• Have something to say? Register Now! and be posting in minutes!

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

MilkSpiller22

Gorilla
33,626
6,376
533
Joined
Apr 18, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 89,217.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Clue is purely a comedy and I wouldn't put it in the same league, either, but the start of Bad Times is set up in the same way. They're totally different movies, though.

Anyways, I was expecting a complex puzzle that fits together in a satisfying way with some funny or crazy dialogue peppered in somewhere. The problem is that it isn't a complex puzzle. Its a MacGuffin movie. Its about the individual character motivations and they're all totally different and 2 of the 3 MacGuffin's end up getting completely steamrolled by the plot.

What you're left with is one meaningful character arc: Darlene Sweet, the singer. Her major problem is racism. She has talent. She can sing. She lets the movie know this for long stretches. Her duality is that she wears a wig? But she is still attractive but it shows that she is willing to play the game for success. Her major choice is to figure out if she is going to shoot the only guy thats been kind to her and take the money. She gets talked out of it because she wouldn't get away with it. So not really a moral choice. She then gets tied up like everyone else because thats what this movie does. She then escapes because she was really, really lucky. She gets her money and gets to sing because she now knows that she doesn't need the money. The end.

Not the most satisfying arc ever in a movie about morality but we get a happy ending. All of the other arcs were butchered. The Cop and the Military Guy's arc were so small that they probably should've been the same character. The movie really wanted the scene where Hamm gets the shotgun blast at the same time as the Military Guy. Its a dumb scene. The cop breaks into the room, disposes of the threat, unties the victim, the threat while in the same room gets up and kills him. Thats just daft. Not only is it ridiculous for Hamm to not notice the threat moving around but its ridiculous that the movie needs the victim untied to continue the plot.

I could go into more of the movie but the movie is so long that its really difficult to break down why I didn't like it. I just wanted to show that I've seen the movie. Omar's criticism seems very vague.


your analysis is way too much for me... But for the most part I agree... I also think they needed to kill off the "priest" if they wanted it to be a good movie... The irony of it would have been a redeeming part... How he worked so hard to get the money, but died before he could use any of it...
 

Clayton

Well-Known Member
36,336
9,900
533
Joined
May 17, 2012
Hoopla Cash
$ 9,000.59
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
your analysis is way too much for me... But for the most part I agree... I also think they needed to kill off the "priest" if they wanted it to be a good movie... The irony of it would have been a redeeming part... How he worked so hard to get the money, but died before he could use any of it...
I think the movie would've been much better if they either ditched the Hoover stuff or the Cult stuff and then focused more on whatever they kept.

I think the Cult plotline was stronger but Hemsworth was miscast (imo) and the solution to have the cult easily dispatched by one military badass really made the whole threat seem a little silly. Hemworth's speech with the fire about how you shouldn't play the game because its rigged and then later making Dakota Johnson choose Red or Black seemed like it should've had more weight to it. When she dies, you're just left not caring about her character at all. She is just a domino that falls.
 

moxie

Polite as fuck.
42,496
24,706
1,033
Joined
Jul 2, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 5,538.64
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Must.Not.Click. SPOILERS!!

20fC.gif
 

chf

Well-Known Member
6,945
1,077
173
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Location
Calgary
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Clue is purely a comedy and I wouldn't put it in the same league, either, but the start of Bad Times is set up in the same way. They're totally different movies, though.

Anyways, I was expecting a complex puzzle that fits together in a satisfying way with some funny or crazy dialogue peppered in somewhere. The problem is that it isn't a complex puzzle. Its a MacGuffin movie. Its about the individual character motivations and they're all totally different and 2 of the 3 MacGuffin's end up getting completely steamrolled by the plot.

What you're left with is one meaningful character arc: Darlene Sweet, the singer. Her major problem is racism. She has talent. She can sing. She lets the movie know this for long stretches. Her duality is that she wears a wig? But she is still attractive but it shows that she is willing to play the game for success. Her major choice is to figure out if she is going to shoot the only guy thats been kind to her and take the money. She gets talked out of it because she wouldn't get away with it. So not really a moral choice. She then gets tied up like everyone else because thats what this movie does. She then escapes because she was really, really lucky. She gets her money and gets to sing because she now knows that she doesn't need the money. The end.

