Letterboxd — Your life in film

I already loved the first two outings of Denzel's killer-on-the-spectrum, and this one and his turn into the slasher genre in the third act is no exception. Even the cheese in the plot works beautifully, and the impeccable cold open is just an absolute blast to experience.

Fun premise. But it doesn't help that the protagonists are supposed to be some D-list Youtubers - it is a painful reminder that the whole movie looks and feels like something very, very, very far down the Youtube recommendations feed.

From what I'm reading, most people seem to take offense with the hard turn in style and aesthetics in the final act. I don't know - for me, it's exactly what I love about James Wan: He can do silly (but very effective) jump-scare thingies, and then turn it around into hyper camp, without letting it drift into comedy or wrapping things up with a third act right out of a mediocre action movie (just with ghosts). I think this is a bit of an underappreciated feat, and I don't know many directors who can reliably pull this off.

A bit too long in the middle and maybe overall not as memorable as I would have liked, but still great fun and a beautifully sentimental send-off otherwise.

I still don't get why this needed to be told as a story about Christian faith. I just don't see what it adds. I don't mind it, but I am still alienated by how disconnected it is from the rest of the plot. Maybe I'm missing something (hopefully more than the shallow water/holy water connection).

That said: I can also very happily ignore this disconnect and just admire the stellar craftsmanship on display here.

Pacing is off, it's silly, it's formulaic (or tries to be), characters don't work, it's the worst of this franchise, it's borderline narcissistic... All true statements.

It's still so much better than its reputation. And the fun little twist of Thandiwe Newton injecting herself alone elevates the whole silly affair for how smartly it is told. That and Thandiwe Newton herself.

It's far from the best of this series. (You want a ranking? I have to rewatch at least 5 before I can commit, but excluding that one, tentatively: 6 - 3 - 1 - 4 - 2.)

But that Burj Khalifa stunt so very much deserves its reputation. I don't even care that Cruise actually climbed this. That whole sequence is utter perfection, from setup via execution to relief. There is not a single unnecessary or even less-than-ideal frame here.

Second time. Surprisingly not even close as intense as the first time. But even more perfect. Every single shot exactly where and what it needs to be, the precision is just stunning. Eggers' best work so far, on a very, very high bar.

Russell Mulcahy doing Mad Maxine with Zombies. It's messy, stupid, burdened with unnecessary small parts and all in all not particularly coherent. But it is maybe the only movie (as far as I can remember) of the whole franchise that just delivers on its promise of entertainment. Can't really fault this one for trying.

Fascinating how this movie would be utterly impossible to produce in its current form today. It would have been turned into at least one season of a TV show instead, with its myriad of subplots and turns and endings. But the fact that there is so much happening, that this society with its intricacies is so overwhelming and hectic and its rules are hard to grasp, is exactly why Pacte des loups is so beautiful. It absolutely thrives on being forced to tell its sprawling narrative compressed into 150 minutes, and on the ellipses that result from this constraint.

I really miss movies like this one.