maika monroe – Tripping Through Gateways

Twenty Years between sequels is a long time. There has been longer, but twenty years is nothing to sneeze at. The reviews that proceed me have been harsh, many suggesting that this is the worst film of the summer. But honestly? It’s an OK film. There are some decent quips. The effects are good. Goldblum slips into his role pretty seamlessly. Spiner pops back up and gets a beefed up role. Bill Pullman is the tortured Ex-President. Sela Ward is thr tough current president. Replacing Will Smith’s Captain Steven Hiller is his son Dylan Hiller (Jessie T. Usher). He is apparently annoyed with Jake (Liam Hemsworth) for almost killing him (accidentally) a few years before. Jake is the hotshot risk taker who saves the moon base (but getting no thanks for it). He is also engaged to President Whitmore’s now grown daughter Patricia (Maika Monroe), who works for the current President and is a former pilot. Then there is Floyd (Nicholas Wright, also one of the writers). He is in love with Rain Lao (Angelababy) the top Chinese pilot. Towards the beginning of the film, we are also introduced to Warlord Dikembi Umbutu (Deobia Oparei) and the standard sparring love interest for Goldblum, Catherine Marceaux (Charlotte Gainsbourg). If this seems like a long introductory paragraph? It is a lot longer in the film.

One of the big problems this film has? So much of the personal conflict feels entirely unnecessary. The conflict between Dylan and Jake could be removed entirely and not impact the film at all. Their relationship would not be lessened without it. What makes it worse is that really, the new character lack charisma and have terrible lines. The quips in the film are largely duds.

The movie follows the first film’s formula pretty closely. We spend an hour being introduced, or re-introduced to the leads (or at least, it feels like a long slow hour). We get a lot of destruction as the ship arrives. An “exciting” battle that fails, heroes stuck in the alien ship, heroes flying alien ship. A road trip with Judd Hirsch. Sure, some it is a bit jumbled around and it is all amped up a bit, because, well, it is a sequel.

The creature design is surprisingly pedestrian. The Alien Queen is suspiciously like the Alien Queen from Aliens, especially in her movements. The world building is a bit lazy. Yeah, they have alien technology, but it seems to be mostly applied to weapons and vehicles. How does it change other things? Communication technology seems to basically be smart phones, laptops and tablets. The world has been united since 1996, and I guess there might be some plausibility there, but the world is basically America, except for the continent of Africa, still run by Warlords.

The film also just ends very weirdly. No big speech, Spiner just runs into frame to set up the next film. And the screen goes black. So, no, this is not the worst movie of the summer (surely we cannot make such a claim seven days into summer). It is not the best either. It is an okay and underwhelming sequel.

Truthfully, anytime I see hype for a horror movie as the greatest in years, I get a bit hesitant. Because there tends to be a bunch every year. Last year the praise was heaped on the Babadook. Which was a decent horror film. But hardly the best in years.

It Follows has received a lot of high praise. So, I went in with a bit of concern.

The story is focused on a young woman named Jay. After sleeping with a young man, her life takes a horrifying turn. He warns her that he has passed something on to her, and she must pass it on, or it will kill her and go back down the line. What he shows her is a person in the distance…eerily, a naked woman is walking up towards them. As she gets closer, the young man warns that while it is slow, you should never let it touch you.

Slowly, Jay is able to convince her friends something is after her, even if they cannot see it. And this is what the film does so well. You find yourself scanning the screen for shapes, to see where it might come from.The creature never looks the same, but it is always a person shambling towards Jay, and the person is usually naked or in a stage of undress. This is something the film uses to strong effect. It is rather unnerving to see the naked person walking in public. It seems out of place and makes it all the more freaky.The music in the film is haunting and increases the intensity. Where is the creature? Where will it appear? The film handles this so effective you are drawn into the film. The real tragedy within the film is the realization that passing it on never fully ends the terror, Jay knows it is there, and you always have to wonder if someone is going to fail to pass it on.

This is only David Robert Mitchell’s second full feature film, yet he shows himself to be very adept within the genre, making a highly effective thriller. Maika Monroe is compelling and sympathetic as Jay. The whole cast works, and unlike many smaller budget horror films, you do not find yourself having to put up with mediocre acting.

It Follows is a powerful and disturbing horror film which rarely gets gory, instead relying on atmosphere and performance to sell the shocks and scares. Any fan of the genre should check it out.

Tag: maika monroe

Theeeeeeey’re Back (Independence Day: Resurgence, 2016)

Look Back (It Follows, 2015)