'MaXXXine' Was Disappointing.. (Review)

this video is sponsored by mavi it has been five whole years since bong junho's last film parasite five whole years we've waited for that one followup but in that time Tai West over here managed to crank out an entire Trilogy and it's one of the best arguments in recent years that I can think of for quality over quantity I wasn't too hyped on Pearl the last film in the trilogy but technically the first film in the trilogy I keep trying to talk myself into it because it feels like I'm missing whatever everyone else saw in it but I was severely underwhelmed and unenthused by the whole thing none of it was scary disturbing fun or exceptional to me other than a pretty solid M goth performance it felt like it was trying pretty hard to be provocative and out there but I don't think I've squirmed once at anything in this Trilogy and if it is a character study it's a terribly one- noted one I know I'm in the minority here but I've always thought of the the infamous monologue from the film to be really drawn out and just gimmicky as good as her performances same goes for the credits with time though I have come to weirdly appreciate X looking back at it it's the film in the trilogy I had the most fun with probably because it is a pretty straightforward slasher flick with an entertaining cast of characters 70s slasher horror scratches an itch for me clearly also the kid cuty penis silhouette is still burned into my brain I got to respect that shot so this is all to say I didn't really know how to feel going into max scene I wasn't particularly excited but I was also going in with an open mind it's a completely different era exploring a different subgenre of horror and the film is quite quite a mixed bag as low as the lows are I do have to commend it for being so tightly paced this thing flew by which was a welcomed surprise the editing here is so good it honestly reminding me how much I love the craft of editing itself which reminds me of today's sponsor mavi mavi is an 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genres more than either of the last two entries when I look at the trilogy for what's felt like one attempt after another at paying homage to these whilst also attempting to be included Maxine is probably the most commendable of the bunch this does after all feel like a be movie and Tai West would probably be thrilled to hear that I feel the need to say that because yes I know this is a be movie I know what it's referencing the genres it's pulling from I understand the tone it emulates well enough but I don't see it as a good movie because of that admirable sure but I can only admire so much before I get too negative though let me gas it up a bit the gore the gore and makeup in is good there is just something about bright clearly fake blood like the kinds from Italian jalow that really makes me smile this uses that kind of blood at one point and it looks really incredible really any scene where blood or Gore is involved looks absolutely insane great testicle related scene great gunshot impacts super satisfying and properly ridiculous while there is a good chunk of this that's kind of dark I do think there are Pops in here where the lighting is just incredible super bright super bold I haven't seen a movie go for it with its Lighting in a very long time and I I got to respect it for that performances they're all right Gian Carlo Esposito is the standout to me he made me laugh every time he was on screen in a way I have no doubt was intentional Kevin Bacon is Hamming it up and doing a fine job Lily Collins's brief moment of screen time is fun wish she had more to work with here but let's talk about Mia goth right she's she's the star I'll be real I don't remember a ton of Mia goth in X but she undeniably had a lot to carry in Pearl proving she's the kind of actress who can handle meteor roles with a lot of emotional weight so what the hell happened here I mean she's good when she gets to do something I'm not I'm not blaming me a goth here but for a movie titled Maxine why is Maxine such a non-ch character this movie feels written from the perspective of someone who was told about the last two films not someone who actually watched them or even made them the basic character traits are there but I can't tell you one interesting decision Maxine makes the entire film she just kind of walks around and runs from trouble she has doesn't feel like she lives in this world and has relationships with any of her friends so when things happen to them none of her responses feel like anything I think the only time we really start to peel back her layers is in the scene with Kevin Bacon when he introduces himself to her and her past is brought back up that in the scene where she has to put on a mold for her head I liked that that was that was good of all the genres I listed there is also a tiny hint of the LA Wanderer type you know movies like The Long goodbye under the Silver Lake smiley face inherent VI place I'm not going to call them stoner movies but they're you know Stoner adjacent where a character descends into the depths of Hollywood and encounters Cults murder and it recontextualizes Hollywood history in the process and even when I look at it from that lens and take some weight off of Maxine as a character there's nothing interesting about it from that perspective either Simon PR's character is unnerving at first but once the cult stuff really gets going it feels like a series of corny cliches the references to Psycho felt painfully what the psycho inclusion was to me the film trying to speak on how women are treated in Hollywood how the horrors in the movies are not too dissimilar to those in real life it's looking at a film from 1960 through the lens of the80s but in a film from 2024 the story is Maxine and her grandmother for that matter have spent their whole lives chasing Fame to escape only to find that what they were running from exists everywhere especially in Hollywood there's more to it than that but that's kind of the basic gist in my eyes an interesting idea that West has been exploring three films now through different eras and different styles but doesn't go beyond the surface at any point to me the inclusion of psycho in this film encompasses everything that's frustrated me about the entire Trilogy they present an interesting idea that could really fall flat and then they don't go anywhere with it instead of either succeeding by showing us something we haven't seen before or failing by coming off cringeworthy and pointless the film just stops I can't call it a failure of an idea because it's barely an idea to them just the inclusion of psycho is enough it's a statement again stopping at the surface and calling it a day it's the style over substance that the executive producer of the trilogy Sam levenson is all too familiar with I'm not going to open that can of worms that is the last time I'll mention him which is all to say and I'm sure you're all on the same page about this the best way to enjoy these films is to not read into them too much as that's not where their main appeal comes from the main appeal comes from the fun the kills the horror it's why X worked for me it's a fun ass movie Pearl I thought had blipped of fun but was mostly kind of stale and Maxine certainly held my attention but like I said is a mixed bag to be honest I did enjoy some of the cheesier investigative crime elements with Bobby canaval and Michelle manahan it felt like a part of the story they started and didn't really see through all the way kind of a halfast attempt if we're being honest but a tone that I did enjoy for the most part just because of how easily entertained I was by it as I said the gore and the kills tons of fun as expected but for this film to succeed Maxine needed to be way more than what she ended up being she's an incredibly passive character with no interesting motivations who doesn't add anything to the story that we didn't already see in Pearl or X at the end of the day Maxine is a rompy summer horror smash that people will have enough fun with the bodies bodies bodies of this year if you want to call it that but even the least serious of films need to feel finished this to me is the dictionary definition of a first draft and that's what I have to say thanks for watching go watch Maxine and form your own opinion and I'll see you in the next one

Channel: Karsten Runquist

Views: 81,535

Keywords: Karsten Runquist, Movie, Film, Filmmaking, Video Essay, Films, Cinema, Oscars, New, Movies, Explained, Ending, Review, Theory, Let Me Explain, Maxxxine, Maxine, Mia Goth, Ti West, Sam Levinson, Pearl, Trilogy, Ex, Horror, Thriller, Kill Count, Flop, 2024, A24

Id: ovRSdieta9A

Length: 9min 0sec (540 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 05 2024