‘Elemental,’ ‘Past Lives,’ ‘Talk to Me,’ & More- Film Review Catch-Up

It’s been a long time since I combined more than two reviews into a single post, but here we are. With five films to discuss, I watched them all in September and early October, taking longer to write about them. There was a lot I would’ve covered, but here were some of the most talked about movies I missed in theaters or elsewhere: Let’s get started as I discuss Elemental, Extraction 2, Meg 2: The Trench, Past Lives, and Talk to Me.

‘Elemental’

Watched Date: 9/13

Elemental was the newest animated feature produced by Disney/Pixar this past summer, and it’s one of the few movies from them that I didn’t get to watch in theaters. That’s primarily because I wasn’t interested in director Peter Sohn’s second feature for the company following The Good Dinosaur (the one Pixar film that received too much flak). The trailers looked fine enough, but they didn’t pique my interest as much as the lack of marketing did. And with them having their triumphs and failures lately, this needed to be a win after Lightyear wasn’t a box office hit (don’t dislike like everyone else but very forgettable), and the early reactions after it closed the Cannes Film Festival, suggesting it wouldn’t be their finest. And, while Elemental isn’t one of their best successes, it’s pleasant enough to get by a formula we’ve all heard by now seeking to resonate with everyone.

What’s the Story: In Elemental City, anthropomorphic elements of nature (Air, Fire, Water, Land) are residents and live together, where Bernie (Ronnie del Carmen) and Cinder Lumen (Shila Ommi) leave their families to start a new life and raise their only daughter Ember (Leah Lewis) in the fire community. Though the Fire residents are faced with small-mindedness, Bernie has been operating a convenience store called “The Fireplace,” he wants to see Ember take over the family business once he retires. Occasionally, Ember has these tempers that she can’t control, and her latest caused the water pipes to burst in their basement, leaving a guy named Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), a water element and city inspector, coming through the ruptured pipe. This incident could lead to shutting down the shop for a code violation, but Ember convinces Wade to figure out what might’ve caused the break, and the more they hang out, the more they will learn what can make opposites attract.

You can look at this and see this as Pixar’s dipping its toes into a strange romantic comedy where you have two people from different sides of the tracks have an unusual meet cute to quickly turn into a love story. The main difference is Ember and Wade are two elements we don’t always see come together. Why would they mix when chemistry taught us it’s not possible? But how much can they have in common? But with the romance building up with our main characters (including an inescapable montage set to LAUV), they won’t be a more memorable couple than how Wall-E and Eva took all our breaths away. Still, you slowly get invested in the will they, won’t they between Ember and Wade when spending more time together, rooting for them to get together. It’s a way of touching on interracial relationships that don’t try that differently, but it works in certain parts with Lewis and Athie’s vocal performances that we shouldn’t ignore since it’s nice to hire big-time actors to voice the lead characters who are likable enough when we start to know where they come from.

Another theme tacked onto the film is how the narrative touches on immigration and prejudice as a metaphor. Having a Pixar world with the involvement of humans is familiar, and it’s done better with other Disney movies like Zootopia, but seeing a city that could’ve represented old life is a lot to get young children to understand. As an adult, it wasn’t too subtle in addressing these issues with how Ember’s family reacts to other elements, especially her father, who doesn’t take too kindly to water people. However, the immigration side addresses any parent’s desire to give their child the life they want for them, and Ember is at a crossroads in her and Wade’s path of self-discovery. From a screenplay angle, this isn’t one of the most substantial works they’ve offered, even for an original time. This also doesn’t forget the heart, but it doesn’t have all the heft to draw us in more story-wise, and that usual sentimental landing barely made it, as it didn’t make me even tear up. And if you’re a sucker for puns, they make the comedy right for you.

But when Pixar delivers something unique to just okay, they’ve always stayed within the visuals. Sohn and the animation team who worked on this did a fantastic job making it as stunning as possible. The world-building of Element City is something else, as well as the look of the characters from the four elements that tried to make the designs of Wade and Ember look detailed to the tee.

Elemental was the studio’s second film to be released in theaters following the lockdown, and a couple of weeks later, it looked like it might be a box office bomb, considering the competition between Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Flash. But it became a sleeper smash when it started to gain traction every weekend. Based on word-of-mouth, it demonstrated that families attended and saw it, but it’s still unclear if Pixar had returned to its glory days. It’s an excellent move for them, but I’m holding off on calling anything “great” because Soul is the only movie I’ve declared amazing from the 2020s.

