After a delay of more than a year, audiences are finally going to get to see the newest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow, and the question that everyone has to be asking right now is whether or not it was worth the wait. A forgettable but watchable thriller lacking in inspired action, there are some strong moments here but it isn’t to the quality of the recent output of the MCU.
Set between the events of Civil War and Infinity War, the film follows superspy Natasha Romanoff as she unearths a conspiracy with ties to her mysterious past. It’s a relatively bland espionage thriller storyline, and the only thing that really distinguishes it from a generic Russian spy flick is its ties to the Marvel lore. For the most part, the movie is relatively predictable as it is building to a big reveal and final battle at the end. However, both of these things are quite anticlimactic. It’s nice to see a Marvel film like this have much lower stakes in which the fate of the world doesn’t lie on the hero’s shoulders, but they needed to build excitement some other way. Perhaps the most disappointing thing about the movie is that the action is horribly generic. This film takes on a new genre that is much darker and more serious than a lot of what the MCU has done to date, but in terms of fight sequences, it’s relatively plain hand-to-hand combat and gunplay. And the movie’s attempts to infuse humor are quite atrocious. 
It’s nice to see that director Cate Shortland was able to give the film a visual style that feels distinctive from the rest of the MCU, with some great use of the sterilized environments, but the script doesn’t give her a whole lot of room to do her thing. For better or worse, it’s a very formal and self-serious movie.
Spin-off solo films typically exist to take existing characters deeper or in new directions, but this movie does not do anything particularly interesting with the Black Widow character. It’s simply an opportunity for the character to go on a solo mission, and her arc is pretty much the same as it has been in other entries. Additionally, the new characters, especially villain Taskmaster, feel entirely wasted. The ensemble for this film is really great, although they don’t do anything particularly stellar. Scarlett Johannson is doing the same thing that she has always done in the franchise. Rachel Weisz and Florence Pugh are both really talented, but their performances feel very half-baked. The only person who is firing on all cylinders here is David Harbour, who is fun to watch but seemingly out-of-place. If it weren’t a Marvel movie, Black Widow would have come and gone rather quickly. It’s a competently-shot but frustratingly dull movie that could have represented a new direction for the MCU but is really just a self-contained and unimpressive one-off. Black Widow hits theaters and Disney+ via Premier Access on July 9. Rating: 3/5
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THE LEGEND OF THE UNDERGROUND -- An Important Documentary That Is Equal Parts Shocking and Poetic6/28/2021
Review by Sean Boelman
Photograph Courtesy of HBO.
The new HBO documentary The Legend of the Underground is one of those movies that is enormously hard to review if only because it is so dangerous for the people involved to talk about it. However, Giselle Bailey and Nneka Onuorah have made an essential film to contribute to a necessary conversation.
The movie shines a light on the rampant discrimination in Nigeria by following a group of non-conformist men who are faced with the choice between oppression or fleeing their home country. It’s heartbreaking to see that this still happens anywhere in the world, especially since these issues haven’t received much in the way of public attention. There is a significant shift around the halfway mark in which the film begins to focus less on the discrimination and Nigeria and more on how the non-conformist community has come together in an attempt to survive, both metaphorically and literally. The first half is shocking and eye-opening, and the latter half is poetically beautiful. This is a movie about resilience in the face of adversity, and it is absolutely moving as such. The fact that these people are able to put up with so much and yet still find a way to achieve joy in their life is astounding. Bailey and Onuorah don’t shy away from the horrors of the discrimination, but also beautifully depict the things that make the community so amazing. 
Photograph Courtesy of HBO.
Perhaps due to fear of their safety, the film doesn’t go into much detail on the individual subjects’ lives. However, it does a great job of making a compelling subject out of the movement as a whole. There are plenty of moments in the movie that give the audience enough of an emotional connection to latch onto.
It would have been nice to see the film go a bit more into detail on the way in which these non-conformist men use dance to express themselves, something which is explored in the second half of the movie, but again, the filmmakers don’t want to go too deep with any one person in order to protect them. Still, this culture makes for the most fascinating part of the film. The movie has a wonderful visual style inspired by the scene that is depicted in the back half. It’s frequently gorgeous to look at, particularly during the dance sequences. But Bailey and Onuorah also integrate other footage, like recordings of violence against the non-conformists, in a way that is extremely effective. The Legend of the Underground is a very important documentary bringing attention to an issue that needs to be discussed on a global scale. Hopefully audiences will see this and leave inspired, both to make a difference and to live life to the fullest. The Legend of the Underground hits HBO and HBO Max on June 29. Rating: 4/5 Reviewed by Adam Donato  Director S.K. Dale debuts his first feature film known as Till Death, a story about an unfaithful wife in a failing marriage who finds herself handcuffed to her dead husband while at a reclusive lake house on their anniversary. Megan Fox herself headlines the movie as Emma, the cheating wife. She is joined by other morally questionable men played by Eoin Macken, Aml Ameen, Jack Roth, and Callan Mulvey. Does Megan Fox carry this movie as well as Emma carries her dead husband? Did you know that Megan Fox doesn’t only make movies about giant fighting robots and turtles? She’s had herself a nice little acting run since 2019. Nothing worth mentioning, but she even led a movie or two. Despite the fact that Jennifer’s Body came out over a decade ago, it still proves that Fox can lead a good horror movie. In this movie, she doesn’t have very much to do at all. For the first twenty minutes, she’s just kind of over everything and for the rest of the movie she is both literally and metaphorically being weighed down. She’s definitely a notable enough movie star to interest audiences to see this movie and some people will just see this because she’s a famous celebrity crush. Other than that, not much going on here.  So if your lead isn’t doing much, then what else is left here? The title is clever. Weirdly enough there’s another movie called Till Death coming out this year with Evangeline Lilly and Jason Sudeikis. It’s just cute because the whole movie is about how she is tethered to her dead husband and the whole “till death do us part” thing is funny. They can’t part because he is dead.