Not the most satisfying arc ever in a movie about morality but we get a happy ending. All of the other arcs were butchered. The Cop and the Military Guy's arc were so small that they probably should've been the same character. The movie really wanted the scene where Hamm gets the shotgun blast at the same time as the Military Guy. Its a dumb scene. The cop breaks into the room, disposes of the threat, unties the victim, the threat while in the same room gets up and kills him. Thats just daft. Not only is it ridiculous for Hamm to not notice the threat moving around but its ridiculous that the movie needs the victim untied to continue the plot.

I could go into more of the movie but the movie is so long that its really difficult to break down why I didn't like it. I just wanted to show that I've seen the movie. Omar's criticism seems very vague.

Just because the characters fail, it doesn't make their arc(s) meaningless. You can't have them all around to either succeed or fail at the climax.

And I think everything kinda depends on your perspective. For characters who aren't going to be around at the end, the writer and director give a shit ton of material for both the cop and the military guy to use.

And I disagree that it's a Maguffin movie. The characters that fail, fail BECAUSE of the actions of the other characters.

That I didn't KNOW all the motivations of those other characters through the whole movie made it MORE enjoyable for me, not less.

YRMV.
 

chf

Well-Known Member
6,945
1,077
173
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Location
Calgary
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
your analysis is way too much for me... But for the most part I agree... I also think they needed to kill off the "priest" if they wanted it to be a good movie... The irony of it would have been a redeeming part... How he worked so hard to get the money, but died before he could use any of it...

That's kinda the point of the movie though, there's not necessarily going to be redemption or justice, at least for a bunch of them. Some might get a BIT of redemption or justice.

I loved the ambiguity, again, YRMV.
 

Clayton

Well-Known Member
36,336
9,900
533
Joined
May 17, 2012
Hoopla Cash
$ 9,000.59
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
The characters that fail, fail BECAUSE of the actions of the other characters. That I didn't KNOW all the motivations of those other characters through the whole movie made it MORE enjoyable for me, not less.

YRMV.
I can see this being the main factor as to whether or not you like the movie. To me it felt like the movie didn't respect my time as an audience member. I was watching scenes again to see them from a different viewpoint and i didn't feel like I was getting enough out of it to matter. Almost like watching a Call of Duty game. Just images of people moving to a condition and getting ambushed. Someone gets tied up, someone else escapes, we get a flashback. Then someone gets tied up, someone else escapes, we get a flashback. Then someone gets tied up, a couple of characters escape and we have an ending.

My favorite scene
is when the military guy is tied up and is begging for his life No Country For Old Men style. The crazy girl says their names and everyone realizes that he needs to die. I also like the scene where Jeff Bridges is tied up and loses his memory. Great acting in both scenes by all people.
 

chf

Well-Known Member
6,945
1,077
173
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Location
Calgary
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I can see this being the main factor as to whether or not you like the movie. To me it felt like the movie didn't respect my time as an audience member. I was watching scenes again to see them from a different viewpoint and i didn't feel like I was getting enough out of it to matter. Almost like watching a Call of Duty game. Just images of people moving to a condition and getting ambushed. Someone gets tied up, someone else escapes, we get a flashback. Then someone gets tied up, someone else escapes, we get a flashback. Then someone gets tied up, a couple of characters escape and we have an ending.

My favorite scene
is when the military guy is tied up and is begging for his life No Country For Old Men style. The crazy girl says their names and everyone realizes that he needs to die. I also like the scene where Jeff Bridges is tied up and loses his memory. Great acting in both scenes by all people.

But that was the cool part of it, was that each time they flashed back, something MORE was revealed. There was a sci-fi movie on a train with the same conceit a number of years back, and I was worried early on in 'Bad Times,' that it was going to be the same, repeated ground for very little payoff.

Except I thought this one did a fantastic job of making sure you DID get new info, or stuff made different sense when seen from that new perspective. So the character of the bellboy takes on a whole different meaning in the flashbacks, when you understand what role he plays in the hotel.

I thought it was cool the way that each of the characters had these decisions to make about what kinds of people they were, but even if they made the 'good' choice, that was no guarantee that they'd get a good outcome.

Take the older sister. She makes a decision to trust the younger sister, because that's the 'better' choice. Ooops. She should, in hindsight, have not trusted her at all. Because sis makes the phone call that gets them both killed. The singer same deal, she has her crossroads moment when she can take off and escape, and she stays, because that's the RIGHT thing to do. Her outcome, while better, still isn't great.
 