In the end, Elemental will hardly be recognized as the next Pixar classic, but while the plot could have utilized more surprises, younger children will like this take on the romance theme that touches on family and the love we share with others in unexpected places. Is it an animation film I’m gonna rewatch? Not really, since it wasn’t as hard-hitting as other recent movies from the studio, but though it doesn’t look like it will win the Oscar, it’s harmless.

Grade: B

Release Date: June 16, 2023

Runtime: 101 Minutes

Rated PG for some peril, thematic elements and brief language

Distributions: Disney/ Pixar

‘Extraction 2’

Watched Date: 9/11

Netflix and the action genre don’t always produce flawless content. However, the Extraction franchise lends itself to becoming significantly better than expected. So when it was first released on the streaming service during the early days of the pandemic, Sam Hargrave’s directorial debut wasn’t spectacular by any means. But it was a surprise how thrilling it turned out to be, becoming one of their most successful original movies. Three years later, it’s difficult to picture what Extraction 2 would be like, given that they’ve left things hanging at the end of the first. While it’s difficult to top the original in certain aspects, everyone involved in this sequel succeeded by going larger and bolder this time.

What’s the Story: After his mission in Dharia and falling into the river from almost dying, mercenary Tyler Rakes (Chris Hemsworth) is nursed back to health after nine months, leading him to take on his retirement in his cabin in Austria. But he can’t turn it down when a mysterious man offers him an extraction job. Tyler’s mission: To free his ex-wife’s sister, Ketevan, and her two children from a Georgian prison after it imprisoned them under the supervision of Ketevan’s husband Zurab, a brutal mobster, and his brother, who works for the criminal organization syndicate Nagazi. If Tyler thought this would be a more straightforward rescue mission, he thought wrong.

Extraction 2 has much potential to be fun, even if it doesn’t push too hard to be Oscar-worthy. But, while the story takes a back seat to become the film’s most forgettable feature, the action Hargrave and his team pulled off was even more prominent here. Because if we thought the sequence of Tyler saving Ovi Jr. in the first was impressive, the hype around the nearly 21-minute one-shot tops that without question. What starts as a prison break riot into a car chase and taking it home is an ambush on a moving train that goes all out. Some edits were there to stitch them together, but it knows how to keep your attention throughout in how immersed it served. The second act’s set piece inside a hotel in Mumbai won’t make much sense in terms of logic, but it doesn’t disappoint. It also helps to remember Hargrave has a background in stunt work. And though it was never going to be on par with John Wick Chapter 4, he improved much so with his direction in terms of stakes.

More so in this, I think Chris Hemsworth’s return as Tyler Rake is even better since not only does he still prove to be an action star of dedication to making his scenes as possible as he could, but there’s depth in learning about his character’s past and what drives him to keep living in protecting this family. He may have been the unthinkable action hero outside of Thor in the MCU. Yet, Tyler’s not alone on this mission as he’s carried through the teamwork of Golshifteh Farahani and Adam Bessa as siblings Nik and Yaz, whose presence in the first I can’t recall but worked well here, especially giving more time between Farahani and Hemsworth. The other supporting characters aren’t that special with the time spent with them, especially with an alright villain.

Just when I thought it would be more of the same, it was directed some of the writing and felt a little predictable. However, Extraction 2 is nothing more than an action film with improved quality that makes us care about the characters even more than before. Even when the last action scene in the third act doesn’t go as massive as earlier in how restrained and quick it was, it’s still enough to see why people are drawn to these two movies now. Honestly, forget The Gray Man; this is the Netflix franchise I wouldn’t mind seeing another installment when the time comes.

Extraction 2 improves upon its predecessor more than anyone thought. When the story doesn’t take much interest, the sequel’s biggest strengths of the first are carried over from Chris Hemsworth’s physical performance and stepping up its action/stunt work sequences.

Grade: B

Release Date: June 16, 2023

Runtime: 122 Minutes

Rated R for strong/bloody violence throughout and language

Distributions: Netflix

‘Meg 2: The Trench’

Watched Date: 9/11

Meg 2: The Trench is one of a few sequels in 2023 that I wonder if anyone asked for. Of course, this is a sequel to the 2018 shark film based on Steve Alten’s novel, a B-sci-fi thriller. I wasn’t a fan of it and found it perplexing that many thought it would be the next great thing because it included a massive Megalodon (and how it made over $500 million globally baffles me). By that alone, it’s a surprise this was still coming out since nobody knew it existed two months before its release. But despite the low expectations, everyone, including me, wanted one thing out of this: to turn off our brains and have a decent time watching Jason Statham and Giant Sharks in dumb fun. And although it delivers on part of that promise, the result is a sequel that lacks serious bite.

