25 | May | 2021 | Movie Reviews 101

Director: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen

Writer: Dan Berk, Robert Olsen (Screenplay)

Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Maika Monroe, Blake Baumgartner, Jeffrey Donovan, Kyra Sedgwick, Noah Robbins

Plot: After a pair of amateur criminals break into a suburban home, they stumble upon a dark secret that two sadistic homeowners will do anything to keep from getting out.

Tagline – Two bad people are about to meet two worse people.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Villains starts when stoner criminals Mickey (Skarsgard) and Jules (Monroe) rob their latest gas station, they end up breaking down on a remote road, leading to them finding a home with a daughter Sweetiepie (Baumgartner) chained in the basement. When the homeowners George (Donovan) and Gloria (Sedgwick) arrive home.

Once George and Gloria gain control of the situation, they need up looking for ways to get rid of the problem in what becomes a battle to survive between the two couples.

Thoughts on Villains

Thoughts – Villains puts two couples in a cat-n-mouse battle that will see the older sadistic couple controlling the reckless younger couple in a battle of wits to survive. This is one of those films that will give us two couple that are both annoying to watch, the young couple are just stoner thieves who you don’t care about, while the older couple are committing a worse crime, but have a better plan on each decision. Seeing the two look to outsmart each other does work well for the film, but never makes us care which ones comes out on top, as long as the little girl becomes safe, even if the film does hint at something much more important about what she is where she is. The performances are strong, with Skarsgard and Monroe filling the carefree characters well, Donovan being calm and calculated, while Sedgwick always feels unstable. The film keeps the singular setting, which is a remote house in the woodland area, helping show us just how twisted the older couples’ plans are.

Villains is an easy to watch horror comedy, but it does fall short of the comedy it wants to be, with the failure to create interesting characters.

This movie is under Y because of the star of the movie Koji Yakusho.

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda

Writer: Hirokazu Koreeda (Screenplay)

Starring: Masaharu Fukuyama, Koji Yakusho, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Mikako Ichikawa, Izumi Matsouka, Suzu Hirose

Plot: A courtroom drama centered around the murder of a factory president.

Runtime: 2 Hours 4 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Intriguing Mystery

Story: The Third Murder starts when Misumi (Yakusho) kills his factory manager, he confesses to the crime and is getting ready for his trial when lawyer Shigemori (Fukuyama) starts looking into the case, learning that the wife of the victim asked Misumi to commit the murder.

The deeper Shigemori looks into the past of Misumi, the more he learns about the man that was arrested 30-years-ago for murder, in a case which was solved, only it doesn’t seem to make sense either, if there more to his motivation than just murder?

Thoughts on The Third Murder

Characters – Shigemori is the lawyer that is handling the case, which seems cut and dry, the confession to murder is simple enough, what he must prove it motivation, trying to understand why this crime was committed and learning from people in Misumi’s life will help him understand this. He never gets let be in control of the case he is trying in court. Misumi is the man who murdered the factory manager, he has confessed to this crime, only he claims to have a motive which will put the focus away from him receiving the death penalty. He always seems to have something new to add to the interactions with Shigemori. Sakie is the daughter of the victim, who might well be throwing the case into a new direction, one that hasn’t been seen coming for either side of the lawyers.

Performances – The three lead performances in this film are wonderful, with the strong lawyer figure from Masaharu Fukuyama, to the potential killer in Koji Yakusho and the broken young woman Suzu Hirose, each shine in their parts through this film.

Story – The story here follows a court case, which seems like it is just going to be about whether the murderer gets the death penalty or not, only to turn into a bigger case, that even questions whether he did it or not. When it comes to the old court case stories, they will always be a big draw for me, with how there could well be an outcome that goes against what most people in the story are expecting, with this being no exception, it does keep leave the twists coming and does feel like it always has one more to give us, which is just how we like the mystery story to unfold.

Crime/Mystery – The crime in this film focuses on what has been committed, while slowly branching out into a bigger mystery about what has happened, which plays out like a mystery we are left to see unfold before our eyes.

Settings – The film uses the court room setting well, while also using the interviewing room and different locations from the life of the characters to understand the truth.

Scene of the Movie – The truth.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – One too many attempts for a twist.

Final Thoughts – This is an interesting mystery thriller that does play into the court room drama that leaves you wanting to learn the truth of the case.

Overall: Great Courtroom Drama