scream meets Groundhog Day. If that very brief summation of the plot doesn't appeal to you then you're unlikely to enjoy it. But if your face lights up at those words . . . this will work for you.

Jessica Rothe plays a college student named Theresa, AKA Tree, who wakes up on her birthday, goes about her usual activities, and ends up dying violently at the hands of a murderous madman. She then wakes up again, on her birthday, and starts trying to figure out what is going on, and trying to get through the day without dying. Unfortunately, someone is very very determined to have her dead by the end of the day. And each death leads to a jump back to the start of the day.

Although you could point at Happy Death Day and bemoan the lack of bloodshed and more adult content, that would be nitpicking. This is, after all, a film for teens, and it succeeds brilliantly in that regard.

The script by Scott Lobdell gets everything right. There aren't too many main characters (with most of the action revolving around Tree and the boy she first sees upon waking up every morning, Carter), the main activities throughout the day are obvious pointers of the timeline, and also ready to be changed by the actions of Tree, the deaths are decent enough, and the mystery element - the who and the why - is simple and effective.

Director Christopher Landon shows, once again, that he's a dab hand with the horror genre tropes. This may not be as much fun as his previous outing, Scout's Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse, but it's almost an ideal teen horror (with a little bit of comedy) to please most people wanting something for the weekend.

Rothe and Israel Broussard (playing Carter) make for decent leads, despite my not being overly familiar with either of them. They work well together, and Rothe is in almost every scene (due to the nature of the plot device), and there are also decent enough supporting turns from Ruby Modine, Charles Aitken, Laura Clifton, and everyone else involved. Surprisingly, considering how often it happens in these movies, there aren't any seasoned genre stars in cameo roles, as far as I can recall, but the material is strong enough to make any such concessions or winks unnecessary.

I can understand why some horror fans wouldn't want to give any of their time to this. It's fairly safe and inoffensive stuff, in many ways. But that doesn't mean that it isn't worthwhile. While it may not be all that intense, or any kind of splattery gorefest, it's a surprisingly smart and enjoyable twist on standard slasher fare.

7/10

Pick it up here.
And Americans can pick it up here.