|
Fight or Flight hasn't been on my radar for very long. I only heard about this film about a month or two ago, but when I did, it instantly landed on my must-watch list. It's an action comedy starring one of my favorite actors in the business, and that was more than enough to catch my attention. As I've said before, I'm a big fan of this genre mashup, so I was excited to see how the movie would turn out. I booked a seat for opening night as soon as I got the chance, and now that I've finally seen it, I'm happy to report that it's a total blast.
Fight or Flight was directed by James Madigan, and it stars Josh Hartnett, Charithra Chandran, Julian Kostov, and Katee Sackhoff. In the film, the FBI is hot on the heels of an internationally wanted terrorist known only as the Ghost, and they’ve finally tracked this mysterious criminal to an airport in Bangkok. The Ghost is about to board a plane headed for San Francisco, but unfortunately, the FBI can’t get a team there fast enough to arrest the target. Instead, they’re forced to call on a man named Lucas Reyes, a drunken mercenary who’s been hiding in the city for two years. After a bit of nudging, Reyes grudgingly accepts the job, but soon after he gets on the plane, he learns that many of the passengers are assassins looking to cash in on the enormous bounty on the Ghost’s head. If you’re a big movie fan, that plot probably sounds more than a little familiar. It’s not exactly the most original story in the world, but that’s okay. The big draw here is the way Fight or Flight tells its well-worn tale, and on that count, the film is a total home run. Let’s start with the main character. Lucas Reyes is played by Josh Hartnett, and if you’re familiar with this guy’s work, you won’t be surprised to hear that he’s excellent in the role. Hartnett brings every ounce of the signature charm that’s made him such a beloved performer for decades, so from the moment we first meet Lucas, he has the kind of magnetic presence that makes it nearly impossible to look away whenever he's on screen. That being said, I don’t think anybody ever pegged Hartnett for an action star, but despite his lack of experience in this genre, he won me over very quickly. He totally nails the subtly tough, almost nonchalant demeanor of a guy who knows he can do more than just hold his own in a fight, and when it finally comes time to throw down, he does not disappoint. Hartnett isn’t a martial artist, so don’t expect high-flying kicks or crazy spin moves, but he convincingly pulls off the kind of hand-to-hand combat you’d expect from a man with US government training. To be fair, there are a couple of brief shots where you can tell he’s just executing a series of pre-planned strikes and throws, but for the most part, the guy makes you believe that he really is a trained killer fighting for his life. However, the biggest surprise here isn’t Josh Hartnett’s action chops. In my opinion, it’s the way Fight or Flight shoots its action scenes. See, American movies have a tendency to chop up their fights with a million cuts, and that often makes the action hard to follow. But thankfully, director James Madigan doesn’t fall into that trap. He makes sure you can clearly see every punch, kick, and slam in the film, so you’ll have no trouble at all appreciating the artistry that goes into choreographing and executing these dances with death. My one issue with the action in Fight or Flight is that a couple of shots go a bit too heavy on the gore. Don’t get me wrong, I like my fight scenes to be realistically bloody and violent, but there are moments when this movie starts to feel more like a horror flick than an action film. The focus shifts from the fights themselves to the injuries those fights inflict on their combatants, and in my opinion, that’s simply not where the emphasis should lie in a movie like this. Thankfully though, the vast majority of the action here is a total blast, but that’s only half the battle. Like I said before, this is an action comedy, so it has to make you laugh as well. And once again, the film knocks it out of the park. Granted, Fight or Flight leans much more towards the action side of that genre mashup, but it still garnered a number of big laughs from my crowd. There’s more than enough great humor here to inject the experience with a sense of joy that’s often lacking in action flicks, so if you’re a fan of action comedies, you’re sure to walk away with a big smile on your face. Last but not least, I want to talk a bit about the deeper themes of Fight or Flight. Admittedly, this movie is primarily concerned with being fun, so it doesn’t have a ton of storytelling depth. But somewhat surprisingly, the little bit it does have is actually pretty important. I can’t say too much without giving away some of the film’s secrets, but I can tell you that it deals with human trafficking and the harsh realities of slave labor in our world today. It highlights the distressing fact that our supply chains–especially for the electronic gadgets and gizmos we place so much value in–are often infected with this malicious evil, and I really appreciated that message. Sure, the movie doesn’t propose any answers to this seemingly insoluble problem, but at least it can help make people more aware of the issue. At the end of the day, I can’t quite say that Fight or Flight is one of the best films of the year. It doesn’t have enough thematic heft to reach those heights, but I still had a great time with it. It’s an absolute blast with just enough moral substance to hit home, so if this sounds like something you’d enjoy, I highly recommend that you check it out.
