Review of Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) by Kenr — 08 Aug 2019

This one gets you in with a nice Intro, look and feel...well, for about 30mins or so, but what follows just about defies description or deserves any credence. All the ingredients of today’s consumer moviemaking are there IE; add a pinch of Cohen Bros, large dollops of Tarantino, and Scorsese, stir and watch the money roll in – but guess what, it didn’t happen.

Often when you see that a movie was produced, written and directed by the same person (Drew Goddard - with the family as associates) you would be right to feel uneasy – there have been the odd times when this can work well, but that’s all too often rare.

I doubt this mess would exist if the maker hadn’t paid for it himself, still, he only stood to lose his own money (and did). Some good performances are wasted along with neat set decoration and stylish cinematography, while the viewer gets to be bludgeoned over the head with wall to wall sadistic violence, crude language, plus a ridiculous and rambling script (like 2hrs 21mins!).

As for Aussie Chris Hemsworth, he gets to make a fool of himself with a hedonistic performance as a deranged Manson type killer in a loser of a movie (better think twice next time Chris) Those who enjoy seeing the same, now clichéd stories, and impossible characters rolled out in movie after movie, will find some sick enjoyment but most, as the box office returns show, will leave the room very disappointed.