Crisp Criticism - "Aladdin", "The Hustle", "Tolkien", "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum", "Under the Silver Lake", "All is True"

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Julien Faddoul

Aladdin

A live-action retelling of the 1992 Disney film of the same name.

When will these Disney remakes end? The lachrymose that they induce is becoming too much to bear. I have nothing new to add that wasn’t already covered here or here. Whenever I walk past the ticket usher and into the cinema to experience another one of these, I often think of something Elliott Smith once wrote: “Two tickets torn in half and a lot of nothing to do. Do you miss me, miss misery, like you say you do”?

d – Guy Ritchie

w – John August, Guy Ritchie

ph – Alan Stewart

pd – Gemma Jackson

m – Alan Menken

m – Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul

ed – James Herbert

cos – Michael Wilkinson

p – Jonathan Eirich, Dan Lin

Cast: Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Will Smith, Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, Billy Magnussen, Alan Tudyk, Frank Welker, Numan Acar, Robby Haynes, Nina Wadia

Crisp Criticism - "Pokémon Detective Pikachu", "Long Shot", "UglyDolls", "The Intruder", "Chase"

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Julien Faddoul

Pokémon Detective Pikachu

In a world where people collect pocket-size monsters (Pokémon) and treat them like cockfighters, a boy comes across one that can talk and seeks to be a detective.

As cynical and disturbing an example of current studio cinema as one could encounter: Yet again another movie designed to indoctrinate the idiot seals – who in the case are apparently children of the 90s – to slap their fins in unison at the altar that is the never-ending ouroboros of corporate nostalgia. Judging from the first week of receipts, it worked. The plot is a rip-off of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), the dialogue is embarrassing, the performances are uncomfortable, the sound design is screeching and the visuals look like vomit.

d – Rob Letterman

w – Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Rob Letterman, Derek Connolly, Nicole Perlman   (Based on the Characters Created by Satoshi Tajiri, Ken Sugimori, Junichi Masuda)

ph – John Mathieson

pd – Nigel Phelps

m – Henry Jackman

ed – Mark Sanger, James Thomas

cos – Suzie Harman

p – Satoshi Tajiri, Thomas Tull, Ali Mendes

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Bill Nighy, Ken Watanabe, Chris Geere, Suki Waterhouse, Josette Simon, Alejandro De Mesa, Rita Ora, Karan Soni, Max Fincham