Second trip back to the movies! Maybe not quite as glorious and momentous as the first, but still happy to be back in my happy place. I still hadn’t activated my A-List (I have since tho, for next weekend’s tix), so I opted for the other nearby Cinemark, mostly to be able to swing by Dave and Busters after, which I have also missed.
First “huh, the world has changed” moment was parking. I usually just shoot straight for the back of the lot and park in the basement. Once I got to that area, I realized I hadn’t seen any parked cars for a bit. I initially proceeded to park there anyway outta habit, but then figured it might be a safety issue parking in such isolation. Besides, if I parked closer, it’d be less of a pain to drop off my water bottle between the movie and games. I’d never even paid attention to the other areas of the parking structure, so I’d never realized how much of it was fair game. I think I’d assumed the time limited spots went on much longer than they did. Weird.
Theater was slightly more full than the one the week before. Someone was even sitting in my seat, but the rest of the row was empty enough that I easily found an open and distanced spot. You know me, avoiding confrontation and social interaction whenever I can! This time there were two people pulling out phones during the film, including the older lady further along my row who also was talking and eating popcorn loudly. Ugh. I didn’t dare look around to see who was masked or not. Starting to feel like my double mask is overkill. I mean, I know it is, but it’s a security blanket right now. Maybe I’ll lose it for next week, but I’m still not ready for movie snacks (even though I’ve got a freebie popcorn that expires soon).
As far as the movie, it was fine. I love Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham, especially when working together. And while this felt in the general direction of what they do well, it wasn’t quite what either excel at. Ritchie is good at gritty crime dramas, but he’s best at gangster, which this was not. Statham kinda brought some of his old Transporter attitude, but most of his action was weapons driven, not as physical as I like to see from him.
The trailer did give away a major plot point that while it was a good hook to sell the film, I feel like it would have been a better experience as a reveal in the film. My biggest problem though was the excessive and slightly confusing backstory. Basically, the film was structured thusly: Setup, Backstory A, Backstory B, Explosive Conlusion. Backstory A was what lost my interest. The hierarchy and relationship of the players wasn’t very clear to me, and wasn’t as strong as the rest.
Oh the other thing that bears mentioning is Scott Eastwood. He’s certainly been making a name for himself in the action space, this time trying to branch into the baddie role. Emphasis on trying. He’s got the attitude, but his expressions were a bit much, like he was REALLY working at being evil. It got a little annoying. Still, it’s a direction I’d be interested in seeing him follow a bit more in the future.
All in all, it made for a fun outing, but nothing that’s gonna be particularly memorable. Did well at Dave and Busters after. Added another 2,000 points to my card, and didn’t find anything worth spending them on. Well, there’s stuff I could have bought, but nothing I had to have. Although maybe I should go back for that Captain Marvel hat… Nah, I’ve got way too much MCU merch already
Wrath of Man – \m/ \m/ \m/