For It Is Man's Number: jodie turner-smith

Showing posts with label jodie turner-smith. Show all posts

Sunday, 2 April 2023

Netflix And Chill: Murder Mystery 2 (2023)

As many people will already know, I have been a Sandler apologist for much longer than most people. I understand that a lot of his comedy vehicles over the past few decades have been neither big nor clever, and he leans heavily into choices that guarantee people will love or hate him, but I still tend to find enough in them to have a few chuckles. There have been a couple of absolute stinkers, but I can generally go into a Sandler movie with the knowledge that I'll at least not hate it. Judge all you want. While he may no longer tickle the funny bone as well as he did with the likes of Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, and The Waterboy, Sandler still aims to please his fanbase, usually while he assembles a group of people that he enjoys spending time with and gets them a paid vacation in some beautiful and sunny foreign climes.

Starting off with some narration that briefly recaps the first movie and shows viewers what Nick (Sandler) and Audrey (Jennifer Aniston) have been up to for the past few years, Murder Mystery 2 then allows our characters to head off on another, long overdue, vacation, this time as special wedding guests of their friend, the Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar), who is delighted to introduce them to his bride-to-be, Claudette (Mélanie Laurent). Unfortunately, the wedding is ruined by the Maharajah being kidnapped, and the circumstances of the kidnapping lead Nick and Audrey to suspect a small handful of other guests. There's Claudette herself, a womanising ex-footballer named Francisco (Enrique Arce), the Maharajah's sister (Saira, played by Kuhoo Verma), and Countess Sekou (Jodie Turner-Smith). There may be others involved in the scheme though, and a super-agent named Miller (Mark Strong) comes along to show everyone how an investigation and hostage negotiation should be done.

While it's now Jeremy Garelick in the director's chair, who had what I would consider a moderate success with his previous comedy, The Binge (hey, it did well enough to get a sequel), writer James Vanderbilt returns, the leads are reunited with a familiar face or two from the first film, and there's a feeling of nobody wanting to upset what they obviously consider as having worked well enough the first time around.

Sandler and Aniston once again work well together, the latter continuing to deliver the kind of genuinely great comedic performance that it's all too easy to forget she can do (despite her biggest success being in quite a well-known sitcom) and the former feeling believably, but lovingly, held in check during times when he might otherwise get carried away. It's a shame that the supporting cast isn't as much fun this time around, although everyone works with what they're given. Laurent and Verma aren't given enough to do, and Turner-Smith, her character accompanied by a toadying sidekick (played by Zurin Villanueva), is out of the picture far too soon, but both Arce and John Kani (returning to the role of Colonel Ulenga, now with one less arm than he had last time we saw him) deliver some good lines, and Strong has a lot of fun in the kind of role that is as familiar and obvious as it is entertaining. Akhtar is, of course, onscreen for a lot of the runtime, which isn't a bad thing if his character grates on you slightly, and Dany Boon returns as Inspector Delacroix in time for the third act.

It's been a while since I watched Murder Mystery (hey, I may not hate Sandler movies, but there aren't many that I rush to rewatch lately), but this sequel feels as if it is trying to deliver a bit more action and spectacle. From a lovely wedding dance sequence to an impressive high-speed drive through Paris, not to mention a surprisingly satisfying and memorable final set-piece, there's a better sense of balance between the gags and the actual central mystery being solved.

Very few people will agree with me here, and many won't even bother wasting their time with another Sandler vehicle, but I liked this a little bit more than the first film. Considering I liked the first film more than most, you may just want to discard my whole opinion on this one. It's entirely up to you, but you'll miss some wonderful scene-stealing from Aniston.

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Wednesday, 5 May 2021

Prime Time: Without Remorse (2021)

A Tom Clancy adventure tale, which means a lot of military tactics and hardware on display, Without Remorse is yet another vehicle for Michael B. Jordan that isn't really deserving of his talent. That's not to say that it's bad, it's just not great. And it could easily have been improved.

Jordan plays John Kelly, a bit of a super-soldier. He's taken, along with his team, on a mission overseen by Robert Ritter (Jamie Bell). It turns out to be a mission that upsets some powerful Russians, apparently, and a revenge attack attempts to take out the team when they're back on American soil. Kelly actually survives the attack, but his pregnant wife is murdered. So he's determined to do whatever it takes to take down the people responsible for shattering his life. But who is the one giving the orders, and how far up the chain does the whole mess go?

Not considering the cast, who I will mention soon enough, Without Remorse has a number of good names involved with putting it together. The script is by Taylor Sheridan and Will Staples, and it's not that bad. Oh, it's fairly predictable and clichéd, but it works just fine for the kind of film it wants to be. Director Stefano Sollima handles everything capably enough, especially in the action scenes that give a cinematic spin on some more realistic action, if you can overlook the fact that at least one character seems to be pretty indestructible at times. The plotting is kept straightforward enough, and the geography is usually quite clear when it comes to the gunfights and combat.

Jordan is as riveting as usual in the lead role, absolutely believable as a smart and tough badass (I'd say his John Kelly is on a par with a character like Jack Reacher). Bell is just fine in his role, playing someone that Kelly distrusts from the start, which means we viewers also distrust him. Jodie Turner-Smith is another main member of the military team, Karen Greer, and she holds her own in the thick of the action. Last, but not least, is Guy Pearce, playing Secretary Clay, the kind of suit-wearing official you suspect will always be looking out for plausible deniability, even as he seems to be helping the main characters. Pearce is another highlight, and he gets some of the better little moments in the script, gaining trust from soldiers with his ability to be savvy and realistic, at times offering an option to others without any glorious reward at the end of it.

If you like this kind of film then you're going to like this. It's exactly what you want it to be. But it's nothing more than that. Nothing. There's no real ambiguity or complexity, despite what the writers may want you to think by the third act. You have good guys going after bad guys, and those bad guys come in various guises. There are a few decent set-pieces, and it sets things up for a potential series. But it's unlikely to be one that viewers will revisit often, if at all, and if there IS a sequel coming along then I hope it improves on what has been laid down here. A solid, unspectacular, foundation.

6/10