The Woman King is a 2022 American fiction historical action drama film about the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. Set in the 1820s, the film stars Viola Davis as a general who trains the next generation of warriors to fight their enemies. I am going to however, start of my review with a little bit of history about the Agojie so that the readers can separate the fact from fiction, most importantly that no woman general was crowned as the “Woman King” during the reign of Ghezo.

The Agojie or the Dahomey Amazons were the only female army in modern history and were given the name Amazons by Western Europeans who encountered them, based on the story of the female warriors of Amazons in Greek mythology. Ghezo (King of the Dahomey from 1818 to 1859) recruited both men and women as soldiers from foreign captives. Female soldiers were also recruited from free Dahomean women, with some enrolled from as young as eight years of age. Membership among the Agojie was supposed to hone any aggressive character traits for the purpose of war. During their membership they were not allowed to have children or be part of married life (though they were legally married to the king). Many of them were virgins. The Agojie trained with intense physical exercise. They learned survival skills and indifference to pain and death, storming acacia-thorn defences in military exercises and executing prisoners. Discipline was emphasized throughout the Agojie. Serving in the Agojie offered women the opportunity to rise to positions of command and influence.

The movie begins in the West African kingdom of Dahomey in 1823, where General Nanisca, leader of the all-female group of warriors, the Agojie, liberates Dahomean women who were abducted by slavers from the Oyo Empire. This provokes King Ghezo of Dahomey to prepare for an all-out war with the Oyo. Nanisca begins to train a new generation of warriors to join the Agojie to protect the kingdom. Among these warriors is Nawi, a strong-willed girl who was offered by her father to the king after refusing to marry men who would beat her. Nawi befriends Izogie, a veteran Agojie. She also reveals to Nanisca that she is adopted and shows a scar on her left shoulder, shocking Nanisca.

Portuguese slave traders led by Santo Ferreira and accompanied by the half-Dahomean Malik arrive as part of an alliance with the Oyo, led by General Oba Ade. Nawi encounters Malik while the latter is bathing, and the two become friends. Shortly after graduating from training to become a full-fledged Agojie, Nawi sneaks off to speak with Malik and learns that the Oyo are planning to attack. She reports this to Nanisca, who tells her off for her recklessness. Nanisca reveals that in her youth, she was captured by Oba, raped, and impregnated. After giving birth to a daughter, Nanisca embedded a shark tooth in her left shoulder before giving her away. Nanisca helps Nawi extract the tooth, confirming that she is her biological daughter.

Nanisca leads the Agojie in an attack on the Oyo. The attack is successful, but Oba escapes and Nawi, Fumbe and Izogie are captured. With Nawi’s advice, Fumbe escapes and reports the others’ fate to Nanisca. Ghezo prepares to bestow the title of Woman King, his partner and equal in ruling Dahomey, upon Nanisca, but refuses to authorize a rescue mission for the captive Agojie. Meanwhile, Izogie is killed in an escape attempt and Malik buys Nawi to protect her. Nanisca defies orders and sets out with a group of like-minded warriors to rescue the captives. The chaos allows Nawi to escape and rejoin Nanisca. Malik frees several other slaves who drown Ferreira, and Nanisca kills Oba in single combat. The triumphant Agojie return to Dahomey, where Ghezo privately and briefly admonishes Nanisca for disobeying him, before crowning her the Woman King. After the festivities, Nanisca and Nawi privately acknowledge their familial relationship.

Alright so we covered the plot. Let us now see what works for the film and what does not. Viola Davis as General Nanisca is brilliant. John Boyega as King Ghezo is not. He portrays Ghezo as effeminate and a weak leader who is dependent on Nanisca for his success whereas historically it was not so. Perhaps the director needed to make the King effeminate to enhance the sense of awe around the fictional character of Nanisca. Perhaps it is just one of the several subtle attacks of masculinity in the wake of “#metoo”. Anyways, the fictional General Nanisca is portrayed by Viola Davis really well. She brings a sense of authority and believability to the character. She is also an actress who can portray emotions really well. Thuso Mbedu is another success as Nawi, a young Agojie and Nanisca’s daughter. She plays her part to perfection and has a strong screen presence. Sheila Atim and Lashana Lynch play the androgynous Agojie Amenza and Izogie quite well, although, they were probably chosen due to their distinct masculine features and lack of feminity which would suit the Agojie well.

The action sequences are well crafted and the cultural features of the Dahomey Kingdom along with the training rituals of the Agojie are captured well. The story keeps you invested though is let down by the poorly portrayed male characters.

