Kolstad finds diminishing returns in the John Wick formula – they broke into the wrong retired assassin’s house!! – which is this time filtered through more pulpy action and a sort of impotent middle class rage. Seems like it’s going to say something about it before abandoning the idea entirely, as ‘Hutch’ sets in motion a spiral of reactive violence that feels mostly aimless.
It almost makes an interesting mirror to Wick in that the protagonist revels in the bloodshed,…
essentially 6 back to back episodes of the show glued together, true to the series in that it’s a lot of fairly okay table setting for an outstanding 2 episode fight. all that said, damn was it great to see this in a cinema; the sound was awesome, the score continues to be an under-sung strength of this series, lots of lovely character drawings amongst the throwdowns and goofy jokes
standing by my Thrillist review for this one (still HATE the CG meat train, as funny as it is to see Tanjiro try to chop a locomotive’s head off) www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-the-movie-mugen-train-release
the most straightforward Small Axe Film so far, but I’m glad that this fully commits to the overwhelming futility of trying to correct an institution that is uninterested in change. there’s only one change that happens and that’s the gradual erosion of Leroy’s idealism, more or less a foregone conclusion from the beginning, Boyega is incredible in conveying this whether he’s going loud or quiet.
a less daring film – a biopic, which this isn’t – would have been about…
