Archive 81, Malignant, Spiral, & The Book of Boba Fett || Rapid Reviews

Rapid Reviews

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Archive 81  ||  Malignant  ||  Spiral: From the Book of Saw  ||  Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett

There are an overwhelming amount of movies released every year. With an average of over 700 movies released every year, the wealth of entertainment available is practically endless. This isn't even mentioning the plethora of series and shows released every single year, most of which are just as prestigious as the big, noteworthy Hollywood releases. With such a wide selection of content to dig into and only a finite amount of time to do so, what is one critic do?

Rapid Reviews is a semi-regular feature that will collect smaller, less formal reviews to cover a wide range of movies and shows which might not be able to be discussed elsewhere due to time constraints. And make no mistake - some of these shows and movies need to be talked about!

Archive 81  [Season 1]  ||  Netflix

Directed by: Rebecca Thomas, Haifaa Al Mansour, Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead

Developed by: Rebecca Sonnenshine  ||  Written by: Rebecca Sonnenshine, Michael Narducci, Evan Bleiweiss, Bobak Esfarjani, Helen Leigh

Starring: Mamoudou Athie, Dina Shihabi, Evan Jonigkeit, Julia Chan, Ariana Neal, Matt McGorry, Martin Donovan

Score by: Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow  ||  Cinematography by: Julie Kirkwood, Bobby Bukowski, Nathaniel Goodman

Archive 81, based off of the podcast of the same name, adapts its high-quality audiologue into an 8-episode Netflix series - and even without familiarity to its source material, it's clear that Archive 81 has lost something in its translation to the small screen.

The series begins promisingly enough, with a solid concept laying the groundwork for a what should be fun supernatural mystery surrounding our two protagonists - an unreliable narrator in the form of Dan (Mamoudou Athie) and Melody (Dina Shihabi), a budding documentarian and "manic pixie dream girl" from the past for Dan to obsess over. Archive 81's central mystery focuses on the pair's increasingly unique connection to each other, in addition to their connection to the enigmatic and potentially haunted Visser Apartments. Again, this is a great concept for a paranormal series, but Archive 81's execution leaves a lot to be desired.

It's possible this is due to the relatively fresh-faced cast, but there's only one actor (who I won't name for the sake of spoilers) who is capable of bringing the needed duplicity to their character - allowing for a proper, satisfying twist to be revealed later in the story. This is in direct contrast to many of the other actors who may as well have a sign above their heads reading "obviously evil".  Whether this criticism is the fault of the actors or directors doesn't really matter - what matters is it strangles any momentum surrounding Archive 81's many twists and turns, the bulk of which feel telegraphed episodes in advance.

Then there's the issue of the show's glacial pacing. Before I get into the specifics here, let it be known that I'm an avid fan of slow-burn horror - A24 is essentially my go-to studio for horror, if that helps illustrate how methodically paced I prefer my scary movies. With that said, and with all honesty - Archive 81 tested the limits of my patience like no other series in recent memory. It's possible some of this is due to the predictable twists and turns in the storytelling, but the editing and direction deserve equal blame. To put it very bluntly - there really isn't a lot of visual interest within Archive 81's first season. The show's limited color palette only plays with dull, dark colors, most likely as a way to cheaply and artificially raise the tension. There are entirely too many drawn out scenes of Dan slowly watching monitors either to learn what the audience already knows or an unsatisfyingly small piece of the puzzle. Then there are the awkwardly filmed "found-footage" bits that never feel authentic. The way the two leads conduct their investigation into the Visser Apartments is archly written and borderline dumb - usually having the characters act without any bit of discretion or reasoning.

Although I didn't outright it - after all, I was curious enough in the main mystery to finish the first season - Archive 81 ends up as this misfit horror series without any specific audience. Fans of thoughtful, slow-burn horror will have seen everything that Archive 81 has to offer and will have seen it done infinitely better. Whereas fans of the less cerebral and more campy, blood-soaked horror will be unimpressed with Archive 81's lack of imagination and bored by its tedious pacing.

Film-FTW Rating  ||  4 Stars out of 10  "Uninteresting / Trifling"

Malignant  ||  HBO Max

Directed by: James Wan

Screenplay by: Akela Cooper  ||  Story by: James Wan, Ingrid Bisu, Akela Cooper

Starring: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White

Score by: Joseph Bishara  ||  Cinematography by: Michael Burgess

In my Archive 81 review above, I mention my fondness for slow-burn horror - exemplified by my never-ending appreciation of A24's top-tier catalogue of movies. As much as I adore the more sophisticated, psychological horrors offered by movies like It Follows or Midsommar, I also love when horror fully embraces its genre, going full camp. Movies like Army of Darkness, Evil Dead, or one of my recent favorites - Ready or Not are some examples of camp done well. Malignant, the return to horror from director James Wan, is camp done well and I loved every demented minute of it.

Though there might be some criticisms that Malignant isn't as terrifying as other horror movies out there (arguably true), Wan seems more interested in telling his  screwball scary story on a blockbuster scale. He's less interested in scaring the audience than he is in taking full advantage of the skills learned while shooting Aquaman. As such, Malignant is filled with wondrous shots, clever editing and storytelling tricks, extreme imagery, and gorgeous cinematography befitting its Giallo inspirations. Malignant might not be the nightmare-fuel you want, but I promise you, there are things in this movie you'll not easily forget. The final twist, a thoroughly dumb and wild concept, is embraced so earnestly by the production and cast that helps it land in a delightfully chaotic way. This twist dumbfounded me and then left me in a giddy daze for the majority of its final act.

