Thunderbolts*

We’ve come a long way…um…babies? You have to be forgiven if, upon watching this installment of the MCU, you find yourself contemplating the Marvel movies of yesteryear and how invigorating they were, whereas this flick evokes, largely, little more than a “huh?” reaction. Oh, sure, there’s entertainment to be had here, including both a fair dose of humor and an appreciable overarching metaphor about overcoming abuse, in addition to the standard action tropes. But…the history does not disappear, and the influence of the past weighs heavily upon this “new” venture. The sense that this is little more than a photocopy of a degraded original—a vibe that is even acknowledged in the film itself, at least at the ending—is hard to get over. At least the cast of characters features a mostly likable group. Reservations aside, an honest assessment says that this movie is good enough to watch, and the studio seems determined to move forward with its plans, so maybe we can just keep an eye on things and see if something truly enjoyable develops down the line. Stranger things have happened, even within this very franchise. 

Dumb Money

There is a strange aspect to this movie, a measure of confusion that pervades the story. Based on the movie’s marketing and general vibe, you go in and watch with the impression that this story of lower class Davids sticking it to investor class Goliaths is on the side of the poor people. Yet many of the film’s trappings seem to indicate that the term “dumb money”—the rich assholes’ sneering characterization of two-bit retail investors—may not be so far off the mark. For one, the presentation is awash in rap “music”—and not exactly clever rap, either, but more like some of the ugliest sounding, meanest sounding, and, yes, stupidest sounding noise the producers could have found. The aural choices seem to imply that the cohort of paycheck-class types are exactly as churlish and ignorant as the title insult insists they are. Those same characters themselves, throughout the story, persistently make the case against the “short squeeze” they are engaging in, and the outcome many of them foresee does, in fact, eventually come to pass, in real life if not in reel life. (GameStop stock, when I watched this flick, was trading at around $20 a share—hardly the several hundred dollars per the price achieved in the midst of the mania.) Finally, the end notes before the credits relate that the hedge fund types, in the wake of all this, are now more careful about shorting stocks—all well and good, I suppose, but hardly the revolutionary outcome the squeeze participants were hoping to achieve, by their own presented testimony. So is this movie actually making an admiring case for the poor people? Or is this an exercise in declaring that those on the bottom really can’t win? Given the big picture, my guess is this film is firmly on the side of the little people, but presents that viewpoint somewhat incompetently. Thus, an interesting story and some good performances, in a story that holds interest for anyone with a thirst for economic fairness, get wasted by filmmakers who simply don’t quite make the case in favor of their heroes. A “should have been” movie that just isn’t quite. (Note: the library DVD I used to watch this movie had some playback issues, especially late in the running time. I undoubtedly missed a few crucial scenes, which might have changed my opinion on the piece overall. Watching comes with risk.)

I, Tonya

OK, maybe blondes don't always win. But I'd still make them the betting favorites in most scenarios. It takes a lot of negatives imposed upon the flaxen-haired to hold them back; apparently, Tonya Harding lived under a rain of negatives (not unusual in the Pacific Northwest--certainly the rain part). This film makes a fairly convincing case that she achieved something of a miracle to accomplish as much as she did. That message, if it is an intentional argument of this movie, barely comes through, thanks to one huge filmmaking mistake: a lot of distractingly untimely music on the soundtrack. If you were alive back then, it's pretty easy to notice and glaringly obvious that none of the "needledrops" are contemporaneous with the story. In most cases, that would be a minor issue--but here the music is so front and center that you have to think it's intentional, and that some message is meant by it. If it's trying to appeal to a certain demographic, that seems rather pointless, and undercuts any sense that this story could have a universal appeal. If it's trying to tell the story through the music--there's reason to believe that--the effect comes across as less clever and insightful and more clumsy. The whole issue obscures a movie that could have relied upon its host of strong performances; all of the principals acquit themselves quite well, and the tale itself does have broad interest woven into its very fabric. But the ultimate impression is one of filmmakers who didn't really trust their own story--and thus, as a viewer, you're left to wonder how much trust and interest you should invest in these proceedings. Ultimately, they didn't even nail the compulsories, let alone the artistic program. Not bad, but not on the medal stand, either.

Captain America: Civil War

I’m not sure they thought this all the way through. If everything plays out as is depicted here, to its logical conclusion--to wit: ultimately, a group like the Avengers is a bad idea--then what the hell was the point of these last seven or eight movies? Are we really, at this point, supposed to take all of this story arc as a cautionary tale about the dystopian present and future of personal enhancement (for instance, AI and robotics) rather than just an expanded presentation of some particular flights of fantasy? Given the reviews at this film’s release, that seemed to work for lots of people...but it rings false for me. Either get real or get fantastic; you don’t get to have it both ways.