Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Hotel Artemis 

This film left me feeling very undecided of how to feel about it. This film right out of the gate is very stylish and visually appealing to look at. The concept and premises of the film is very interesting it’s just the execution of it that left me a bit let down. This film is about a hospital that treats criminals and is in secret the film for me focused to much on style then substance and that’s why ultimately I was left a bit down.

First off, the cast in this is massive but sadly not all used to their full potential. For starters their are so many characters in this film but since their are so many it was so easy for a lot of them to fall into the background and not really get as much screen time as they should have. Like Charlie Day he was a interesting and over loud character but he is only onscreen for a handful of moments same for Zachery Quinto who comes in halfway through the film but to me felt severely underused. 

Secondly, The only three actors that stood out front from the rest was Sterling K. Brown, Jodie Foster and Sofia Boutella all three of which give great solid performances as well. They are the only ones who have a real arc in the film and who you’ll invest in which is a shame as their are so many other characters and actors that are in this film but I couldn’t get attached to due to the lack of substance I had from them. Then their was the pacing that was a big issue for me the film is around an hour and fifty minutes but you really feel that runtime and when you watch a film you shouldn’t be thinking when is this film going to be over. The film in many ways overstays it’s welcome and didn’t know when to end because first off since the film was more focused on its visual and style it never really pays much attention to the heart of the matter which is the narrative so the plot felt very boring and slow at times with characters just running around. And so they definitely could of easily of trimmed this to an hour and fifteen minutes their is just so much filler that isn’t needed. 

Overall, do I hate this film? No I don’t but it’s s film that left me very undecided of how to feel about it. It had all the right ingredients for a solid film with a compelling concept but sadly the style overshadows the narrative which causes for a messy execution of its plot and the characters onscreen. The redeeming quality I recommend people to see it is for the performances from Foster and Sofia and the stylish concept at hand. Besides that this film had the potential to be truly marvellous but ultimately ended up just being ok. 

Rated R : for violence and language throughout, some sexual references, and brief drug use

This film centres around a secret hospital in the future where criminals can go to be treated. 

Jodie Foster : Jodie Gives a solid piece of acting in this flick! Foster is one of those actors that always delivers a top notch performance no matter what role she’s in and dose again here so greatly. In this film she plays a manager of a hotel/hospital for criminals and really at first glance dose not seem that interesting but as the film progresses her arc becomes more and more interesting with Foster at the helm giving the character great depth at the same time. This character I didn’t really invest much into but its Foster’s portrayal  and sheer brilliant take on the character that makes you so mesmerized with her performance. She dose not just play her as this one note person but a person with such complexity and emotion and I love that. Their are actually some moments where she gets totally full of emotion and Foster shatters the scene with her explosive emotional range really immersing herself head first into her character. She just made the character feel so lived in and I love that about her portrayal of this broken person onscreen she isn’t what she seems from first glance and truly develops and so dose her performance as the character sheds new layers Foster adapts her performance to match that and its her sheer commitment to the role and her outstanding performance that really made the film for me she once again gives another great piece of acting in this film. 

Sofia Boutella : Sofia Delivers one of best performances in a while! This actress first caught my attention in 2015’s Kingsmen and then 2016’s Star Trek Beyond and has gone on to do Atomic Blonde and The Tom Cruise driven The Mummy but hasn’t really grabbed me with her acting chops for a while I can greatly say she has done that again greatly with her fantastic supporting turn in this film. Now I will say this she is not onscreen for as much as I would of liked but she is for a good chunk of the film and when she is onscreen she lights up the scenery with her fantastic onscreen presence in the film. She plays this sleek criminal that is very quiet for the most of the film but when she speaks she delivers her dialogue in such a rich delivery you can’t take your eyes off of her. She just takes this character and keeps you guessing of what side she’s on she can lure you in with the look in her eye then the next explode in such violence in the next her range is just truly fantastic to witness onscreen. She is for sure a highlight of the film who is giving everything she can to this film and it really dose show. She brings out amazing chemistry as well with her cast members such as Sterling K. Brown she gives a quiet, sleek and brilliant supporting turn in this film that knocked the socks off of me something she hasn’t done in quiet some time and I am so pleased that she has as she is fantastic and shows why she is a force to be reckoned with onscreen. 

Drew Pearce : Drew gives a mixed bag of direction here! From the screenwriter of Iron Man 3 this man helms his first feature as a director and brings some really great pieces and some poor. With the positives first he created the scope of the world that is captured onscreen greatly he got me interested by the sheer concept of the film and the fantastic visual of it all that he dose a fine job at. He sets all of it incredibly well establishing interesting characters and a interesting idea for the film but its in the execution of it that didn’t work out. He gave so much great style that I think he got so wrapped up in that that he never payed attention to the narrative but just the spectacle which is a weak spot for the film. The plot really dose not grab me or go anywhere and he didn’t flesh out a lot of the interesting characters so they fell into the background for a lot of them so they felt very underused and it just resulted in on piece missing for all this to fall down and it dose. If he spent more time about the plot and the characters rather then the look of it the film would of been a ton better but this is a simple case of a director getting to wrapped up in his concept that he never realized the story at hand which is the most important aspect of a film is its narrative. Overall he gets great performances but its the lack of passion into the plot and characters that gave me a mixed feeling on his take at directing. Hopefully he can redeem himself in his next project as what he did here left me feeling like he could of done better.