Crisp Criticism - "Now You See Me 2", "The Conjuring 2", "High-Rise"

by

Julien Faddoul

Now You See Me 2

The Four Horsemen resurface and are forcibly recruited by a tech genius to pull off their most impossible heist yet.

About as dumb as a movie can get, with ugly scenarios, nonsensical developments and a cast who all look embarrassed to be there.

d – John M. Chu

w – Ed Solomon, Pete Chiarelli   (Based on the Characters by Boaz Yakin, Edward Ricourt)

ph – Peter Deming

pd – Sharon seymour

m – Brian Tyler

ed – Stan Salfas

cos – Anna B. Sheppard  

p – Bobby Cohen, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci

Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Radcliffe, Jay Chou, Henry Lloyd-Hughes

The Conjuring 2

The couple from the first film travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits.

Numbingly overlong sequel with nothing interesting to say and nothing on offer to alarm. Like the first film, its self-seriousness is a con for those starving for psychology in this genre.

d – James Wan

w – Carey Hayes, Chad Hayes, James Wan, David Johnson

ph – Don Burgess

pd – Julie Berghoff

m – Joseph Bishara

ed – Kirk M. Morri

cos – Kristin M. Burke

p – Rob Cowan, Peter Safran, James Wan

Cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Frances O'Connor, Simon McBurney, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Sterling Jerins, Javier Botet, Robin Atkin Downes, Madison Wolfe

High-Rise *

Life for the residents of a tower block begins to run out of control.

Openly allegorical dystopian satire that makes the very off-putting choice to omit the rationale behind the anarchic disintegration of its characters and its society, which is not the case with its source material. Therefore, once the violence eventually erupts, it inveigles merely as a stylish exercise and nothing more.

d – Ben Wheatley

w – Amy Jump   (Based on the Novel by JG Ballard)

ph – Laurie Rose

pd – Mark Tildesley

m – Clint Mansell

ed – Amy Jump, Ben Wheatley

cos – Odile Dicks-Mireaux   

p – Jeremy Thomas

Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss, Reece Shearsmith, Peter Ferdinando, Daniel Renton Skinner, James Purefoy, Stacy Martin