Zazie Beetz

  • Joker (2019)

    Joker (2019)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, May 2020) Even a few days after watching Joker, I’m still not sure about what I think of it. There were times where I thought it was a 1970s cosplay; others when I was seriously wondering why it was even related to the Batman universe; yet others when I was ready to dismiss the film as playing awkwardly with elements it didn’t know what to do with. But then there were other moments where I appreciated what it was trying to do. The links with the Batman mythos became more interesting late in the film, and the recreation of the period atmosphere was rather well-done. There’s an interesting provocative intent here in tracking how a mental illness can become a wider social movement, although I think that the film ultimately fumbles the ball in this area. Joaquin Phoenix does turn in an impressive performance, grimy and off-putting. Saying that the film is inspired by Scorsese isn’t much of a recommendation given how I don’t exactly worship either Taxi Driver or The King of Comedy. But it does give Robert de Niro one of his most interesting roles since, what, Silver Linings Playbook? Zazie Beetz is also in the film, although the nature of her character is a bit predictable and weakens the film. As an elseworld story from the Batman mythos, it does an admirable job of bringing the universe into a more realistic appearance, although I’m left wondering if Joker would have been free to do something even more daring had it been wholly original—I’m thinking specifically about how the film abruptly seems to pull its punches after scenes of social unrest that could and should have been pushed to their logical conclusion. But that point may be moot, considering that there’s no way that a 1970s study in mental illness would have received a budget so large had it not been tied to one of the most successful superhero franchises of all time. What we’re left with, then, is bits and pieces of a great movie, some iconic imagery (which isn’t all that easy in a media-saturated universe) and great performances. But there are just as many bits of pieces holding the film back: a refusal to go to the end of its ideas, excessive violence and fuzziness about what it’s about. In other words, I don’t have an easy and pat opinion or rating about Joker: it’s still all over the place for me, and it may take some time before I grow comfortable with it… if I ever do.

  • Deadpool 2 (2018)

    Deadpool 2 (2018)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, February 2019) One of my reactions to the first Deadpool film was a vague foreboding that this was the kind of movie you could only do once—that the joke would quickly overplay itself in a sequel. Now that Deadpool 2 is here, well, it does manage to avoid most of the problems that it could have had. It doesn’t take things easy—although with a bigger budget to play with, the bigger scope shouldn’t come as a surprise. Obviously, it does acknowledge its own status as a sequel and visibly tries to do what it can to avoid common sequels pitfalls. There’s a real emotional scaffolding built to support the crass jokes, and it does lead to a surprisingly involving conclusion that plays both with emotions and laughs. Surprisingly enough, the result does not overstay its welcome. The commentary on a few more years’ worth of superhero movies is something only a Deadpool film could get away with, and the script once again finds a sweet spot between parody and doing its own thing. Thanks to director David Leitch, of John Wick fame, the film has some spectacular action/CGI sequences—perhaps the best being a mad truck sequence through a city. Ryan Reynolds is up to his usual mix of charm and good-natured profanity, and he gets two good assists from the fantastic Zazie Beetz and a growling Josh Brolin—who manages to create as a credible antagonist in a comedy film. While I’m still not entirely comfortable with the amount of gore and language in Deadpool 2, it’s true that Deadpool would not be Deadpool without them. Considering the results, I’m surprisingly more upbeat than I thought I’d be at the prospect of an inevitable Deadpool 3.

  • Geostorm (2017)

    Geostorm (2017)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, August 2018) Don’t tell anyone, but I do have a soft spot for those dumb catastrophe movies that run on a stream of special-effect sequences. Geostorm really isn’t anywhere close to being an exemplar of the form, but it’s enough to scratch that itch. The setup, with its runaway weather-altering satellites in a rigid grid, makes zero sense … but that’s irrelevant as it’s merely meant to enable a series of distinctive action vignettes. Gerald Butler is the lead here, his square jaw and dubious ability to pick good movie projects being all we need in a protagonist. Dean Devlin has his first solo directing job here (although reshoots three years later under another director kind of sabotage this achievement), which makes sense considering that he, alongside Ronald Emmerich, had a hand in similar global-destruction projects such as Independence Day and Godzilla. Alas, for all of the destructive joy found in Geostorm as it targets Hong Kong, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, Mumbai, Moscow and Dubai (and an entire space station), the plot has trouble keeping up with the spectacle. We’re soon stuck in a familiar morass of rogue American officials, conspiracy theories, out-of-control systems and rote character dynamics. The actors don’t do much to help: Butler is his usual reliable self, with Ed Harris and Andy Garcia also doing their best, but Abbie Cornish continues to be distinctively boring. Only Zazie Beetz distinguishes herself in a small role. Still, that’s not much, and seeing the disjointed result only makes one wish for a tell-all documentary showing what prompted the reshoots and how they tried to patch Geostorm into its final form. Otherwise, the film does better as a battle between spectacle and stupidity, as very little effort is made to even make the mayhem halfway plausible. Considering that we’ve seen a lot of these movies lately, Geostorm may have worked as an almost-parody camp version of those films … but it chose to attempt a straight version, and the very middle-of-the-road result speaks for itself.