I've tried about five times now to write this blog, but every time I pull it up I just get irritated. I think the months of social distancing has made me less motivated to write; despite being an introvert I do feed off other people's energy.
Well, let's just get this over with then. The fragments of 2020 in film.
Birds of Prey
2016's Suicide Squad was a mess, but the one element nearly universally praised was Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn. So while DC continues to throw things at the wall to see what sticks, they've given us a Harley-centric sequel-of-sorts. About half the movie is pure Harley, while the other half is everybody else. The everybody else half is passable, maybe even better than most of Marvel's Phase Two, while the Harley half is spot on in every way. In the end, I really liked this one. It's not solid but it leaves a good impression; essentially this is what I'd wanted Suicide Squad to be.
Fantasy Island
Man, people hated this movie, and frankly I don't know why. It delivers on its premise exactly as promised and manages to put its pieces together creatively. I can understand why someone simply wouldn't like the movie, but its reputation as the worst of 2020 is unjustifiable. If you tend to like Blumhouse productions I would say give it a whirl, and think of it as the shady prequel to the more fantastical television series that we're all pretending to have an attachment to.
The Invisible Man
Objectively I can say this was a very good film. This is abusive relationship gas-lighting pushed to its psychologically horrific extreme, and the movie is probably flawless in that regard. But in terms of personal preference, it was the wrong flavor for me. I'm picky about my horror films, and I really need a fun factor to balance out the brutality. This movie was not fun. Intense, incredibly well-acted, poignant, triple yes. But if you're as hyper-sensitive as I am, you'll find this a real endurance test.
Scoob!
You may have noticed by now that I'm a huge Scooby-Doo fan, and for that reason I found this movie unforgivable. Every studio wants their own MCU, and WB's ownership of the Hanna-Barbera library provoked this bait and switch attempt to launch a Scooby-Doo All-Stars reboot. Essentially they tried to make a Blue Falcon movie, a character that never mattered. And they know it, that's why they had to hide it behind a Scooby/Shaggy mask. I know 2020 has made me a bitter human being, but I'm glad this flopped.
Bill & Ted Face the Music
There weren't many spots of hope this past year, but the warm return of Bill and Ted was one of the fleeting moments where I was reminded of what it felt like to be in a good mood. The Bill and Ted series has always been a labor of love, and nowhere is that more evident than this final romp through innocent optimism. For the love of humanity please make a Billie and Thea spin-off because the world desperately needs another Hendrix/Mozart duet.
Soul
I loved the movie Pixar was trying to make here. Soul wasn't the Inside Out/Up hybrid it was aiming for but it also wasn't the narrative noise of Toy Story 4. I'm thinking this story didn't start as a feature but as about three and a half shorts that happened to fit a theme. The rough edges separating each element are noticeable, and the film doesn't fully explore it's unanswered questions, but it at least delivers on its title. I think one trip to the script doctor was all it needed to be a Pixar A-lister.
Promising Young Woman
There were two routes this movie could have taken. The first would have been to display the psychological realism of how much damage rape culture does, the other would be a superhero-esque revenge fantasy that the trailers promised. The movie tries to take both, and unfortunately they pull against each other; the end result landing somewhere in the 'good enough' middle. It's a pity, because Carey Mulligan's performance and the ideas presented (the horrible reality behind 'bro code') deserved so much better than 'good enough'. Bummer.
Wonder Woman 1984
Damn it! This was supposed to be the one! *sigh* Okay, to be fair WW84 wasn't a bad movie, but it truly was a noticeable downgrade from the previous film that had us chanting "Give the DCEU to Patty Jenkins". Taken on its own, it's flawed (as you may have heard) but fun...perhaps more Tilt-A-Whirl than roller coaster. But we honestly needed this movie to be solid, and instead it felt like it was in the hands of a first time director. Or a director who had no experience with superhero films. Or, just, what the hell happened Jenkins?
So that then there is the freshly spoiled milk of a movie year that was 2020. It's been suggested to me that there's nowhere to go but up, despite four years of evidence to the contrary. You know what? Things aren't all right. The world is not doing well. And I don't feel like looking for a positive takeaway, or feigning hope, or trying to be funny. Show's over. Roll the fucking credits.
