Lomax343

This film riffs on Trading Places, It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol to ask meaningful questions about the meaning of life and the pursuit of happiness. One one level, it's a feel-good comedy; but there's an undercurrent of sharp satire that raises it above run-of-the-mill.

Keanu Reeves plays a junior angel called Gabriel, whose sole job is to prevent people who text whilst driving from having fatal accidents. He wants more out of life (afterlife?) however. He wants to help a soul in pain.

He spies a likely candidate in Arj (Aziz Anjari, who also directs) who works multiple minimum-wage and below-minimum-wage jobs in order to survive, but is still reduced to sleeping in his car. One of the gig-economy jobs he has is with a delivery frim that definitely isn't Amazon, honest.

Gabriel tries the classic show-Arj-his-future approach, but this only makes him more despondent. Then he tries swapping Arj with Jeff (Seth Rogen) - a mega-rich tech bro, big on hedonism and a stranger to restraint.

To Gabriel's surprise (but no-one else's) Arj is rather taken with the experience of luxury living and never having to worry about money again; so when it's time to swap back, Arj declines. This is a problem as the swap back can only happen with his co-operation.

Gabriel falls foul of his superiors, and is demoted to human, and much of the film is taken up with Gabriel and Jeff (living Arj's life) trying to survive today's economic realities. There's much fine comedy here, as both get to experience what it's like to be human and disadvantaged - but there's an underlying streak of social satire as the injustices of modern society are brought home to them.

Another strand of the film concerns Arj's relationship(s) with Elena (Keke Palmer, who's trying to convince the employees of a store (which absolutely isn't Walmart) to stand up for themselves and form a union. I say relationships in the plural as Arj meets Elena both as himself and when he's Jeff.

Yes, there's a tidy resolution - which manages not to be cloyingly sweet - and it's possible to enjoy this film as a simple comedy. This would be to miss much, however, as it's a lot more than that.

Well, it starts off very Stephen King. This the Life of unassuming accountant Chuck Muntz, told in three chapters - in reverse order.

Chapter Three (the first one we see) is full of classic King weirdness. I loved it, and really wanted to see where it was going - presumably to be revealed in Chapters Two and One.

Only nothing was revealed.

Chapter Two showed one incident from the life of the adult Chuck, as he encounters a drumming busker between accountancy seminars, and goes where the rhythm takes him. This scene is enthralling and moving, but seems to have very little connection to Chapter Three.

In Chapter One we see the young chuck (wonderfully played by Benjamin Pajak) who's been brought up by his grandparents after the death of his parents in a car crash. His grandfather is played by Mark Hammill, who I didn't recognise behind that huge moustache.

The only weird thing in this chapter is that there's a locked room at the top of the house which no-one must ever enter. This however, is forgotten as a charming tale enfolds, which explains Chuck's actions in Chapter Two.

Confused? Me too.

It seemed that we were seeing two unconnected films bolted together for no very good reason. An expanded Chapter Three would've made a very good Stephen King film. A separate film consisting of Chapters Two and One (possibly with an expanded role for Jacob Tremblay who briefly appears as Teenage Chuck) would've made a great film.

Still, the good outweighs the puzzling, and the film is a rewarding and enjoyable watch.

Confession first: I discovered the Red Sonja comics as a young person mumble years ago, and they appealed to me for two reasons. First, the obvious reason a beautiful sword-wielding woman would appeal to a teenage boy; second, for her unique back-story and impressive collection of personality disorders.

I've long thought that Red Sonja deserved a film. She has, however, been short-changed in this area. To be sure, this effort is far superior to the abomination featuring Brigitte Neilsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it still left much to be desired. Most importantly, they threw away almost all that is canon about Red Sonja - the traumatic experience in her youth, the intervention by her goddess, and her idiosyncratic oath/curse.

Does this matter? Well, I think it does if you're going to call the film Red Sonja.

Leaving that aside, this film is not without merit. Matilda Lutz has decent acting chops, and enough charisma to give the film a solid centre. Among the supporting cast, however, Wallis Day as Annistja (a character who does have personality disorders) steals every scene she's in, and would've made a better Sonja. So, possibly, would Danica Davis in the small role of Teresia.

The film copes well with Sonja's famous outfit, there are a few laughs between the swordfights, and Robert Sheehan is just villainous enough as Draygen (who has a personality that would make Freud bite his pencil in two). The horse was good, as well. As for the actual plot - well, it was never going to be the most important part of the film (though, to be fair, it does pack one very good surprise).

In sum: Is this a good adventure film? Up to a point.

Is this a good Red Sonja film? No.