0 Comments
It’s a weird time to be a horror fan. It seems like every week brings a new announcement of a genre film based on a classic children’s IP, and to the surprise of no one, the general consensus is that these movies are pretty bad. But as usual, there’s an exception to that general rule, and it’s a Norwegian body horror flick called The Ugly Stepsister. This film is being billed as a grim new take on “Cinderella,” and people seem to be loving it. As of this writing, it has a 95% critic rating and an 86% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so as a big horror aficionado myself, I just had to check it out. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to catch the movie during its very limited theatrical run last month, but now that it’s available on the horror streaming service Shudder, I was finally able to see for myself what all the fuss was about.
The Ugly Stepsister was written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt, and it stars Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Flo Fagerli, and Ane Dahl Torp. Unlike most tellings of the Cinderella story, this one doesn’t focus on the beleaguered future princess. Instead, as the title suggests, The Ugly Stepsister follows the classic protagonist’s stepsister, a young woman named Elvira. She dreams of one day marrying a local prince named Julian, and when the prince invites her and her stepsister (called Agnes at this point in the story) to a ball where he plans to choose his bride, it looks like her wish might actually come true. There’s just one problem. Elvira isn’t very attractive, so there's no way a shallow man like Julian would ever want to marry her. However, that begins to change when her mother, Rebekka, subjects the poor girl to a series of primitive plastic surgeries to beautify her eyes, nose, and mouth. As all this is going on, Rebekka also learns that Agnes has been sleeping with a stable man, so she just about disowns the young woman. She begins treating her like garbage, and she even calls Agnes by her classic fairy tale name. From there, the movie more or less follows the beloved story we’ve all heard a million times before, but like the original Brothers Grimm version, it’s much more gruesome than anything Disney ever put to screen. As you might be able to tell from that brief plot synopsis, The Ugly Stepsister is essentially a cinematic takedown of our culture’s obsession with physical beauty and the dangerous pressure this preoccupation puts on women. The film shows just how harmful (and, ultimately, empty) it can be to pursue a perfect figure and a flawlessly sculpted face, and we Catholics should be totally on board with that message. As Scripture famously says, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (Proverbs 31:30). But a movie can’t get by on its message alone. It also has to bring its deeper themes to life with an engaging story, and on that count, The Ugly Stepsister shines. To begin, lead star Lea Myren gives a stunningly committed performance as Elvira. The character goes through a number of ups and downs in the course of her quest to catch the prince’s attention, and Myren totally nails every single one of them. When we first meet the young woman, she has a wide-eyed wonder and naivete that’ll instantly win you over, and when Elvira begins to go through her horrific procedures, Myren doesn’t miss a beat. She makes you believe every ounce of pain and discomfort her character experiences, so you’ll have no problem understanding exactly what this movie is trying to say. On top of featuring an excellent lead performance, The Ugly Stepsister also totally nails its fairy tale vibe. Everything you see on screen–from the sets to the costumes and even the old-timey plastic surgery–are crafted to Victorian-era perfection, and the score often has an ethereal, almost dream-like quality to it. That pitch-perfect combination transports you to a fantastical land where fairy godmothers really do exist and pumpkins really can turn into coaches, so despite taking an unconventional approach to its source material, this film still retains the sense of timeless magic and wonder that makes stories like “Cinderella” so enduringly popular. Last but not least, we have to talk a bit about the horror. In typical body horror fashion, The Ugly Stepsister doesn’t try to scare you. Rather, its main goal is to make you squirm as the lead character undergoes a series of grotesque bodily transformations, and it gets the job done. Don't get me