Here Are The Boxing Day Releases To Watch And Ignore, According To The Critics
A body of water can only keep you cool for so long: eventually, these Summer holidays, you’re going to find yourself at the cinema. Air-con! Choc tops! Air-con! Oh, and movies, we guess.
Come this time of year, a heap of big-name releases arrive all at once. Between the awards buzz and the floor-to-the-wall marketing campaigns, it can be hard to know what to see and what to ignore. Here’s a run-down of what the critics are saying, so you don’t end up spending your precious holiday time watching trash.
Aquaman
As the latest in DC’s shaky cinematic universe, no one’s expected Aquaman to be particularly good — at best, people were most excited to see the incredibly hunky Jason Momoa swim around shirtless.
Thankfully, Aquaman appears to be a step forward for DC — a bizarre not-amazing but definitely fun underwater adventure directed by Australian James Wan.
According to Empire, “you won’t have a clue what’s going on, but you won’t be able to look away either”. Part of that’s due to the reliance on kind-of shoddy CGI, though mostly it’s due to what Vulture call the movie’s camp aesthetics, where cheesy dialogue and the site of Willam DaFoe on a seahorse become a dumb delight.
Camp value seems to be the line that separates reviews. Those who love it are willing to have a bit of fun and shrug off its bloated world-building — but lots couldn’t do it. The New York Times‘ review is scathing across all accounts, even saying that Momoa, a highlight according to most reviews, couldn’t help things stay afloat. But if you want two and a half hours is silly, entertaining escapism, then you’ve found your film — plus, it’s a welcome change from the overwhelming whiteness of superhero franchises.
Cold War
A favourite at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, this black-and-white period piece is loosely based off Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski’s parents’ “never-ending disaster” of a love story. Beginning in 1949 Poland, Cold War sees musician Wiktor meet Zula, a poor yet far-from-innocent peasant, while trawling the countryside to recruit authentic folk performers for a pro-Stalin propaganda troupe.
Over the next decade, the two unite and separate repeatedly across geo-political lines and a sharp, 85 minute run-time. If a black-and-white Cold War romance might sound overtly melodramatic, reviews say minimal dialogue, spectacular acting and the film’s sweeping-yet-understated themes keep things deeply moving. Not to mention it’s pure eye candy, with Empire calling it one of the most visually beautiful films of the year.
Holmes And Watson
Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play bumbling versions of Detective Sherlock Holmes and sidekick John Watson trying to prevent an assassination attempt against the Queen of England. How bad could it be?
Pretty damn bad, apparently. Yesterday, Holmes & Watson sat at zero per cent on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, with critics saying its cheap and uninspired jokes were a waste of the cast (which includes Ralph Fiennes, Steve Coogan and Rebecca Hall). The New York Times suggests smuggling in alcohol if you really want to see it.
Overnight, two reviews gave Holmes & Watson a bump up to six per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, though they’re not exactly overwhelmingly positive. “When it’s bad it is, indeed, painful,” write Vulture, “but even third-rate Will Ferrell + John C. Reilly is more inspired than the noisy contraptions on either side of it in the multiplex.”
Kusama: Infinity
Seventeen years in the making, director Heather Lenz’s documentary on contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusuma paints a portrait as bright and intriguing as its subjects’ colourful massive installations (currently at the National Gallery Of Australia).
Lenz traces Kusama’s life and career, from her quiet upbringing in mountain city Matsumoto to her involvement in New York’s counter-cultural scene from the ’50s-’70s before she returned to Matsumoto to continue making her art, much to the disapproval of her neighbours. Kusama is an incredibly interesting figure, and while The Guardian wishes Lenz probed deeper at times, it’s by all accounts an excellent refresher or introduction to one of the world’s leading contemporary artists.
The Favourite
If a slow-moving period drama sends you snoozing, then The Favourite‘s incredibly inaccurate and “deliciously diabolical” take on Queen Anne, Great Britain’s 18th-century ruler, might be more your speed.
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos — whose previous credits include ultra-dark comedies The Lobster and The Killing Of A Sacred Deer — The Favourite is a mix of the historical-satire of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette and Phantom Thread‘s sexual power-play.
It centres on Abigail Hill (Emma Stone), a down-and-out former Lady who plans to make her way up the ranks of higher society, beginning by begging her cousin (Rachel Weiss), the puppet master (and secret lover) of Queen Anne (Olivia Coleman), for a servant job. “The Favourite is wonderful, nasty fun, a period drama (wigs, breeches, beauty spots) that holds the screen with gnashing teeth and slashing nails,” says Vulture. “At its centre is a magnificent triumvirate of actresses.”
Rolling Stone (et al) agree, singling out Coleman, saying she “deserves every acting prize on the planet for finding the tragicomic core of Queen Anne.” By reviews, it’s that balance of empathy and sardonic humour that makes The Favourite a winner.
“Best of all,” writes Rolling Stone, “[Lanthimos] makes us care about these women warriors who, without compromising their strength, also reveal their vulnerability and sorrow. It’s a creative burst that’s as profound as it is playful.”
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Like Ready Player One or The Emoji Movie before it (let alone Spy Kids 3D: Game Over), this sequel to Disney’s delightful Wreck-It Ralph sees the titular hero jump across the internet, featuring cameos from a billion Disney assets (Marvel, Pixel, Star Wars, the Muppets) and online corporations, like eBay, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon.
While the corporate fun-fare might sit a little weirdly with some critics, overall the sequel’s being celebrated as a much more clever take on internet culture than the likes of The Emoji Movie. Essentially, it’s more of the same as the first — which, for fans, is by no means a bad thing.
“Ralph Breaks the Internet is bigger and more heartfelt, with some fun Disney nostalgia,” says ScreenRant, “but its story gets lost in the online setting at times.”
Vice
Vice might be the most divisive films of the holiday period. A biopic about George Bush Jnr.’s Vice President and war criminal Dick Cheney is, by its nature, never going to appeal to everyone: depending on your views, it will either too sympathetic or too biting.
By the reviews, Vice straddles the middle ground, as director Adam McKay (Anchorman) takes a zany-approach to criticise Cheney’s aggressive defence of the Iraq war, even as public opinion cooled.
For the lead, Christian Bale underwent one of his ridiculous physical transformations, gaining over 40 pounds. Regardless of where critics land on the film themselves, Bale and Amy Adams (who plays Cheney’s wife, Lynne) are receiving more or less unanimous acclaim.
“Christian Bale nails the Dick Cheney persona — dry, pointed, deceptively dull, invisibly passive-aggressive, a blank with a hint of a growl — and does it with a playful bravura that could hardly be more perfect,” writes Variety.
“Bale does his best to get inside the head of a war criminal who thrives in polite society,” writes Spin. “His performance is complemented by the adept Amy Adams, who brings nuance and complexity to former Second Lady Lynne Cheney.”
The film covers a lot of ground, jumping between the 1960s to current day in an incredibly meta ending scene. Between regularly breaking the fourth wall, surreal moments and a scene consisting of iambic pentameter, McKay has a lot of fun with Vice.
For some reviewers, it’s too much: The Advocate call Vice “a political lecture on steroids, using every clever filmmaking device up the talented McKay’s sleeve” to make its point, saying it is too “exhausting” to work. Others appreciate the ride, even if they call it a “little messy“, or say it offers little new insight into Cheney.