Clayton

Well-Known Member
36,336
9,900
533
Joined
May 17, 2012
Hoopla Cash
$ 9,000.59
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
But that was the cool part of it, was that each time they flashed back, something MORE was revealed. There was a sci-fi movie on a train with the same conceit a number of years back, and I was worried early on in 'Bad Times,' that it was going to be the same, repeated ground for very little payoff.

Except I thought this one did a fantastic job of making sure you DID get new info, or stuff made different sense when seen from that new perspective. So the character of the bellboy takes on a whole different meaning in the flashbacks, when you understand what role he plays in the hotel.

I thought it was cool the way that each of the characters had these decisions to make about what kinds of people they were, but even if they made the 'good' choice, that was no guarantee that they'd get a good outcome.

Take the older sister. She makes a decision to trust the younger sister, because that's the 'better' choice. Ooops. She should, in hindsight, have not trusted her at all. Because sis makes the phone call that gets them both killed. The singer same deal, she has her crossroads moment when she can take off and escape, and she stays, because that's the RIGHT thing to do. Her outcome, while better, still isn't great.
Just curious, but have you seen the movie "Cube (1997)"?
 

chf

Well-Known Member
6,945
1,077
173
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Location
Calgary
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Nope. A little too horror for my tastes (having just now watched the trailer). I DID see the sociological version of that movie just a few weeks back on cable - bunch of people hired to work in a skyscraper in South America, then the building gets blockaded by security folks, and they start killing people off until the people inside agree to play the 'game,' essentially seeing who will be the last alive.

The Belko Experiment

The Belko Experiment (2016) - IMDb
 

calsnowskier

Sarcastic F-wad
59,133
15,584
1,033
Joined
Aug 11, 2010
Location
San Diego
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,400.09
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Just curious, but have you seen the movie "Cube (1997)"?
Cube was great. Total unknown movie with a tiny budget that hit on every level. The sequels weren’t as good, but still decent.
 

Clayton

Well-Known Member
36,336
9,900
533
Joined
May 17, 2012
Hoopla Cash
$ 9,000.59
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Nope. A little too horror for my tastes (having just now watched the trailer). I DID see the sociological version of that movie just a few weeks back on cable - bunch of people hired to work in a skyscraper in South America, then the building gets blockaded by security folks, and they start killing people off until the people inside agree to play the 'game,' essentially seeing who will be the last alive.

The Belko Experiment

The Belko Experiment (2016) - IMDb
It's actually a little different than Belko experiment. My memory is a little fuzzy because I haven't seen it in twenty years but I suspect that you might like it.
 

chf

Well-Known Member
6,945
1,077
173
Joined
Aug 15, 2014
Location
Calgary
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Thanks for the suggestion. If I run across it, I'll check it out. I'd never even heard of it though, so I may have to search out some online sites or something.
 

calsnowskier

Sarcastic F-wad
59,133
15,584
1,033
Joined
Aug 11, 2010
Location
San Diego
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,400.09
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Thanks for the suggestion. If I run across it, I'll check it out. I'd never even heard of it though, so I may have to search out some online sites or something.
It was kinda Saw before Saw was Saw.
 

night

Undocumented PhD
25,165
6,243
533
Joined
Jul 2, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 2,109.09
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I give this one 2/5 stars. The set up was great while the ending was really disappointing.

It seemed more like an excuse to have a shirtless Chris Hemsworth rather than the tie the plot of the conspiracy together.
 

TemptressToo

The Godmother
2,222
1,365
173
Joined
Oct 3, 2016
Location
Somewhere
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,242.61
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Watched it last night and enjoyed it. It was entertaining and sometimes that is enough for me.

Had the agent just listened to J. Edgar, much of the movie wouldn't have happened, which was the point I suppose.

I didn't see the sharpshooter angle coming until they did the flashback series.

Overall, I'd watch again. Can't say that with too many movies these days.
 

BigFin

Well-Known Member
4,004
1,364
173
Joined
Nov 11, 2015
Location
Corpus Christi, TX
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I really enjoyed the misdirection when the boy made himself out to be some psychopathic murder and an evil human being, but was a shellshock Vietnam vet.
 

Blackshirts BLVD

Well-Known Member
8,591
3,083
293
Joined
Feb 12, 2018
Location
Nebraska
Hoopla Cash
$ 2,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Fantastic movie. 8/10 maybe 8.5/10.

Now I did read peoples reviews on here prior to watching. So I suppose there is a chance that I went in with low expectations, but I honestly enjoyed it and thought it was a very beautiful movie.
 
Top