Netflix Original Reviews: 'Hold The Dark', 'Angel' & 'Next Gen'
Hold The Dark – 84/100
This movie had a unique blend of properties from movies I love like ‘Wind River’, ‘The Grey’ and ‘No Country For Old Men’. It’s not nearly as good as some of them, but it has a lot of unique properties I enjoyed immensely. Director Jeremy Saulnier put his experience as a cinematographer to good use with some powerful and eerie imagery that compliments an intriguing story to make this one of Netflix’s better originals.
Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) plays a wolf expert hired to hunt down the wolf that apparently killed Riley Keough’s (Logan Lucky) son. He ends up embroiled in a deranged murder-mystery involving Keough’s character, as well as her Husband who is played by Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies). Wright, Keough and Skarsgård all do a fantastic job playing haunted and deeply afflicted characters, with Wright in particular going through a real journey from the start to the finish of the film.
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The pacing was very slow by design, but there is a real “HOLY SHIT!!!!” moment about halfway through that kicks the plot into high gear for the rest of the movie. It’s set in Alaska, and Saulnier does a great show using the sweeping landscape for shots that show the desolate tundra, as well as the midday darkness that affects the state during the winter months. There is a ton of ambient sounds and droning tones that make you feel like you’re there as well.
I really don’t have a ton of complaints about the movie other than the beginning half of the movie and some of the dialogue. It is very solem and slow, and again I understand that design, but I think it would have been a lot better with a faster speed. I’d say this is a watered-down hybrid of ‘The Grey’ and ‘Wind River’, so if you like those movies it might be a solid watch for you.
The Angel – 74
The last Mossad movie I watched, ‘Operation Finale’ was sort of a dud, so I was a little tentative heading into this one. I was pleasantly surprised, though, and think they put together a decent spy-thriller movie that is made extra-good by the fact that it’s a streaming movie.
This movie is a dramatization of the life of Ashraf Marwan, who famously spied on Egypt for the Mossad and warned them of the coming Yom Kippur War. Marwan is played by Marwan Kenzari (Ben-Hur), and he does a phenomenal job. Marwan was a complicated guy, and Kenzari does a phenomenal job portraying him as the three-dimensional character he was. Side note, Kenzari is playing Jafar in the upcoming live-action Aladdin movie. Tony Kebbell (Ben-Hur) plays his handler, and turned his my personal favorite performance of his since ‘RocknRolla’ which is one of my favorite movies. The movie revolves mostly around Marwan and Kebbell’s ability to trust each other, and that back-and-forth relationship is very fun to watch develop.
The pacing starts a tad slow, but finishes up quick. It’s a long story to tell over the course of 2 hours. There’s scattered action sequences, but it’s more about the character development which I liked. Most of the movie is split between London, Tel Aviv, and Cairo and the set pieces looked relatively authentic which I appreciate.
Ultimately, this isn’t a blockbuster spy movie or anything but it is a very interesting story with a great leading performance from Kenzari. You also get to see Muammar Gaddafi for a hot second as a horny-ass playboy Colonel, instead of the now extremely dead dictator.
Next Gen – 60/100
I really don’t have a ton to say about this movie other than it felt like a sort of watered down ‘Big Hero Six’. It was a visually beautiful movie with a stellar cast that just didn’t have a ton going for it story-wise.
Charlyne Yi (Paper Heart) plays Mai, a girl who is sick of robots but befriends 7723, voiced by Jim from the Office (The Office). The supporting cast includes Michael Peña (Ant-Man), Jason Sudeikis (We Are The Millers), David Cross (Arrested Development) and Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians). The voice performances were all great, but the plot was just sort of hollow. Nothing gets you particularly engaged, and Mai doesn’t quite come off as I think directors Kevin R. Adams and
Joe Ksande intended. Instead of feeling real sympathetic to her being ignored by her mom, I was generally annoyed by her presence. The plot revolves around one good robot stopping all the rest of the robots from taking over the world, and that has literally been done 200,000 times in cinema. If you’re going to hit a well that has been tapped that much, you have to bring something unique to the table. That said, the animation was fucking fantastic. Unbelievable job by Tangent Animation(?).
I think it makes for a decent movie to watch maybe with your kids or something on a lazy day, but don’t expect something mind-shattering.
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