Lana Condor

  • Moonshot (2022)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, April 2022) It took me a much longer time than I expected (or is ideal) to warm up to Moonshot, but I eventually came around. It doesn’t start all that promisingly with an atonal blend of young adult fiction tropes, comedy, romance and science fiction. Our protagonist is a lovelorn loser who’s apparently not too good at school, dismal in romance and repeatedly rejected by the budding Mars colony. (The film takes place against a vaguely dystopian but never questioned set-up where a wacky billionaire has control over Martian colonization –could that ever happen?)  After a laborious set-up, the film and his life finally kick into high gear as he encounters an attractive girl leaving for Mars, gets into an argument with another girl rich enough to pay her way over there and incompetently smuggles himself onboard the latest flight to Mars. (There’s apparently a monopoly on Mars travel or something. Also, artificial gravity. I’m not sure which one is least plausible.)  A good chunk of Moonshot is spent aboard that multi-month trip from Earth to Mars: As the predictable engines of romance get going, our protagonist gets closer to the girl he disliked and bluffs his way through the flight in impersonating someone else rather than spend the trip hiding in air ducts. Much of Moonshot is off kilter – amusingly so, but sometimes in ways that are enough to make anyone wish the script had been more finely tuned. Still, it eventually grows on everyone. Cole Sprouse eventually makes his character work, awkwardness and all, but it’s Lana Condor who becomes the film’s biggest asset, with Michelle Buteau getting to steal a few great scenes. The special effects are quite good for a straight-to-HBO release, and the Science Fiction elements generally work in ways that didn’t in the similar film The Space Between Us. Director Chris Winterbauer has a few good moments up his sleeve, and despite a few sputters here and there, Moonshot eventually brings together the elements for a winning formula. Cute, sweet, not too stupid and generally likable: it may not be an all-time classic, but it eventually becomes watchable enough.

  • To all the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020)

    To all the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Netflix Streaming, December 2021) Romantic comedies should not have sequels. They cheapen the climax of the previous film, break the illusion of a happily ever after and often simply drag on meaningless romantic tension longer than it should. Now that Netflix is getting into the YA romance genre, it’s also greenlighting adaptation of trilogies and what’s the point of that? Still, there are always exceptions and while To all the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You may have the year’s most unwieldy title, it’s also an interesting argument in favour of romance sequels. As you may recall from the previous film, our story picks up soon after our very likable high-school heroine’s first romantic kiss. But given the age and inexperience of the protagonist, there’s a lot of ground to cover — indecision, jealousy, new romantic prospects and more! For older viewers, there’s something half exasperating, half endearing about the way our protagonist overcomplicates relationship questions that older people have learned to deal with: for high-schoolers, everything is new and fresh and extreme and terrifying and that’s perhaps the part of the film that works best as a sequel. Free of the origin story of the characters, To all the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You is free to poke at the complications that come after the romantic climax. Some of the material is overdone, obviously: the heroine’s lack of maturity can be irritating and the contrivances put in her way often veer into the melodramatic. Still, much of the film’s ability to overcome those issues stems from some decent writing and a sympathetic protagonist played by Lana Condor. The flip-side of that is that if you’re not already invested in the characters, it’s going to be a much longer sit. Still, it works in spite of my prejudices against romantic sequels. (But not all Netflix YA romantic sequels-in-a-trilogy are made alike — if you want something worse, there’s always The Kissing Booth 2.)

  • To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

    To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Netflix Streaming, December 2019) Much like teenagers, teenage romantic comedies can get attention through how they present themselves, but they ultimately pass or fail based on the strength of their character. So it is that the plot summary of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is catchy yet borderline inane (“Teen girl writes letter to crushes never intending to post them; they are posted.”) and yet the film succeeds because it’s got the characterization and finesse of execution that the premise requires. Lana Condor stars as an introvert high-schooler who suddenly finds herself the centre of attention when her crushes are revealed, and one of them suggests playing out the fantasy to make his not-quite-so-ex-girlfriend jealous. From that point on, the becoming-the-mask plot becomes crystal-clear … but the execution doesn’t drag. The characters are portrayed believably, Condor is very likable, the menagerie of supporting characters is decently handled and it ends on a satisfying note. (But don’t take anything for granted—as it’s based on a trilogy of novels, there are two more sequels planned.) The overall atmosphere is contemporary, sweet, cute, and borderline witty at times. While this isn’t my favourite teenage romance of the year (surprisingly enough, Love, Simon is edging out Blockers), it’s competently handled by director Susan Johnson, blends just enough novelty with tradition and does a lot of mileage out of a good lead performance. Nothing more is needed.