What does crime, medicine, and dramas all have in common? Well outside of certain episodes of ER and Grey’s Anatomy, not much to be honest. However, today those three genres mix together to bring you another movie that will hopefully bring with it some suspense, a little creativity, and some originality that Hollywood needs. Welcome to another Robbie’s movie review and today we review:
Movie: Hotel Artemis
Director:
Writer:
Stars:
Jodie Foster, Sofia Boutella, Dave Bautista
LIKES:
- Acting
- Character Dynamics
- Sofia Boutella and Sterling Brown’s Characters
- Realistic Setting
- Action Scene
Summary: Hotel Artemis is a movie largely dependent on its characters, which fortunately are brought to life by the fantastic talents of the various cast members recruited for the project. Leading roles by Foster, Boutella and Sterling K. Brownare by far the most in depth and worthy of billing, but even the supporting characters like Bautista and Charlie Daywho bring their usual styles to the mix to alleviate some of the more somber moments.
As the actors bring it to life, the character dynamics start to awaken, establishing the realm of crime in the near-future LA and just how fickle trust can be in the underworld. Those dynamics by far are the driving force of the movie, trying to help figure out how each of the pawns are connected and what will drive them in this high stakes hospital. Perhaps it’s the setting itself that forces this evolution of characters, as the dingy oasis from the riot outsides places numerous pressure on the group. As the outside world grows wilder (documented by occasional news blurbs), the characters are forced to interact and face their own dilemmas. It’s a well-done drama that doesn’t pull any punches in the 2 hour run time so that it may establish so much.
I mentioned in pre-reviews that this movie looked to have some action to further spur the story on and for the most part… that is not the case. Yet, there is one action scene in particular led by the sexy assassin herself, that is just epic, tense, and a great fit into the story that feels pertinent to the tale as a whole. I wished there was more of these moments, but that wasn’t the direction they wanted to go.
DiSLIKES:
- Slow at times
- Charlie Day/Quinto Rants
- Underutilization of characters/actors
- More Action
- Darker Violence
- Background flops
Like some of the more popular dramas on television, Hotel Artemis’ drama is all about try to build tension through the characters and have politics, emotional fervor, and affairs be the selling point. This takes time to adequately develop, and given all the convoluted ties in this movie, it means a pace that isn’t quite adrenaline fueled. Hotel Artemis has its slow points, that easily could have been tightened to reduce the run time or potentially add some more tension/urgency to the mix. Had there been more action to speed it up, the pace may not have been as much of a low point for me, but I fought sleep a couple of times.
In addition, a few of the directions that the characters were taken were not my favorite renditions I wanted to see. Primarily in Quinto and Day’s characters, these players in Artemis’ game are more annoying than engaging, leaving me disappointed with the little contribution they played. Day just rants and curses like someone hopped on coffee, Red Bull, and methamphetamine, while Quinto is just a big baby. Not quite as fitting given the other portrayals of the crime gang. Even worse, a few of the characters are super left out, reduced to a few, unmemorable lines or weak character ploys to get to the climax faster. Jeff Goldblum’s character was one of these guys, and my fears of too many characters came true.
Which brings me to perhaps my biggest dislike of the film, the rushed background stories and flops. The Nurse’s story is one of the heavy hitters, mysterious and emotionally charged, you expect it to be the epicenter of the movie. And while it was a key connector, much of the backstory was not that impressive, alliterated, and lacking any major surprise/mind blowing component. When the big revelation comes… you almost miss the clues and by this point I was done with all the planning, I needed the climactic finish. Fortunately Nice and Waikiki’s tale had a little more to it, but even then it was only a superficial scratch to what lied below. All the potential was kind of flown over, therefore this was the disappointment factor for me.
The VERDICT:
Hotel Artemis is weird and dark, no doubt about it, and truth be told it is a crime/drama with characters that are the central pillar to the story. Despite a fantastic cast acting their brains out and a character centric plot, Artemis’s main flaws come from not having enough time to fully utilize everyone they wanted, and it resulted in plot teasers that could be expanded on in the future (perhaps in a sequel no doubt). Such complications were only exacerbated by the slower pace, that begs for more suspense, tension, and action to bring it to life. Truth be told, this could have been better done as a television series than a solo movie, given them hours to further map out the conspiracy web. Overall, not worth the trip to the theater to be honest, but worth the rent if you are into the alternative Sci-Fi/crime scene.
My scores are:
Action/Crime/Thriller: 7.0
Movie Overall 6.0
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