Film Round-Up: The Northman, Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers and Men
REVIEWS
The Northman
Amleth seeks revenge on his uncle after he killed his father. If I was handing out big budgets, I probably wouldn’t have given one to Robert eggers. He’s a great director but his movies are always very odd and off-putting, they’re not exactly films that are going to make some cash. So while it’s great he did manage to con some money out of the system to make a Viking epic, it’s no surprise no one went to see it. The Northman is a typical Eggers movie, a tough nut to crack but one that’s rewarding when you do. At its core, it is a typical revenge movie but it’s the dressings which make it something remarkable. The ancient viking setting, the use of mythology and amazing visuals and the dialogue are what make it tough to get into but also so good when you do enjoy it. It can leave you cold and some of the emotional beats don’t work because of it, but overall this is a unique film you should give a chance to.
Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers
Dale is a Hollywood loser after the cancellation of Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers but the disappearance of a cast member allows him to reunited with estranged co-star Chip. How much do you have to rip off Who Framed Roger Rabbit before that film just outright sues you? Because this film is basically just a remake. It sees two odd couple cartoon characters, Bob Hoskins was practically a Toon come on, unite to solve a mystery in a world where cartoons and real people co-exist. With how meta the humour is in this movie, I’m surprised they didn’t call themselves out for it but there’s only so much work lampshading can do. Ignore all the similarities and you do get a very funny film which makes all the meta stuff work, even though it cannot be forgiven for how much it makes us look at Ugly Sonic. I also have to give credit to the producers who managed to wrangle the rights of so many characters in order to get them on screen together. In the end, you get a very fun movie which adults may enjoy more than the children.
Men
A woman goes to a countryside village to recover from her trauma only to find all is not as its seems. The production studio A24 has started to produce a certain type of horror. A person suffers some serious sort of trauma, goes somewhere a bit offbeat to try and recover from said trauma and then finds wherever she goes just reflects that trauma right back at them. Men is that sort of film. But unlike most A24 horror which is either absolutely awful or bonechillingly terrifying, this ends up a bit in the meh camp. It takes a long time to get going and I don’t think it is able to make its themes of toxic masculinity hit as hard as it thinks it does. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to like. The imagery is very disturbing and will get verbal reactions from you while the conclusion is just a chaotic mind melding experience which is exactly what you want from this sort of film. I wouldn’t go in expecting Hereditary or Midsommar, no matter your opinion on either film, but if you can be patient you might find something in this film.
