Zombieland: Double tap

I'll be perfectly honest. When I first heard a sequel to zombieland was coming out, I didn't want to believe it. After 10 years after the first film, it sounded too risky whether it would be worth the wait but how wrong was I.

This is by far the funniest film I have seen this year. The one liners are cleverly scripted and performed, the comic reactions are perfectly timed and the physical comedy is spot on. Ruben Fleischer finds so many brilliant ways to make us laugh with so many standouts.

However this film would never have worked if it weren't for the original cast from the first film. After 10 years it's a worry if the cast can bring us the same characters we remember but there's no worries necessary. It's doesn't even feel like 10 years afterwards. They are just as funny, charismatic and memorable as they were before. Woody Harrelson is the big standout with his over the top reactions and as I stated above, his one liners are the best. It's very easy to forget Harrelson can do comedy after all the films he's done.

There's are some nice newcomers as well. On paper, Zoey Deutch as the annoying dumb blonde Madison should, well, be very annoying and unbearable and when I first saw her, I wasn't sure if I'd like her but by the end of the film, I loved her. She also has some funny one liners and even though she's a very exaggerated dumb blonde, somehow that's what makes her even more brilliant and also makes her another standout. Rosario Dawson is another good newcomer as a fearless woman not afraid to stand up for herself but she doesn't much screentime as we'd hope.

What this film does with the zombies is also really good. Now I saw the first film 5 or 6 years ago so I could be wrong but when I remember the zombies, they're all entirely the same as dangerously mindless creatures with some humorous features. In this film, some are dangerous, some are clever and some are very dumb which also provides us with some entertaining and creative action sequences.

However I was disappointed with some parts of the film. First the newcomers were a big missed opportunity. Zoey Deutch got the screentime she deserved but Rosario Dawson clearly should have had much more screentime. All together, I would estimate she had around 15-20 minutes of screentime. Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch only had around 5 minutes of screentime and it's so clear these two had so much potential. In fact I felt maybe they could have done a spin-off with these four newcomers as a different version of the the 4 main characters.

I was also disappointed Abigail breslin wasn't in this film as much. She was only in it a little for the first act, spent the second act driving in a car and even though she had a big role in the 3rd act, she didn't really get that much to do. That frustrated me quite a bit.

There's also an underdeveloped sub plot in the middle of the film that's hinted but doesn't go anywhere like the writers forgot all about it which is disappointing as that could have provided some good laughter.

Overall this is definitely a worthy sequel which is definitely the funniest film of the year with some standout moments, great action and a fantastic script but just has some missed opportunities with the newcomers.
⭐⭐⭐

Joker

Now this is a film I have wanted to see done for a long time. An origin story for the joker. He has always struck me as a very interesting character and an origin story could work really well for him but I also understand it's very risky because he's such a complex character, a film could ruin anything interesting about him and this film could have gone wrong in so many ways. However this is not the case.

This is a very interesting take on the joker that just works so well. The character Arthur Fleck becomes a very interesting character from the moment he appears onscreen. You can see he's someone who wants to be heard but no one listens, he wants to be understood but no one does understand him and he's just a lonely man who people see as a freak and stay away from.

Now in my personal opinion, there will never be a joker like Heath ledger. However Joaquin Phoenix comes incredibly close. He is perfectly cast as Arthur and he brings such commitment to the role. You can see the weight Joaquin lost brings impact to the role and that laugh becomes creepier the more he does it. You can clearly tell he's a psychopath but at the same time, he's someone who wants to be noticed and you can't help but feel for him.

The rest of the cast are fantastic. Robert De Niro is great as Murray franklin, Brett Cullen plays Thomas Wayne well as a despicable liar and you can see why a lot of people hate him but the real standout is Frances Conroy as Penny Fleck. She is instantly believable as Arthur's mother and there's a certain creepiness about her.

The slow pace for this film suits it really well. I really love films that study it's characters and spends time to develop them and this is what Joker does so well. It takes it time to develop Arthur and the story which makes total sense for his character. As the story goes on, it becomes more interesting as Arthur descends further into psychopathy.

However there are two real standouts; first Director Todd Phillips expertly crafts and explores the character really well. From beginning to end, everything that happens just feels right for the character and theres a lot of twists that are a little predictable and are very unexpected. It really feels like he knows the character and you can just tell by watching this film, he really wants to do it right.

The second standout is the cinematography from start to finish. What's interesting is the cinematography changes a lot. When Arthur is in my apartment, the camera follows him like it's documenting his life. There's one scene where he's on a bus and the camera zooms into him and you can see the eerieness in his eye's. The best scenes though is when he kills people who have wronged him. The train scene is shot fantastically with the ominous soundtrack supporting it. The scene where he kills someone in his apartment is incredibly tense and unpredictably chilling. It is a full on joker moment.

As the film builds up towards the final act, it does not disappoint. The moment he slaps on the makeup, you feel he's the Joker. The scene where he murders Murray Franklin is brilliantly because he finally gets Gotham city to listen to him about what his life is like and whats it's like to be him. The script is so hard hitting because everything he's says is so true. Mental health in the 80s and even in this day and age is overlooked so easily and not taken as seriously as it should be.

By the end of the film, Joker makes his impact in Gotham City and it really feels his story has been told and fulfilled. He has his followers which stays true to the comics and it's quite satisfying to see he finally has people who understand him and he is no longer alone. What is also very clever is it's his actions that leads to the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, starting Bruce Waynes journey as Batman.

I think my only criticism for this film is Arthur does these dances an awful lot during the film which start off as nicely but the more he does them, it becomes laughable and cringeworthy.

Overall, Joker is a dark, slow paced expertly acted and directed film that's takes the most iconic character from DC comics and gives him the origin story that he deserves.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