"Army Of Darkness" Review (Spoilers)
Also a review for the latest episode of The Blacklist.
Army Of Darkness
I liked it, but truthfully, I expected to like it more than I did.
On paper this should be the movie in the franchise I am most comfortable with. It's not a horror movie (the only project in the franchise that isn't actually horror, actually) and there is a distinct lack of gore and gross-outs. And for that reason it's the easiest of the movies to watch. But I think I had some problems with the script. Maybe the previous Evil Dead scripts had also problems, but you are more apt to notice them in a fantasy epic instead of a horror movie. For horror movies, plot-related dumbness actually goes with the territory. My expectations for fantasy are higher.
But it's not exactly a fantasy. It's also a cross between an action movie and a slapstick comedy. I think things were a little TOO slapstick for this specific franchise. I have not watched Ash Vs. Evil Dead yet, but I'm thinking the stakes have inadvertently been lowered by turning Ash into a rubber cartoon character who never really gets hurt in this one movie.
Let's talk about things I liked. The ending wasn't definitive, but it was a good place to leave things, appreciated more by me because the first two movies ended on cliffhangers. If this had been the last thing in the franchise ever I would have been fine with it.
I liked that Arthur and Henry embraced like brothers at the end. That is something out of a cheesy 80's movie and I approved of it.
It seems like Ash is a lot bigger of an outward jerk than he was in the first two movies. I certainly don't really care for the wallflower he was in the first Evil Dead movie, but the second movie sort of turned him into a wisecracking superhero without making him lose either his humanity or our sympathy to him from the audience. I think the second movie splitting the difference was the best version of the character.
Speaking of previous movies, they rebooted the first one AGAIN. Because I DID see the first one and I know damn well Linda wasn't played by Bridget Fonda.
I'll give that a positive review, but I expected it to be my favorite Ash movie, and it wasn't. ***1/2.
The Blacklist "The Chairman"
I think the Chairman is one of the best villains of the week the show has come up with in years.
He's extremely silly and playful while he doing horrible and violent things. So he's a sociopath, right? That doesn't track though. It was probably just for effect to scare the dirty investors. Him claiming integrity at the end and pointing out his hands are no dirtier than the Wall Street crooks the government let slide in 2008 suggests he actually possesses both pride and a moral compass. Which makes him SUPER interesting. Also interesting is that his first response to Harold's press conference is that he knew it was a trap. It wasn't even a question for him.
I'll you something nice about him. Craig Bierko is one of the least memorable actors I can think of. He makes Bill Pullman look like Jim Carrey. Like Christopher Rich, he kept getting cast as the lead in sitcoms in the 1980's and 90's that never took off because he simply did not have the chops to carry an entire cast and show. I like that the show found the Chairman for him. I'll tell you another good thing about Bierko in 2022. He voiced has matured. There are legit layers and texture to it now, which is cool. I think the guy could do animation voice-over for dramatic cartoons at this point. His voice is actually memorable now (even if his looks still aren't).
Ressler claiming that Red was responsible for Liz's death is the precise reason I don't give a crap about his struggles.
I liked hearing Red's perspective that Liz was dead and gone, and what was left was an empty shell, and the best way to honor Liz's memory is to find her killer. What I like about him saying this is that it's true. But even though it's true, it's not a moral you hear on TV that often. Even rarer still is the fact that the argument actually moves Harold enough to actually freaking DO something. I found that very refreshing.
Learning the reason Red wanted to take down the Night Market is interesting. That's definitely a new wrinkle that will have to be dealt with in the future.
I like Red's frustration over Harold's accusation that he gave them the case to raise his own stock prices. I like it because the actual answer is Red's stocks going higher actually HURTS him, and he doesn't have the time to explain the complications and business nuances of that to Harold in a rushed phone call. But I could see "How long has this guy known me?" in Red's eyes. Maybe the problem is Harold DOES know him. But Red was justifiably very unhappy there.
Have I speculated in past weeks that the guy blackmailing Harold is the precise guy helping him in his investigation of that? Because I've always thought it, and if I never voiced it before now, it means I forgot to. I'm not going through all this season's reviews to check though.
That was a great villain and a great solid the show did for Craig Bierko's consistently-ailing career. I am very happy. ****1/2.