Malignant isn't perfect though, with a few formulaic story beats and contrivances to get us to its bonkers climax, along with some acting veering on the edge of day-time soapy. However, these issues are so slight in comparison to the amount of "midnight movie" fun to be had with Malignant that it's barely worth mentioning. If you've not seen Malignant and consider yourself a fan of over-the-top horror, you need to check this one out! 

Film-FTW Rating  ||  8 Stars out of 10  "Great / Memorable"

Spiral: From the Book of Saw  ||  STARZ

Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman

Written by: Josh Stolberg, Peter Goldfinger

Starring: Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, Samuel L. Jackson

Score by: Charlie Clouser  ||  Cinematography by: Jordan Oram

Spiral: From the Book of Saw is the soft-reboot of the Saw franchise - a thoroughly inconsistent series of horror flicks that always worked best when doling out simple, bloody pleasures through cleverly designed torture traps all thematically tied into its cast of characters. Though the series has seen its fair share of criticisms (both warranted and unwarranted), I have to be honest - I still have good memories of the first few Saw movies. After Saw III, the franchise had to continue sans-Jigsaw, a creative hurdle it was never able to reckon with. Instead, the Saw franchise became this overly complex and convoluted series of attempts to out-clever itself with lazy reveals and even lazier traps.

So understanding just how played out the Saw franchise was, Spiral: From the Book of Saw seemed to be exactly what I wanted from a narrative do-over. First, start with a plot focused on a Jigsaw-copycat killer who is specifically hunting corrupt policemen is an interesting new, modern direction to take this series in. With Chris Rock's inclusion as the lead, Detective Zeke Banks, is an equally brilliant and unexpected move. And then there was the look and editing of the trailer, which promised something closer in tone to David Fincher's 1995 classic, Se7en.

Even with all of these new avenues to take the series down, Spiral: From the Book of Saw ends up phoning it in - and in many, painfully obvious ways. Right off the top, since we're on the topic of phoning it in, Samuel L. Jackson's here for less than 10 minutes of screen time with a performance that screams "for that paycheck". As much as I usually love Chris Rock, especially when he plays against his standard type, he just does not work as the lead detective here. While Rock's got a solid comedy bit about Forrest Gump that is hilarious, on-point, and possibly my favorite part of this entire movie - Rock's performance falls apart the moment he's asked to do anything remotely serious. Unfortunately, Spiral tasks Rock with conveying a large amount of dramatic baggage without ever helping on the story-front, essentially leaving him adrift in his own movie.

The film also takes the relatively controversial current-day issue of police corruption and handles it with the nuanced and careful attention you would expect. Which is to say Spiral makes a complete mockery of it with its messy symbolism and thematically confused climax - an ending so painfully dumb that I couldn't help but audibly groan...multiple times! Even the traps aren't fun this time around - all feeling much more more mean-spirited, with several traps ending up being no-win scenarios for the victims.

Spiral: From the Book of Saw is a frustrating reboot that doesn't just fail as a movie, but fails to recapture anything resembling  the spirit of the original. It's an unwanted, needless entry that offers nothing of worth with its new ideas - ideas which should have made Spiral: From the Book of Saw the return-to-form the franchise needed.

Instead, Spiral: From the Book of Saw proves that it might be time for the Saw series to take that final dirt nap.

Film-FTW Rating  ||  3 Stars out of 10  "Bad / Thoroughly Flawed"

Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett  ||  Disney+

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez, Steph Green, Kevin Tancharoen, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dave Filoni

Written by: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni

Starring: Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, Pedro Pascal, Matt Berry, David Pasquesi, Jennifer Beals, Amy Sedaris

Score by: Ludwig Göransson, Joseph Shirley  ||  Cinematography by: Dean Cundey, David Klein, Paul Hughen

Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett is the very definition of what I would consider "fine". It's a series that is entirely watchable, offers quite a bit of fun, but it's also undeniably flawed. This new Star Wars series centers around the titular fan-favorite character, Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison). The story takes place after he was last seen in the second season of The Mandalorian, as he's thrown into the role of Tattooine's new daimyo (or warlord). With the help of his companion, Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), Fett will need to quickly adapt as he finds himself in the middle of a treacherous and farreaching political game of war.

There's a lot to like about The Book of Boba Fett - some exciting new additions to the lore, some returning characters from The Mandalorian, a new live-action introduction of a fan-favorite character, the mostly beautiful mix of practical and computer effects used to create wondrous new creatures, numerous action set-pieces with references to various Hollywood productions from throughout time...there's a lot here that is everything that I want from my Star Wars entertainment.

The storytelling and characters, shockingly, are so sloppily handled. Boba Fett's (the main character of this story) character arc is is delivered in piecemeal chunks through flashbacks - meaning where Boba Fett is as a character at the start of this series is exactly where he is at the end of the series. This narrative construct keeps the episodes quick and entertaining, jumping back-and-forth between the different timelines, but it doesn't give leave the character with any room to grow in his modern story. Not helping matters is that this structure feels largely superficial, with no real clever editing or interplay between the two. In fact, The Book of Boba Fett might have worked better with a more linear structure. That this becomes a quasi-season of The Mandalorian in its final three episodes is another issue. That I found myself relieved to be getting a break from Boba Fett's story is another issue - one that only further illustrates the downright baffling handling of this series along with its main character.

Film-FTW Rating  ||  6 Stars out of 10  "Better Than Average / Moderately Successful"

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