What’s the Story: Jonas Taylor (Statham) leads a research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival. Pitted against colossal, prehistoric sharks and relentless environmental plunderers, they must outrun, outsmart and outswim their merciless predators.

Your main goal for a movie with killer animals is to entertain your audience by fighting them off or seeing innocent people get eaten alive. And that happens near the third act. Instead, the first two-thirds of Meg 2: The Trench consists of our human characters getting into danger when stuck below the titular place, which was nothing to ride home about. When I thought this would fully embrace the campy nature that the original failed to do, it took about 80 minutes to reach that point. Nobody expected to get caught up with the pointless side characters walking across the Trench so poorly shot or needless corporate espionage above the surface with a predictable, laughable twist and an overall story daring to bore me. No joke, I checked the time twice to realize we weren’t even an hour in yet.

Director Ben Wheatley took over from Jon Turtleltaub in the biggest film of his career. Though I’ve only seen one thing he has previously done, the underwhelming Free Fire, there was no ounce of energy found whenever it wanted to Kick the madness into gear, which made me think he joined the project for a paycheck. When you combine it with a storyline that isn’t much better, you’re left wondering why we have yet to see much of the Meg, especially when we now have three.

As expected, Jason Statham does what he can to make himself a capable action here as Jonas Taylor, and it’s just always a shame when an action movie doesn’t utilize his skills to better effect. Besides him, as Jiuming, Wu Jing doesn’t do half-bad with his performance. You don’t care about the lives of anybody else, including returning cast like Cliff Curtis of Page Kennedy, the latter of whom they gave the worst dialogue for a black character for comic relief.

Once it sets to the climax where the megs and other creatures attack this party island, that’s what I wanted out of this, but it comes to us too late without tension or outstanding CGI that had us waiting all this time for the carnage to awaken and I still have the gull to say boring when you have Statham on a jet ski with three deadly harpoons. I was not looking for a deep story or anything, but where was the effort? We better not get a third movie out of this since Warner Bros. should focus their attention on sequels more deserving.

Meg 2: The Trench aspires to be the silly fun that its predecessor was. Instead, it opts for one of the year’s more unneeded sequels, opting for bland rather than outrageous that not even Statham can salvage. What a waste of $20 and a pleasant afternoon at home.

Grade: D+

Release Date: August 4, 2023

Runtime: 116 Minutes

Rated PG-13 for action/violence, some bloody images, language and brief suggestive material

Distributions: Warner Bros. Pictures

‘Past Lives’

Watched Date: 9/23

Since the start of the year, there’s been one film on everybody’s mind since it premiered at Sundance and its initial release: Past Lives. Writer/director Celine Song’s directorial debut has become an early favorite in terms of awards conversations and a newfound classic for modern romances. Although everything about A24’s recent hit has been positive, who knows what the future holds? Still, it should be no surprise that we consider this the ideal combination. Since what we got is an emotional analysis of love that is both close and far away, we should compare it to Before Sunrise.

What’s the Story: Growing Up in Seoul, South Korea, Nora and Hae Sung were childhood classmates who had crushes on each other. But that first love was cut short when her family emigrated to Canada. Decades later, Nora (Greta Lee) lives in Manhattan as an aspiring writer, while Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) still lives at home. They reconnected over Skype, though unable to visit each other, but soon stopped talking as she wanted to focus on herself. Now, she is married to a writer named Arthur Zaturansky (John Magaro) after meeting at a retreat. Hae Sung is about to visit Nora in New York for the first time, possibly leading to new emotions in themselves.

Based on Song’s real-life experience, you can tell that Past Lives wasn’t attempting to turn into another corny romantic movie because it presents Nora and Hae Sung’s connection in a genuine way, even though it is immediately apparent that they will never be romantically involved. But what will grab almost everyone the most is this understanding of wondering how our lives would be with someone else. And when it’s a drama dealing with time, that can be a lot of time spent getting to know these two. But it’s only about 105 minutes rather than nearly two and a half hours.

Yet we still get to know about them personally, from the brief moments when they were kids to having their conversations through their computer screens. The fascinating hook I’ve thought about that Past Lives presents is that relationships aren’t meant to last for different circumstances, but we always question whether we end up with that person now. This asks us, “Can we find our connection to someone we already know, and have we felt that through another lifetime?” Do you realize how frequently I recall prior crushes when I was a child? Not often, but those opportunities never presented themselves because no one had significant feelings for me, whereas the girls I used to like are happily married or in relationships. This is one of those romantic dramas where I tend not to think primarily about the romance itself but what it means to find someone who understands yourself and how you shape who you are. I believe faith is sometimes possible when it comes naturally.

