Gunpowder Milkshake
Aug. 7th, 2021 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
I sat down to watch this film with mixed expectations. On the plus side - Lena Headey, Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett and a Wes Anderson-esque super-stylised setting. Yep, yep, yep, all good so far!
On the down-side - Karen Gillan as the main star. I didn't like her in Doctor Who. I barely noticed her in the MCU. She can be decent at comedy, as in Jumanji, but I don't rate her as a dramatic actress. But, hey, the MCU is hard to judge from, it didn't exactly give its second tier cast much to work with. Elizabeth Olsen was a non-entity in the films and then fabulous in WandaVision, so maybe this would be Karen Gillan's chance to prove me wrong?
Unfortunately not. I'm not convinced by her as a hardcore assassin. When she and Lena Headey are in a fight scene together, Headey sells that she knows how to throw a punch, Gillan not so much.
The film does have some fun parts - the fight between four partially incapacitated people in the hospital corridor was brilliantly choreographed hilarity, and used Gillan most effectively precisely because it was pure madness and bore no relation to reality. The action sequence in the library set to Janis Joplin was entertaining as hell. But the film overall was pretty predictable generic fare. It should have upped the level of Wes Anderson madness and given up on trying to have Gillan emote regretfully, because she's just not pulling that off.
On the down-side - Karen Gillan as the main star. I didn't like her in Doctor Who. I barely noticed her in the MCU. She can be decent at comedy, as in Jumanji, but I don't rate her as a dramatic actress. But, hey, the MCU is hard to judge from, it didn't exactly give its second tier cast much to work with. Elizabeth Olsen was a non-entity in the films and then fabulous in WandaVision, so maybe this would be Karen Gillan's chance to prove me wrong?
Unfortunately not. I'm not convinced by her as a hardcore assassin. When she and Lena Headey are in a fight scene together, Headey sells that she knows how to throw a punch, Gillan not so much.
The film does have some fun parts - the fight between four partially incapacitated people in the hospital corridor was brilliantly choreographed hilarity, and used Gillan most effectively precisely because it was pure madness and bore no relation to reality. The action sequence in the library set to Janis Joplin was entertaining as hell. But the film overall was pretty predictable generic fare. It should have upped the level of Wes Anderson madness and given up on trying to have Gillan emote regretfully, because she's just not pulling that off.
no subject
Date: 2021-08-08 06:38 am (UTC)I'm waiting for Bond, James Bond, because there seems to be a plethora of beautiful, really kack-ass characters in it, and the trailer looks terrific.
Look, I'm shallow, okay? :)
no subject
Date: 2021-08-08 02:23 pm (UTC)