JAY’S VERDICT

An entertaining movie, which looks at an ignored historical women-dominated fighting army, held together by the brilliant Viola Davis.

Who could have imagined a murdered dog would cause so much mayhem and four brilliant movies? John Wick: Chapter 4 is a 2023 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Chad Stahelski. It stars Keanu Reeves, as the protagonist John Wick who is a one-man demolition crew seeking revenge on the High Table and those who left him for dead at the end of John Wick 3 – Parabellum.

In New York City, John Wick prepares to exact revenge against the High Table while hiding underground with the Bowery King. He travels to Morocco and kills the Elder, the “one who sits above the Table“. In response, the Marquis Vincent de Gramont (played by Bill Skarsgård), a senior member of the High Table, summons New York Continental hotel manager Winston and his concierge, Charon.

De Gramont explains to Winston that the High Table has given him unlimited resources to find and kill John Wick. He chastises Winston for his failure to assassinate John. As punishment, De Gramont strips Winston of his duties as manager, declares him “excommunicado“, destroys the Continental, and executes Charon (sadly Lance Reddick who played the character died in real life too). De Gramont then travels to Paris and enlists Caine – a blind, retired High Table assassin – to kill his old friend John, threatening to murder Caine’s daughter otherwise.

John takes refuge at the Osaka Continental, run by his friend Shimazu Koji (played by Hiroyuki Sanada who is Hollywood’s go-to guy for basically any Japanese character who is not good enough to be the main hero but good enough to help out the white hero). De Gramont’s right-hand man Chidi, backed by High Table assassins and Caine, arrives to investigate the hotel. Shimazu’s daughter Akira, the hotel’s concierge, evacuates the hotel just before the High Table “deconsecrates” it, igniting a melee. John fights through waves of armored assassins, and a showdown with Caine is interrupted by a bounty hunter who calls himself “Mr. Nobody“. He aids in John’s escape after determining the contract money for killing John to be insufficient. Caine allows a wounded Akira to flee after killing her father. The action sequence at Osaka Continental is one of the best of the John Wick series.

John returns to New York and meets with a vengeful Winston at Charon’s gravesite. Winston advises John to invoke an old High Table tradition and challenge De Gramont to a duel. Winning will free him of all obligations to the High Table. The caveat is that John can only request a duel on behalf of a crime family. He travels to the Berlin headquarters of Ruska Roma, with whom he had severed ties, to request readmission. His adoptive sister Katia (Natalia Tena who played Tonks in the Harry Potter series) with slimy black hair that would Severus Snape to shame, allows John to rejoin in exchange for killing Killa, a High Table senior who murdered her father. Although Killa sets up an ambush at his nightclub, John still manages to kill him (in an unbelievably brutal fight) and regain his status within Ruska Roma. Killa is played by Scott Adkins of Undisputed fame and apparently is wearing a fat suit or some of the blubber left from Brendan Fraser’s costume from The Whale.

Winston relays John’s formal challenge to De Gramont. He requests the New York Continental be rebuilt, with him reinstated as manager, should John win. In Paris, John and De Gramont decide the parameters of their duel in a meeting moderated by the Harbinger, the Table’s emissary. De Gramont nominates a reluctant Caine to fight in his place. The duel is to take place with dueling pistols on the following sunrise at Sacré-Cœur; John and Winston will be executed should either fail to appear on time. The Bowery King arrives in Paris to give John a weapon and a new ballistic suit.

De Gramont intends to prevent John from arriving at the duel in time by placing a $26 million bounty on him. John fights off hordes of assassins on his way to Sacré-Cœur, including Mr. Nobody, who negotiates a bounty increase to $40 million. During their confrontation, John prevents Chidi from killing Mr. Nobody’s dog; a stunned Mr. Nobody decides to abandon his pursuit of John, and subsequently kills Chidi. After Caine and Mr. Nobody assist John in traversing a long staircase that leads to Sacré-Cœur, they reach the summit just in time for the duel. Each inflicts serious wounds on the other through two rounds of dueling. The third round comes to a halt when Caine mortally wounds John. Demanding the right to administer the coup de grace, De Gramont eagerly swaps places with Caine. However, John had not fired his third bullet, with which he shoots and kills an unsuspecting De Gramont.

