roel-willemsen

The first film in the franchise wasn't anything groundbreaking, but still felt fresh. The second installment was, in my opinion, a major downgrade, particularly in terms of character development. Now we have come to the conclusion of the trilogy, and a movie that feels just like a hundred teen romance dramas that have come before it.

The main criticism is that this movie doesn't implement anything that hasn't been done before. Really, from the second the plot of the movie becomes apparent, anyone who has ever seen a movie will be able to guess what happens. It's a simple story of 'girl loves boy, but girl receives a huge opportunity that forces her to choose between her own life and her relationship'. Some standard awkward situations follow, that could as always be so easily avoided if the characters possessed even a lick of common sense. The couple breaks up, realizes they do still love each other, and eventually decide to try and work things out. Doesn't that sound familiar?

The saving grace of the movie are still its characters however. Lara Jean is a charming, kind and positive spirit, while Peter distinguishes himself as a supportive and caring boyfriend. The Covey family dynamic, and their Korean roots, are fleshed out even further, and deservedly so. It's the little interactions between the characters that give the movie most of its charm.

The actors do a fine job, and the cinematography and camerawork deserve some applause as well. The humor in the film is fine, but also feels derivative of other teen comedies.

All in all, this movie is by no means the worst of its kind. It has its moments and several positive aspects, but it falls flat in simply providing nothing that original or new to the genre or movies in particular.

Malcolm & Marie follows an extremely simple premise of a filmmaker and his girlfriend coming home after the premiere of his movie, and then proceed to argue for almost the entire night. There are a couple of things to unpack here.

First of all, the positives. Both actors deliver. John David Washington is oustanding, and continues his run of excellent performances over the last couple of years. His character is very expressive and intense, and you can clearly see he's all for it. Zendaya's star is still rising, and she also delivers in a genre that has up until this point been uncharted territory for her. Her character leaves a little to be desired at the start, where she seems somewhat monotone and held back, but she later gets her moments to shine and totally nails them. The relationship between the two characters portrayed by these actors feels and seems authentic, with all manner of genuine relationship issues being covered and discussed. There's also John David Washington's rant on how contemporary movie reviewers tend to look for things that aren't there in movies and try to make everything political, which I just liked.

There are some issues I feel like I have to address. The movie feels too long, and most of that has to do with the dialogue. There are quiet moments, but the movie is otherwise stuffed with dialogue. The movie follows a pattern of a constant back-and-forth between the two leads, with long speeches or rants given by each one at a time. There's some impressive acting here, but this schtick does get repetitive and is not as interesting or poignant as it's supposed to be. The dialogue is furthermore very exposition heavy, which is logical given that the movie largely plays out in real time and we don't get to see any details about the characters' past. Also, the script makes use of a lot of big words and some very coherent sentencing, which to me makes the whole conversation feel a little too fabricated. There's also the fact that the movie is shot in black and white, which honestly doesn't really add anything. The camerawork and editing are still very much done in a contemporary style, so the supposed authenticity one is meant to gain from shooting in black and white is somewhat lost.

All in all, the starts deliver, but the movie's premise and execution are just not that interesting or innovative. 6 / 10