But without the marvelous performances from both Lee and Yoo, they wouldn’t have lifted this story with any amount of believability, even without dialogue, which adds to how there’s more to say through expressions than words. Who would have guessed that one of Nick’s New Girl girlfriends would become one of the year’s most memorable romantic leads? Even if it slows things down, you have to enjoy their company because you know they will always have something special going on. But John Magaro’s performance as Arthur shouldn’t be left out of the conversation as Nora’s supportive husband, who isn’t made to be the jealous guy for once.

Past Lives isn’t your average romance when Celine Song’s debut can only be described as a subtle and melancholy drama that’ll resonate with anyone who thinks about the possibilities of the what ifs of our worlds, all conveyed with maturity from Greta Lee and Teo Yoo’s performance. Did it make me cry? Answer: Almost. I think I teared up when they had to take a break and right near the end after a tracking shot on the street, culminating with one of the most memorable ends this year alone.

Grade: A-

Release Date: June 2, 2023

Runtime: 105 Minutes

Rated PG-13 for some strong language

Distributions: A24

‘Talk to Me’

Watched Date: 10/15

After A24 required the rights following the Sundance Film Festival, the buzz around Talk to Me is expected since almost any horror movie from the studio is hyped. My approach for Austrilia’s Danny and Michael Philippou’s feature debut was to avoid any trailer or plot details besides knowing the concept had something to do with possession. Genuinely, I’ve always had difficulty loving an A24 horror movie and how it influenced the term “elevated horror” that made me like but not love Hereditary or dislike Men. The closest to what I think is excellent is X from last year. To my surprise, Talk to Me might end up as the best I’ve seen through the year that, had me still thinking about it nearly two months later.

What’s the Story: It’s been over two years since 17-year-old Mia (Sophie Wilde) lost her mother to an overdose, putting a strained relationship with her father. In need of a distraction, she, her best friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen), and her little brother Riley (Joe Bird) sneak out at a gathering hosted by Hayley (Zoe Terakes) and Joss (Chris Alosio). Once there, everyone discovers how to communicate spirits using a severed, embalmed hand, as seen through viral videos of teenagers getting briefly possessed. The rules are fairly simple: Light a candle, hold the hand, and say, “Talk to me” and “I let you in,” where it takes hold of you for 90 seconds and blowing out the candle is a must, or else the spirit takes control of you.

Discovering the premise sounded like the typical possession movie that only changes a few things in hand. That might be true, but Talk to Me and the Philippou brothers took it and made it refreshing for the subgenre that had been tiring out for quite some time. They actually made a hand more of a scarier prop than an Ouija board. Not only does it touch on grief, it’s also a strange allegory of the dangers of taking challenges. We’re seeing daily Videos of teenagers doing the most ridiculous things on social media that’ll lead to early death based on what is trending. The teenagers here use the hand almost as an experimental drug or similar to passing around a bong in a circle. Little did they know that taking things too far adds to being much more frightening with a perfect amount of tension and less focused on the jump scares.

It’s too early to tell if these up-and-coming filmmakers are poised to become the next Jordan Peele or Zack Creggar since their debuts came out of nowhere, but much like Get Out and Barbarian, a great concert leaves an unpredictable note, which you wouldn’t expect from YouTubers. What happens when we go too far is what they’re asking us, and it’s done in a very effective and unforced way in touching on trauma. Having a world where it’s normal to have these possession parties is probably the funniest takeaway from all of this. And while this doesn’t rely on jump scares, the camerawork is creepy enough, and two moments, particularly, had me looking away.

Sophie Wilde is a name we don’t know now but will be when she performed fantastically as Mia. Does she always make the best decisions? Not really, but you come to understand her pain in wanting to connect with her mother in the spirit world, knowing the consequences are powerful. Please give me another horror movie with her in the lead so Wilde could be more of a breakout outside her country. And props to Joe Bird as Riley, who you have to praise for doing some physical stuff that makes you feel terrible for what his character goes through later on. Some of the supporting cast wasn’t as fleshed out as needed, but everyone, including Miranda Otto, was well-acted through either emotional or frightening.

Even when it could’ve used more time on the father/daughter relationship, it concludes that it probably won’t please everybody, but I thought it was the best way to go. With talks of a sequel, who knows where the story will take place next? It leaves me curious about where it goes.

All things considered, Talk to Me will leave you both amazed and terrified by what the Philippous accomplished. One of the few A24 horror films that I have grown to love, which approaches the genre’s usual possession stories in an original and thought-provoking way.