It’s been a rather strong year at the cinema with some solid critical and financial hits throughout the summer, but we can’t forget the workhorse streaming services that are constantly dropping new movies every week no matter how hard it is to fit them all in our schedule. Netflix has had two particularly big movies come out recently, so let’s take a break from the big screen to see what’s happening on the small one!
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KPop Demon Hunters
KPop Demon Hunters is owned by Netflix
Directed by Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans
K-Pop stars are just like you and me, except for the fact that they make lots of money, have adoring fans, and are far more talented than you and me. Not only that, but some of them also fight demons in whatever spare time they have left between concerts, recordings, and endorsement deals. Huntr/x, composed of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey (Arden Cho, May Hong, and Ji-young Yoo), are the latest in a long line of demon hunters who hide themselves in plain sight and use their combat skills as well as their beautiful voices to fight the demonic hoards as well as maintain the magic barrier that keeps the two worlds separated. A simple arrangement on the surface, but Rumi is hiding a dark secret from everyone, and the effort in doing so may just be the bands’ undoing; especially when a suspiciously talented boy band, led by the striking yet sinister Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop), comes on the scene and starts to steal their thunder. Can Huntr/x stop the machinations of the Demon King while also coming together as a family, or will Rumi’s hidden past tear them and the world apart?
The idea of generational media is not entirely without merit as there are noticeable shifts in what genres attain high levels of popularity, but it’s nonetheless a fuzzy concept with a lot of gray area that undercuts any definite claim about what is or is not Millennial content, Zoomer humor, and so on. I myself never got into KPop as that train didn’t arrive at the station until I was well into adulthood, and yet this movie is one of the better films to come out this year. Sony Pictures Animation has been making a name for itself for well over a decade now, and while the Spider-Verse films aren’t about to be dethroned, this is yet another beautifully animated feature from the studio that is frankly giving the likes of Pixar a run for their money. It’s not the most technically impressive or lavishly produced animated movie, but it has more charm than just about anything else we’ve gotten in recent years and has an understanding of its source material that was infectious even for someone who doesn’t particularly care for that subculture. Even the music managed to win me over, which is undoubtedly of the genre advertised, and yet was upbeat, catchy, and matched well with the fantastically animated on-screen action. If there’s anything about this that didn’t quite connect with me as an old man watching a children’s movie, it was the story, which felt a little undercooked. A lot of movies these days will overwhelm the audience with lore and subplots in an attempt to get them interested in a bigger franchise, and this movie falls into that trap as it teases and then kicks important details and character moments down the road to presumably be explored in greater detail in whatever sequels have already been green lit. I don’t expect a movie to answer every single question about mechanics or character relationships, especially when the film is as beautifully put together as this one, but there are more than a couple elements, particularly when it comes to certain family dynamics, that are brought up and never given a satisfying payoff. The movie also lacks a human element to it; someone from our point of view that can at least provide an emotional connection to what is ultimately at stake when the third act kicks things into high gear. The film goes on and on about how important the fans are, and yet the fans are nothing but an endless sea of faces cheering on our protagonists and having no internal lives of their own. Without that, the ultimate confrontation between good and evil feels more like an interpersonal spat despite the sheer number of people who are primed to be affected by its outcome. Neither of these issues are deal breakers as the characters are interesting enough on their own that the missing pieces of their backstory don’t affect things too much, and they still manage to carry the weight of the movie when the narrative falls short of making the end of the world into a big deal, but it’s disappointing that the movie didn’t find a way to go that extra mile in the script when the animation and music are clearly aiming for the stars. A fun story with great visuals and well produced music can overcome almost any generational barrier, and this is a clear example of that. If even a curmudgeonly film critic like me can say that the KPop movie kicks a lot of butt, then that says a lot about how well they pulled it off here and how quickly you should see this movie if you haven’t already. My generation may not have gotten their Megas XLR movie, but I’m not about to hold that against the Zoomers, or their awesome movies.
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Happy Gilmore 2
Happy Gilmore 2 is owned by Netflix
Directed by Kyle Newacheck
It’s been three decades since Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) changed the world of golf with his absurd technique and iconoclastic persona, but time has not been kind to him as the tragic loss of his wife (Julie Bowen) left him a single father and led him down the road to personal and financial ruin. Now he’s content to just barely scrape by and help his six kids however he can, but financial hardship forces him to give golf one more chance for the sake of his daughter’s dance career. Of course, the sport has changed in recent years and no one exemplifies that more than the upstart CEO of Maxi Golf (Benny Safdie) who tries to recruit Happy as well as other well-known golfers to join his extreme golfing league that will appeal to the youths of today, and perhaps to those like Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald) who still holds a grudge against Happy. Will Happy get his life together and win the money he needs while saving the sport he somewhat enjoys from the machinations of tech billionaires, or is he too old and too broken to be of use to anyone anymore?
It seems Netflix is trying to cover all the generational bases, as the other big movie they put out recently was directly aimed at the older millennials, who remember a time long ago where Adam Sandler was actually funny and not an embarrassment to cinema. Okay, I’m being a bit hyperbolic, but the truth is that I’m not sure what to make of Adam Sandler at this point. For well over a decade he made some of the worst movies to hit theaters before making really terrible movies for Netflix, and while there have been some attempts to stretch his range and make quality movies, I don’t think they’ve managed to stick. Uncut Gems is still a masterpiece, but I don’t see him winning Oscar gold anytime soon, even if people have started to mellow out on his recent output. Case in point, a sequel to Happy Gilmore could have easily been an embarrassing mess, and I’m not about to sit here and tell you it’s a great movie, but Sandler is completely self-aware of who he is and what this sequel is which is enough to keeps his head above water. He seems willing to make fun of himself, to let the dramatic moments take center stage when necessary, and to give others a chance at the spotlight, which is good because his comedy hasn’t ripened with age and the overt references to the original film are almost sad with how safe of a choice they are. He’s not here to be all that impressive or to try to reassert himself as one of the greatest comedians of all time, and while that is appreciated and thematically appropriate in spots, it does mean that the movie is without a strong central figure to revolve around. The story meanders quite a bit and never feels like there’s any real urgency despite the myriad of ticking clocks and conflicts shoveled in here, and the extensive cast of characters is fine, but none are willing to take the spotlight despite Sandler seemingly uninterested in taking it for himself. It also fails to stick the landing as the third act is a mess with the kind of over the top spectacle that perhaps would have worked in the original film, but here the energy stays so low that it feels incongruous to shove this into an otherwise simple story. This kind of nonsense requires the verve and abandon of a much younger comedian; someone with something to prove. In Sandler’s hands, it feels lifeless, and he’s clearly more interested in the dramatic scenes about getting his life back together than in triumphing over a ridiculous bad guy through convoluted means. As I said, this is not a bad movie by any stretch, and it’s frankly better than a latter-day Sandler vehicle has any right to be, but I think he’s still better off working with creatives who can channel his talents in interesting directions rather than rely on his own scripts. He still has something that makes him a compelling figure in pop culture, but much like Happy himself, it’s probably time to put the past behind him and focus on his wellbeing rather than trying to stay relevant.
The Reviewers Unite 