Army Of Darkness
I liked it, but truthfully, I expected to like it more than I did.
On paper this should be the movie in the franchise I am most comfortable with. It's not a horror movie (the only project in the franchise that isn't actually horror, actually) and there is a distinct lack of gore and gross-outs. And for that reason it's the easiest of the movies to watch. But I think I had some problems with the script. Maybe the previous Evil Dead scripts had also problems, but you are more apt to notice them in a fantasy epic instead of a horror movie. For horror movies, plot-related dumbness actually goes with the territory. My expectations for fantasy are higher.
But it's not exactly a fantasy. It's also a cross between an action movie and a slapstick comedy. I think things were a little TOO slapstick for this specific franchise. I have not watched Ash Vs. Evil Dead yet, but I'm thinking the stakes have inadvertently been lowered by turning Ash into a rubber cartoon character who never really gets hurt in this one movie.
Let's talk about things I liked. The ending wasn't definitive, but it was a good place to leave things, appreciated more by me because the first two movies ended on cliffhangers. If this had been the last thing in the franchise ever I would have been fine with it.
I liked that Arthur and Henry embraced like brothers at the end. That is something out of a cheesy 80's movie and I approved of it.
It seems like Ash is a lot bigger of an outward jerk than he was in the first two movies. I certainly don't really care for the wallflower he was in the first Evil Dead movie, but the second movie sort of turned him into a wisecracking superhero without making him lose either his humanity or our sympathy to him from the audience. I think the second movie splitting the difference was the best version of the character.
Speaking of previous movies, they rebooted the first one AGAIN. Because I DID see the first one and I know damn well Linda wasn't played by Bridget Fonda.
I'll give that a positive review, but I expected it to be my favorite Ash movie, and it wasn't. ***1/2.
The Blacklist "The Chairman"
I think the Chairman is one of the best villains of the week the show has come up with in years.
He's extremely silly and playful while he doing horrible and violent things. So he's a sociopath, right? That doesn't track though. It was probably just for effect to scare the dirty investors. Him claiming integrity at the end and pointing out his hands are no dirtier than the Wall Street crooks the government let slide in 2008 suggests he actually possesses both pride and a moral compass. Which makes him SUPER interesting. Also interesting is that his first response to Harold's press conference is that he knew it was a trap. It wasn't even a question for him.
I'll you something nice about him. Craig Bierko is one of the least memorable actors I can think of. He makes Bill Pullman look like Jim Carrey. Like Christopher Rich, he kept getting cast as the lead in sitcoms in the 1980's and 90's that never took off because he simply did not have the chops to carry an entire cast and show. I like that the show found the Chairman for him. I'll tell you another good thing about Bierko in 2022. He voiced has matured. There are legit layers and texture to it now, which is cool. I think the guy could do animation voice-over for dramatic cartoons at this point. His voice is actually memorable now (even if his looks still aren't).
Ressler claiming that Red was responsible for Liz's death is the precise reason I don't give a crap about his struggles.
I liked hearing Red's perspective that Liz was dead and gone, and what was left was an empty shell, and the best way to honor Liz's memory is to find her killer. What I like about him saying this is that it's true. But even though it's true, it's not a moral you hear on TV that often. Even rarer still is the fact that the argument actually moves Harold enough to actually freaking DO something. I found that very refreshing.
Learning the reason Red wanted to take down the Night Market is interesting. That's definitely a new wrinkle that will have to be dealt with in the future.
I like Red's frustration over Harold's accusation that he gave them the case to raise his own stock prices. I like it because the actual answer is Red's stocks going higher actually HURTS him, and he doesn't have the time to explain the complications and business nuances of that to Harold in a rushed phone call. But I could see "How long has this guy known me?" in Red's eyes. Maybe the problem is Harold DOES know him. But Red was justifiably very unhappy there.
Have I speculated in past weeks that the guy blackmailing Harold is the precise guy helping him in his investigation of that? Because I've always thought it, and if I never voiced it before now, it means I forgot to. I'm not going through all this season's reviews to check though.
That was a great villain and a great solid the show did for Craig Bierko's consistently-ailing career. I am very happy. ****1/2.