wrong, this movie isn’t nearly as gruesome as last year’s body horror sensation The Substance, but it has its moments. For instance, there’s a scene where Elvira gets eyelash extensions stitched into her eyelids, and even though we’re only shown a small part of the procedure, the little bit we do see is just as hard to watch as it sounds. Similarly, one of the final shots involves Elvira’s mouth, and without giving anything away, let’s just say that it’s one of the most sneakily disgusting scenes in recent memory. Much like in The Substance, that repulsive horror serves to hammer home the film’s message about the pursuit of beauty, and as I’m sure you can tell, it’s quite effective. All that being said, The Ugly Stepsister does have one flaw that bears mentioning. The movie features a few nude shots (both male and female) that don't seem to have any real purpose other than shock value, and that bummed me out. I’d expect more from a film that so purposely wields its horror as a tool of social criticism, so even though two or three moments by no means ruin the entire experience, they stick out all the more when surrounded by such meaningful grotesquerie. But if I'm being honest, I can't complain too much. Despite its imperfections, the good in this movie still vastly outweighs the bad, so I'm happy to report that The Ugly Stepsister lives up to the hype. It's one of the best films of the year so far, and if you can handle squirm-inducing body horror, I think you’re going to enjoy this new take on the classic Cinderella story. If you’re a movie fan, you know how revenge flicks usually go. Whether it’s John Wick, Kill Bill, The Crow, or anything else in this genre, they all follow the same basic formula. A character lives a (mostly) normal, happy life; someone wrongs him; and the protagonist wreaks bloody vengeance against his enemies. It’s the same story every time, so when you sit down to watch a revenge film, you generally know what to expect.
But when you watch Oldboy, you can throw those expectations out the window. Sure, the movie follows the typical genre blueprint for most of its runtime, but the third act turns that template completely on its head. Oldboy actually ends up being an anti-revenge film, so it provides an important counterbalance to the movies that typically populate this genre. It tells us in no uncertain terms that vengeance is wrong, so let’s take a deep dive into this Korean cult classic and see just how it conveys its important message. Setting the Stage When Oldboy begins, its protagonist, Oh Dae-su, leads a relatively unremarkable life. He’s a businessman with a wife and daughter, but soon after we first meet him, his entire existence gets upended in just about the worst way possible. The night of his daughter’s fourth birthday, the guy is kidnapped and thrown into a sealed hotel room, and he’s forced to stay there for fifteen years. During his entire captivity, Dae-su never learns who locked him up or why, and he has no contact with the outside world other than a small television that helps keep him sane. Unfortunately, that TV isn’t quite enough, so he teaches himself martial arts by practicing against a wall in his hotel room. He also tries to dig his way out of this unconventional prison, but before he can complete his tunnel, his captor suddenly lets him go. Somewhat surprisingly, Dae-su still doesn’t know who this mysterious kidnapper is even after he's freed, but he’s determined to find out. He meets and falls in love with a beautiful sushi chef named Mi-do, and together, they slowly track down the man who took fifteen years of Dae-su’s life. The guy wants his revenge, and nothing is going to stand in his way. That’s the basic setup of Oldboy, and as I’m sure you can tell, it’s pretty standard for the revenge genre. It’s basically John Wick with a fifteen-year imprisonment instead of a dead dog, so the first time you watch this film, you’d be forgiven for expecting Dae-su to get the vengeance he so desperately seeks. And if you dig a little bit deeper, you'll also find some subtler clues that Oldboy is going to follow the typical vengeance blueprint. For starters, when Dae-su is finally freed from his captivity, he looks like a legit action hero. Everything about the guy, from his hair to his clothes to the way he carries himself, gives off an unmistakable, almost tangible aura that can only be described as BA, and I don't mean bachelor of arts. It’s tough to put it into words if you’ve never seen the movie, but when you watch it, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. You just know Dae-su is a dangerous man, and when he finally gets to show off his fighting skills, he does not disappoint. He plows through numerous enemies multiple times, so there’s no doubt in your mind that he’s the real deal. He proves himself more than capable of completing his mission, so you have every reason to believe he actually will. Turning the Tables But surprisingly, Oldboy doesn’t turn out that way. Like I said before, this ends up being an anti-revenge film, and it conveys that unexpected message in a number of ways. To see how, let’s begin with Dae-su’s mysterious tormentor. Our protagonist eventually learns that he was kidnapped by a man named Lee Woo-jin, an old classmate of his, and he also finds out why Woo-jin had him locked up for fifteen years. Back when these men were in school, Dae-su saw Woo-jin committing incestuous acts with his sister, and after he told one of his friends about it, rumors and gossip about the incestuous couple began to circulate among their fellow students. This eventually led Woo-jin’s sister to commit suicide, and as you might be able to guess, Woo-jin blamed the poor girl’s death on the kid who saw them. Even as an adult, he still harbored a grudge against Dae-su, so he used his considerable wealth to get revenge. He had the man kidnapped and locked away for over a decade, and that raises serious moral questions for us viewers. For most of Oldboy, we see Dae-su as the good guy and Woo-jin as the bad guy, but they’re essentially two sides of the same coin. They’re both seeking vengeance for egregious wrongs they’ve suffered, so if Dae-su is justified in his quest for revenge, Woo-jin must be as well. But anybody who’s seen Oldboy knows that can’t be right. Woo-jin is indisputably evil, so there’s really only one conclusion we can draw. We’re forced to acknowledge that vengeance itself is wrong, so even though we initially sympathized with Dae-su, we have no choice but to admit that his pursuit of vengeance is just as indefensible as Woo-jin’s. What Really Matters That’s already enough to make Oldboy an anti-revenge film, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. The real point of this story comes later on, when Dae-su confronts his tormentor for the last time. He finds out that his girlfriend, Mi-do, is actually his long-lost daughter and that Woo-jin had them both hypnotized so they would fall in love with each other. It’s a disgusting turn of events you almost certainly didn’t see coming, and when Dae-su learns this appalling truth, Woo-jin threatens to have one of his men tell Mi-do as well. That threat takes all the fight out of Dae-su, and he immediately forgets about his pursuit of vengeance. The man drops to his knees and begs forgiveness for what he did all those years ago, and he asks Woo-jin to spare Mi-do the burden of this horrible knowledge. He even acts like a dog and cuts his tongue off as a gruesome penance, and to his relief, Woo-jin eventually accepts his apology. On the surface, this grisly third act may seem like little more than an exercise in gratuitous repulsiveness, but upon deeper reflection, we find that it's actually incredibly meaningful. See, before learning the truth about his relationship with Mi-do, Dae-su was consumed by his quest for vengeance. At one point in Oldboy, he even tells Mi-do that he can’t abandon his mission, saying, “Seeking revenge has become a part of me.” However, once the woman he loves is put in danger, Dae-su shows that he actually can let it go. He realizes that protecting Mi-do in the present is more important than seeking revenge for the wrongs of the past, and that realization holds an important lesson for us as well. Like all evil, the pursuit of vengeance can become addictive, but it has an antidote: love. In other words, Dae-su’s story doesn’t just tell us that revenge is wrong. It also highlights a much greater good that’s infinitely more deserving of our time and effort. Oldboy shows us that caring for our loved ones is unquestionably more important than getting back at the people who’ve hurt us, so despite wearing the trappings of a typical revenge flick, this is actually a deep and thematically rich anti-revenge film. |
Jp Nunezis a longtime film buff and theology nerd with master's degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His favorite movie genres are horror, superheroes, and giant monsters. Archives
July 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed