Reunion

What in God's name was this!

Half a movie looking like a bad teenage movie with bad acting and childish humour. Jokes and gags about sex, drinking and more sex are about 20 years old. Arrogant characters putting down weak-willing ones with the odd crazed one making stupid comments is also 20 years old.

Then out of nowhere come the finale and the whole plot of the movie comes out. A crime solved with the motive and murderers blurted out l, with details only the writers knew about. Totally ridiculous and pointless ending. And no reason to care about any of the characters either.

Oh, and there's another black character who just rambles constantly and is incessantly annoying, while throwing in the odd curse like a "tru-bro" does. How unoriginal.

Basically a load of utter rubbish!

This was a very straight-down-the-middle comedy mystery that you will likely completely forget about within days. At a 20 year high school reunion party, the person holding the event winds up murdered, and the killer is one of the guests who crashed overnight due to a snowstorm.

At first, I wasn't even sure I could finish the movie. The first 30 minutes are achingly unfunny. Once the murder happens, the film manages to kick into gear, delivering a couple of mild laughs. I actually thought the murder mystery plot was done well. Performances across the board are all great, with Jillian Bell (who usually annoys me), Jamie Chung, Nina Dobrev and Michael Hitchcock all being standouts.

I'm glad I managed to get a little bit of enjoyment out of it, so I don't feel like I wasted my time. But, with a copyright date of 2022, it's easy to see why this sat around unreleased for two years. Those first 30 minutes are an embarrassingly unfunny slog to get through, and although it improves from that point, it's hardly a laughfest.

A decent and enjoyable whodunit that has its attractive features (the cast, mostly), but it only works if you're not much demanding on the plot and some of its loose ends. I liked it, as there was a fair share of laughs and the mystery was quite involving, but it's one of those things I had to lower my expectations for a little while. If looking for a "Knives Out" kind of experience, better look elsewhere. "Reunion" is more about the awkward humor that comes in a high school friends reunion than it is actually about solving a murder case on an isolated mansion. But the detective story is there in between a series of confusions, attempts of rekindling with old crushes and letting past high school traumas come to surface.

It's hard to go wrong with those kind of films but when the intelligence is a little limited or the excess of cliches and characters stereotypes take over, it can be a problem. The moments at the party were a little annoying and most of the characters fun looked fake, abruptly cut here and there as if the director didn't know what he was trying to show. But when the crime happens and they all begin to investigate, it gets better and fun to watch.

"Reunion" hits a different and positive note as we don't have an outside detective looking for clues, but instead all the characters try to find who killed the host and the reasonings for it. Not exactly a jawdropping mystery but it's amusing anyway.

Its quality lies on the cast, all comfortable in their roles, specially the shy cop played by Billy Magnussen, and Jillian Bell as the least likely person to attend such party, as she was never part of the gang since she was a bully victim. Her creepy character is hilarious and steals the show. Didn't exactly like the loudmouth Ray (Lil Rel Howery), super annoying for the most part and only having his moments of triumph on the bathroom scene and at the end. He just tries too hard to be funny.

If the idea is to kill some time with some laughs and go for a detective mode while trying to solve the case before anybody, "Reunion" serves well exactly for such purposes and nothing more. 6/10.

I'd of given it a 6.25 actually maybe.

So, the film, overall, is a good watch. It is entertaining, it has some good quips and the acting doesn't completely suck.

It's the same as a B-rated horror movie I'd say, but actually a bit better.

The cinemtagrophy and the the pace of the movie is good for what it is.

The character Vivian is well written and showcases "neuro-spicy" in a funny and non-mean way. I found her character to be quite original and enjoyed her.

The rest of the characters are also written to fit their physical, mental, and occupational features as well.

As previously mentioned, the pace of the film is honestly about perfect for a murder mystery.

I don't believe most of any of us would see the twist coming, which is really the only issue with the movie in my opinion.

What do I mean? Well, I have categories of "murder mysteries" that I find simplify what concepts I mean.

Some are akin to the Scooby-Doo mystery type murders... where basically you could usually never guess who the culprit actually is.

Some may argue, sure... you may be lucky sometimes... but mostly... there are never enough clues or foreshadowing or developed story to truly know from observation who the killer is.

This movie obviously wasn't meet to be a deep thriller.

That being said, once again, the main issue is still how the reveal is done.

The story itself isn't the problem, it's the fact that it seems it was put together at the last minute as a "We have a deadline people who are we putting this murder on?!?"

I didn't expect a work of Shakespeare but it would have been nice to have actual clues, foreshadowing, and proper plot flow on how the film ended.

The way it was done, it could have been anyone, and it just detracts from the movie as a whole.

Sure, many movies do this... but once again... the "Scooby-Doo" effect was strong with this one. More perceived backstory and hints would have came a long way instead of the ending feeling as if it was just put together last minute. It's almost as it was written completely seperately from someone pulling a name out of a hate and writing the story around that person regardless of the first half of the movie.

The twist is actually a good one, and the character that solves the mystery really shows how observant and intelligent he is.

It didn't have to be a Sherlock Holmes... no, but could have added much needed depth to an otherwise shallow plot.

:The movie is a good watch, the characters fit their profiles for who and what they are. There are some great quips and general comedy in the film. However, not enough foreshadowing and a way to follow the clues to come to a consensus for the person watching the film.

For the long explanation, see above.

Thank you.

'Reunion' came out of absolutely nowhere. 24 hours ago I hadn't even heard of it. Tonight I found myself really enjoying it. It was exactly my kind of movie. An isolated mystery/whodunit with a pretty decent cast. Sign me up immediately. And even though it was a little formulaic, it ticked all the boxes that needed to be ticked.

The film leans a lot more towards the comedy side of things than taking itself too seriously. That said, I thought it found a pretty good balance. There was one character played by Jillian Bell who was perhaps a little overly comedic for the overall tone of the film - but she was so funny and got so many laughs out of me that I didn't even mind.

The key thing for a film like this to stick the landing. It needs a good wrap up that makes you think back on everything you've seen and see it in a different light. This film had that. It was a well done ending. 'Reunion' is a really good time and a film I would happily recommend. 7.5/10.