Once again in the surprisingly amazing year of 2018 where we have legit good comedies and even films that pay righteous tribute to the past classic decades, there comes another one this year that pays tribute to the classic B-movies from directors like Brian De Palma and John Carpenter. First, there was the tremendous Upgrade from writer/director/actor Leigh Whannell. Next, comes a film written and directed by Drew Pearce also holding merit in that B-movie category, Hotel Artemis.
Artemis exemplifies a chaotic and infuriating society like the Mad Max films where criminals get their mischievous job done, but however, they get their deserving consequence when the nurse (Jodie Foster) at that hotel let these criminals in at a secret emergency door where only they can access as well as the hotel itself. They soon encounter a furious, muscled human by the name of Everest (Dave Bautista), who portrays like a blocking virus towards the criminals. Meanwhile, the film absorbs some plots including the nurse and Waikiki (Sterling K. Brown) whom are trying to avoid the disastrous destruction caused by the criminals in the hotel and it is considered the movie’s main focus throughout.
We also meet supporting characters aside from Foster and Brown that are vital to this film as well. They certainly include The Wolf King (Jeff Goldblum), who is one of the main criminals that visit the hotel, and the two patients of the hotel, Honolulu (Brian Tyree Henry) and Morgan (Jenny Slate), who are desperate in their own danger they have while telling meaningful backstories that might make the pacing of the film go slow.
The little advertising and marketing incorporated into this movie seemed weak for myself because on IMDB.com, it had been advertised every where on the site. I was looking at the latest posters one day and I saw around 7-9 posters for that film which were parodying nostalgic properties for the sake of the film respecting a B-movie.
From what I perceived from this movie, this is definitely a livid, chaotic, and insane B-movie that has an option of having a total amount of fun with. It personifies what it is trying to convey: a scandalous, eventful ride that definitely incorporates some meaningful characters and surprisingly terrific-shot action pieces. This film blends the heating adrenaline of films like Mad Max: Fury Road and the shimmering anticipation of Drew Goddard’s modern horror classic The Cabin in the Woods, where it even treats like a true, modern escape film at times. To add to this, the film’s tone is definitely what is the true star of the film because it is true to what makes a early ’70’s/late ’60’s B-movie special and classic.
The cast is indeed an ensemble with Jodie Foster (Her return to acting in almost five years), Charlie Day, Sterling K. Brown (Go watch his role in last year’s Marshall), Dave Bautista, the always amazing Jeff Goldblum, Jenny Slate, and Sofia Boutella. Almost all of the cast has purposeful roles when it comes to the occupations each have in the hotel and what even occurs in the hotel. The film works as an ensemble film since it sincerely fits the overall genre and complex plot.
Jodie Foster’s character is a true special force in this film because she has an extremely important backstory in her youth which I will truly not spoil. Not only is it because of the backstory, but her character’s full-fledged performance is both completely out-of-character and sympathetic. The reason why for being sympathetic is because there are scenes where she is with some supporting characters that do feel indeed heartfelt and beneficial.
Every character aside from Jodie Foster do such a brilliant, mind-blowing out-of-character performance (because of the genres of films they are mostly in nowadays) which mostly include Charlie Day, Dave Bautista, and Sofia Boutella. The actors’ performances definitely represent the accurate, agonizing terror this hotel truly is and just performs the chaos available to offer here towards the criminals. Once again, another statement as to why this is a chaotic ensemble film.
For the action set pieces, they are truly insane and gruesome to watch at times to the point that people at times can be on the edge of their seats. I am legit serious. I do not think either this or Upgrade could recreate from other future movies except for A24’s Hereditary. They either do not give up, achieve wondrous consistency, or surprise the living heck out of you in terms of how hard-to-watch they can truly be.
Some main flaws that prevent this film from being outstanding is that the ending can feel very predictable to some and might come off as weak compared to the rest of the film. Sofia Boutella as the character named simply as Nice comes off as probably the most bland character in the film repeating some cliched dialogue and sort of might be one of those cookie-cutter, try-hard attractive female characters in an action film like Furiosa.
What makes Hotel Artemis a very chaotic event you will most likely never forget is just how surprising it is to have a lot of fun with this film as well as the gory material depicted in it. Sure the film does not permanently focus on plot that much (since it mostly reveals in the first 35 minutes of the film), but the film definitely knows it is out-of-character and does create a terrifying tone to it that really works almost through the entire film. 2018 so far for these kind of films (B-movie) is surprising to me because of the characters you study and the recreation as well. Let me tell you in five simple words. It’s pretty hard to accomplish.
Grade: 8/10