The Harbinger grants Caine and John their freedom from the High Table, and Winston is reinstated. After collapsing on the staircase, John reflects upon his life and marriage before peacefully succumbing to his injuries. Sometime later, Winston and the Bowery King bid farewell to John at a gravesite where he is buried next to his late wife, Helen. In a post-credits scene, Caine returns to Paris to reunite with his daughter but is approached by the vengeful Akira. And there ends the tale of John Wick who murdered more than a five hundred people across 4 movies, to claim vengeance over his dead dog. Or does it? John Wick is too profitable a franchise to let go of, now that revenge has been taken. I have a strong feeling it will be one of those “faked deaths” that allows movie producers to conclude one movie but also revive characters to profit off another movie. Though talks of spin-offs are in play including a TV series about the Continentals and a movie called “Ballerina” releasing in 2024 about, you guessed it, a ballerina assassin. Well, after the success of John Wick, the studios had to go for a “woke” female driven version as always with anything these days in Hollywood. But let’s see if it achieves the success of John Wick. Anyways that’s my two cents so let’s discuss more about John Wick: Chapter 4.

Donnie Yen plays a blind assassin named Caine who fights better than most of the assassins with eyes. Scott Adkins was wasted in the fat suit cameo – one of the coolest martial arts performers is reduced to a caricature. Thankfully the ambush at the Berlin night club is swift and brutal. There isn’t much going on for either the Bowery King or Winston except for a few sentences here and there. Bill Skarsgård like all of John Wick’s antagonists isn’t as brutal or fearsome as the sidekicks but he plays his part well. The movie’s chief selling points are its action sequences which are brilliant and Keanu Reeves’s committed performance.

JAY’S VERDICT

The best John Wick movie yet and one of the best neo-noir action movies out there – a movie made for the big screen. Don’t wait for the streaming release.

Cocaine Bear is a 2023 American comedy horror film directed by Elizabeth Banks and loosely inspired by the true story of the “Cocaine Bear“, an American black bear that ingested nearly 75 lbs. (34 kg) of lost cocaine. The movie differs from reality in that there was no evidence of the real bear having ever killed anyone while the movie bear goes on a killing spree worthy of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The movie begins in 1985, drug smuggler Andrew C. Thornton II drops a shipment of cocaine from his plane. He attempts to parachute out with a drug-filled duffel bag, but knocks himself unconscious on the doorframe, causing him to fall to his death. His body lands in Knoxville, Tennessee where he is identified by Bob, (Isiah Whitlock Jr., of The Wire fame perfectly deadpan as ever but without the Sheeeeeeeeat) a local detective. He concludes that the cocaine is likely from a drug kingpin Syd White, and the rest of it is missing. Meanwhile, in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, an American black bear eats some of the cocaine, becoming highly aggressive and attacking two hikers, Elsa and Olaf, killing Elsa.

Meanwhile, a young girl called Dee Dee lives with her mother, Sari who is a nurse (lame names if I ever heard lamer). Dee Dee skips school with her best friend Henry in order to paint a picture of the falls in the forest. On the trail to the falls, the pair finds a lost brick of cocaine, and ingest some before they are attacked by the bear. Sari ventures into the forest to search for the kids with park ranger Liz and Peter, a wildlife activist. The three find Henry clinging to a tree, hiding from the bear. The bear attacks, sending Peter stumbling through a pile of cocaine and slashing Liz in the process. Attracted to a cocaine-coated Peter, the bear kills him, ignoring Henry. Sari and Henry flee deeper into the forest, and Liz sends for help.

The druglord Syd sends his fixer Daveed to recover the remaining cocaine. Daveed travels to Georgia with Eddie, Syd’s son, who has grown depressed following the death of his wife and has abandoned his own son with Syd. They arrive in Georgia, and so does Bob. At the forest station, Daveed gets into a fight with the delinquent gang, who cause trouble in the forest and beats the shit out of them. One of the members, Stache, takes Daveed and Eddie to recover some of the cocaine he stashed in a gazebo.

Liz arrives back at the station, pursued by the bear. Liz accidentally kills Ponytail, one of the teenage delinquents, before the bear slaughters Vest, the other one. Paramedics Beth and Tom arrive and collect Liz after a brief skirmish with the bear. They leave with Liz in an ambulance, but the bear pursues and jumps into the vehicle. In the ensuing chaos, Tom is killed by the bear, while Liz falls out of the ambulance and is crushed on the road. Beth loses control of the ambulance and crashes into a tree, causing her to fly through the windshield to her death. (A truly epic and hilarious sequence of events)

Sari and Henry meanwhile discover that Dee Dee left them a trail of paint, which they use to track her. Daveed and Eddie are taken to the gazebo, but find Bob there with the stashed duffel of cocaine. The bear appears but Bob distracts it with the bag of coke. Bob is suddenly shot fatally by Syd, who reveals that he is under pressure by his superiors to retrieve the cocaine. Sari and Henry find a mourning Olaf, who leads them to Dee Dee’s hiding place: the bear’s cave containing its two cubs, revealing that the bear is a mother. Olaf leaves and is killed by the bear. Syd, Eddie, and Daveed find the cave, which leads out to a ledge behind the falls.

