Reviews

Bong Joon Ho is without a doubt one of the top five or ten working directors today. When it comes to juggling genre and tone almost no one is his equal. With an all-star international cast and its production by Netflix, this may be his most accessible movie yet; however, it may also be his most bizarre. It's the kind of movie that will leave you laughing one minute, crying the next, and then raising your eyebrows the next. It's so refreshing to see a film not conform to easy plot points and pandering like this film could have done so many times. Rather it takes tonal and story risks that consistently pay off. It helps that it maintains a solid satirical tone throughout allowing even the dysfunctional and reprehensible characters to remain interesting and some even likable. The actors are all terrific, particularly Ahn Seo Hung in her film debut. She keeps the emotional component grounded throughout the film and provides the most resonating moments. The only performer who may not resonate with everyone is Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal goes all out insane for his role and while I enjoyed the lunacy, many will not be fans. My only complaint was that some of the scenes with Tilda Swinton descended into too much exposition which hinders some of the pacing. Despite the familiarity of the story, it will consistently sneak up on you with wonderful unexpected moments. Its another example of the daring and beautiful films coming from Korea, the best country for cinema in the past decade. If studios don't want to lose out to Netflix, they need to be willing to back the same kind of talent and allow for the same kind of artistic freedom.

Pro-tip: Watch past the end credits

Edgar Wright's newest film captures everything you can possibly love about going to the movies. It's filled with wonderful characters, great car chases, enough style for a dozen cool flicks, and yes, a soundtrack that is better than sex. While using a familiar story template (the Driver & Drive), Wright completely makes it his own, infusing it with his love for music and his film geekiness. Wright has a perfect filmography at this point and definitely deserves to be ranked as one of the finest directors of the past 20 years. This may be his best movie yet.

The cast is note perfect, the only downside is that Jon Bernthal's role is almost more of a cameo (considering the top billing). Ansel Elgort is wonderful as Baby, bringing an instant likability and purity to the character. The supporting cast is equally great with Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, and Eiza Gonzalez as the standouts. The scenes between all three of them contain the most electricity and tension.

The car chases are brilliantly shot, eschewing the dull over-the-top silliness of the Fast & Furious franchise for something much more grounded and much more exciting. The lack of special effects keeps up the tension with actual stunt driving, continuing the good trend of recent actions films going back to doing things for real, showing an understanding of the genre.

Usually, I try to not let myself get too hyped about a new film coming out, but this is the exception. I can't remember the last time I had this much pure fun at the movies and all of you need to see it. I was lucky enough to get into an advanced screening and I almost regret it: waiting two months before I can see it again is unbearable torture.