There is a large chunk of this movie that is just Emma dragging her dead husband around the lake house looking for clues. It is beyond slow and frustrating watching this carry out. The plan of revenge upon Emma is so convoluted anyways. The finishing act of the plot to get back at her is so over the top. Without going into spoilers, the movie delves into a very generic bad guy going after the final girl situation. Overall, the movie was just under passable. Megan Fox is a character unto herself and even she was underwhelming. I can’t wait to see this movie in the free section on VUDU. Until then, theatrically released horror movies are overachieving this summer and are much more likely to quench that horror thirst. That being said, it will be nice to see Megan Fox in more movies. It’s worth a second glance just for that. Till Death hits theaters and VOD on July 2. Rating: 2/5
Review by Sean Boelman
Some of the most interesting stories are those of the storytellers themselves, and romance novelist Jackie Collins proves that trend. The new documentary Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story is fascinating thanks to how interesting its subject is, even if the execution is somewhat conventional.
The film tells the story of Jackie Collins, whose subversive writing led her to become an icon of feminism. The thing that is so crazy about Collins’s story is that it is almost as interesting, if not more so, than her work which created her fame. There are a lot of unexpectedly exciting moments in her life that make for a cinematic documentary. As a portrait of a woman making her way up the ranks in a traditionally male-dominated field, the movie does a great job. The feminist aspects of this story are definitely those which are the most powerful, and as such, director Laura Fairrie chooses to focus on these elements over anything else. However, this does come at the expense of some of the more subtle (and perhaps more profound) themes that the film could have explored. Collins’s work poses some interesting questions about sexual politics in the era in which she was most active, but that did not seem to be Fairrie’s priority. 
Admittedly, the movie does stick with many of the conventions of the biographical documentary, but like so many of these profiles that are set to air on CNN, much of the film’s success hinges on how interested the viewer is in the subject. Thankfully, Collins’s story is interesting enough to carry a ninety-six minute runtime.
One of the things that the movie does lack is a deep exploration of Collins’s work. Interviewees talk about how subversive her work was, and give a phenomenal explanation of its impact, but perhaps in an attempt to keep everything in a cable-friendly TV-14 rating, there isn’t a whole lot of specificity to the content itself. Fairrie tells the story mostly through interviews and archive footage. It’s a pretty straightforward way of presenting the information to the audience, putting this firmly in the biographical fluff piece portion of CNN Films’s output rather than the in-depth exposés that have been their bigger breakouts. Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story isn’t an essential documentary by any means, but for what it is, it’s mostly entertaining. Perhaps without the restraints of a TV-14 rating, this could have been the fascinating exploration of the relationship between society and sex that it had the potential to be. Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story airs on CNN at 9pm ET/PT on June 27. Rating: 3.5/5
Review by Sean Boelman
Enormously angry but in the best way possible, the Macedonian film God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya is one of the most underappreciated international movies of the year so far. Teona Strugar Mitevska’s film is a hard-to-watch but rewarding drama, with a not-too-subtle but captivating exploration of important issues.
The movie follows a woman who stirs up her community when she participates in the traditionally male-only ceremony of the Epiphany, causing her to find herself in social and legal trouble. The thing that makes this film so infuriatingly powerful is the fact that it is inspired by a true story, making its seemingly melodramatic leanings feel much more grounded. For the first thirty minutes or so, we are watching as the protagonist grows increasingly frustrated with her life before she reaches that breaking point. After that, the remaining hour begins to resemble a procedural drama that takes us through the ways in which the patriarchal systems of the Macedonian government and the church oppress women. As one would expect, the main themes of this movie are largely critical of the patriarchy and organized religion. Sometimes, it does feel as if the film is biting off a bit more than it can chew in terms of themes, but more often than not, it’s an interesting and thought-provoking take on these ideas from a unique perspective. 
Admittedly, the character development in the movie is somewhat shallow. The protagonist is a likable character, although her arc exists entirely in service of the themes. As for all of the supporting characters, they are near caricatures with how they pose an obstacle to the protagonist.
Lead actress Zorica Nusheva does an exceptional job in her role. She completely inhabits the role in a way that draws us into Petrunya’s world. A majority of the film is carried on Nusheva’s back, and she steps up in a way that is consistently impressive. The supporting cast is also really solid, although their performances are largely meant to complement Nusheva. Stylistically, the movie is very gritty and grounded, which works very well for the end product. One of the most impressive things about Mitevska’s style is how she creates a feeling of claustrophobia within the back half of the film, as the protagonist’s world comes crashing down around them. God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya is one of those movies that succeeds largely thanks to its ambition. Even though it doesn’t hit all of its lofty goals, the fact that it set out to reach them in the first place is admirable in and of itself. God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya is now in theaters and virtual cinemas. Rating: 4/5 |