When the trailer first came out I was thrilled, like expectations through the roof... The flick came out and so did the bad reviews... Still, I decided to take a shot... Maybe the "Urge" would kick for me like it didn't for anyone else... (awful joke! Mea culpa maxima!)
Please, allow me to be gentle... Lets begin then... Great premise, not that much original, but if drugs are involved, also am I, in the best of times... The first act was fine or even very fine... The second one was interesting, kind of thrilling... The final act made the movie a zombie flick and sucked!
There wasn't a development of the characters, but I don't feel like that was important... In my POV, they were just that kind of people that you know and you meet casually in a party... You may hang out with them for a while or even all the night, but you wouldn't remember their names if your life depended on it! It feels like, although, that many characters background and "important inter-character moments" were lost in the editing room. For example, the graffiti... Neil died thinking that Jason did it... And it was a big deal, worthy a toast with a 62 years and $100k whisky. And just like that, it didn't matter... That kind of stuff happens when you work a script in eight hands... Or it didn't got into the final cut...
Talking cuts... Way too many cuts... Way too many unnecessary cuts... For example, the "cake-f*ck" scene (I don't believe I wrote that, meaning to write that!)... I was OK with the back and forth cross-cutting... I wasn't OK with the number of inserts in the master shot, that didn't even changed the angle of the shooting. Made it looks like they were trying to put together the best bits of performance of their many takes. It was Kaufman's directional debut, but that was just messed up.
Good parts... It had many good parts... The dialogue, I loved the dialogue! Simple and believable in casual moments, clever in its jokes, and interesting in its philosophy. Actingwise, Nick Thune was the best hands down! His character going crazy is mesmerizing. But the movie is made of good moments. Like at the entrance of the Volcano, with the eyes in the wall, how cool was that?... Or the beginning of the party... Or Theresa going kinda dominatrix on Neil... Or the cake- f*ck (I still can't believe!)... Put it all together it doesn't sounds like much, but those moments, and others, are quite awesome by themselves.
007wise... I liked the Man... Pierce was good, not as much as Thune, but still good... But they screwed him in the last scene... A villain without a goal can do anything, is f*ckin' unpredictable, interesting... In the other hand, a villain that aims for the Apocalypse is boring, and can go just as far as the end of the world... And in the movies, the end of the world never is a end of the world... BUT HE GOT SOME GOOD LINES IN THE TWO FIRST SCENES HE WAS IN!
Bottom line... The first two acts are quite decent, just a couple problems with the writing and some execution issues... The third act is where things go sideways and the movie losses in it self... And the end credit scene is so generic that could be of any zombie flick ever made. WOULD FIT ANY ZOMBIE MOVIE, MORE THAN DID TO URGE!
Give it a try... Won't hurt... You may even have a good time... In the end you will at least know what not to do when making a movie...
Please, allow me to be gentle... Lets begin then... Great premise, not that much original, but if drugs are involved, also am I, in the best of times... The first act was fine or even very fine... The second one was interesting, kind of thrilling... The final act made the movie a zombie flick and sucked!
There wasn't a development of the characters, but I don't feel like that was important... In my POV, they were just that kind of people that you know and you meet casually in a party... You may hang out with them for a while or even all the night, but you wouldn't remember their names if your life depended on it! It feels like, although, that many characters background and "important inter-character moments" were lost in the editing room. For example, the graffiti... Neil died thinking that Jason did it... And it was a big deal, worthy a toast with a 62 years and $100k whisky. And just like that, it didn't matter... That kind of stuff happens when you work a script in eight hands... Or it didn't got into the final cut...
Talking cuts... Way too many cuts... Way too many unnecessary cuts... For example, the "cake-f*ck" scene (I don't believe I wrote that, meaning to write that!)... I was OK with the back and forth cross-cutting... I wasn't OK with the number of inserts in the master shot, that didn't even changed the angle of the shooting. Made it looks like they were trying to put together the best bits of performance of their many takes. It was Kaufman's directional debut, but that was just messed up.
Good parts... It had many good parts... The dialogue, I loved the dialogue! Simple and believable in casual moments, clever in its jokes, and interesting in its philosophy. Actingwise, Nick Thune was the best hands down! His character going crazy is mesmerizing. But the movie is made of good moments. Like at the entrance of the Volcano, with the eyes in the wall, how cool was that?... Or the beginning of the party... Or Theresa going kinda dominatrix on Neil... Or the cake- f*ck (I still can't believe!)... Put it all together it doesn't sounds like much, but those moments, and others, are quite awesome by themselves.
007wise... I liked the Man... Pierce was good, not as much as Thune, but still good... But they screwed him in the last scene... A villain without a goal can do anything, is f*ckin' unpredictable, interesting... In the other hand, a villain that aims for the Apocalypse is boring, and can go just as far as the end of the world... And in the movies, the end of the world never is a end of the world... BUT HE GOT SOME GOOD LINES IN THE TWO FIRST SCENES HE WAS IN!
Bottom line... The first two acts are quite decent, just a couple problems with the writing and some execution issues... The third act is where things go sideways and the movie losses in it self... And the end credit scene is so generic that could be of any zombie flick ever made. WOULD FIT ANY ZOMBIE MOVIE, MORE THAN DID TO URGE!
Give it a try... Won't hurt... You may even have a good time... In the end you will at least know what not to do when making a movie...