The bear returns to the cave to defend her cubs. Sari, Henry, and Dee Dee jump into the water below to safety, followed by Eddie and Daveed – who have chosen to quit the drug business together, and they all survive. However, Syd refuses to leave the bag of cocaine found in the cave. He shoots and wounds the bear but is unsuccessful in killing it and is disemboweled by the bear and her cubs. Later, Stache hitchhikes to New York with a duffel bag of cocaine, while Eddie, accompanied by Daveed, reunites with his son.

The movie doesn’t really develop its characters. Even the bear comes off like a stereotype of a drug addict. It’s primarily a B-movie but it has no illusions about what it is. It is a silly movie but its entertaining. It has no aspirations for awards or for brilliant critical reviews – it is basically Sharknado with a bear. The movie manages to combine a realistic CGI bear, plenty of gore and chaos. The intersecting stories are engaging, with the ensemble cast catching the audience’s attention and maintaining a narrative thread throughout the film. Larger parts like Ranger Liz (Margo Martindale), Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich), Dentwood (Ray Liotta), and Bob (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) prove just as entertaining as more minor characters, like Scott Seiss’ EMT, who sweep in and out of the narrative quickly.

It is not “laugh out loud” funny but it has the humor imbedded within it. Cocaine Bear manages to be appealing thanks to its wacky, gore-ridden, escapism venture. Yet, the admirable performances and CGI elements cannot redeem the poor screenplay and minimal creativity taken with the plot and dialogue. A major warning sign is the lack of imagination in the title of the movie itself. Much of the joy of “Cocaine Bear” comes from the look of the bear itself, which is surprisingly high-tech for a cheesy, silly movie. The movie makers and the CGI studio have definitely amped up the movements and anthropomorphized the animal to a knowing extreme, but they achieve enough realism to make the bear’s attacks scary. You’ll laugh and squeal throughout, but you’ll also scream and squirm in disgust. The violence is often so graphic and so gory that those weak stomachs might even throw up their breakfast. Some of the gnarliest moments however, come not from the bear herself, but rather from all of the people being stupid and finding ways to get injured.

It is comparable to the 2006 Snakes on a Plane in its absurdity and animal mayhem but without Samuel Jackson providing frequent doses of “Motherf*****” every 5 minutes. Both movies do exactly what their titles suggest, without any desire to be more substantial or meaningful. Though the suspense that carries the film for the first two-thirds of its short running time dips as it nears its conclusion, “Cocaine Bear” still emerges as a hell of an adventure.

JAY’S VERDICT

Cocaine Bear is fun and stupid and entertains in a way that only silly movies do. Go check it out.

Bullet Train is a 2022 American action comedy film directed by David Leitch and features an ensemble cast, with Brad Pitt among the leads. Primarily, Brad Pitt plays a character called Ladybug, a former hitman who must battle fellow assassins while travelling on a bullet train.

The movie begins with Yuichi Kimura, “The Father”, boarding a bullet train in Tokyo in search of the attacker of his son Wataru. Meanwhile, guided by his handler Maria Beetle, operative “Ladybug” is assigned to retrieve a briefcase full of cash from the same train, replacing a sick colleague, Carver. Ladybug is reluctant, as his recent string of bad luck during his jobs resulted in accidental deaths. Also on the train are two English assassin brothers codenamed “Lemon” (Brian Tyree Henry) and “Tangerine” (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who just rescued a man (“The Son”) from kidnappers and are taking him and the briefcase to his father, a Russian-born Yakuza boss called “The White Death” (Michael Shannon).

As the trip begins, The Son is killed by poisoning. Ladybug meanwhile discreetly steals the briefcase, but on his way off the train, he is attacked by another assassin, codenamed “The Wolf”, who recognizes Ladybug from his wedding, where his wife was killed. The Wolf mistakenly believes Ladybug to be one of her killers. Ladybug confusedly fights The Wolf, who accidentally kills himself with a deflected knife throw. Yuichi finds the person who attacked Wataru, a young woman codenamed “The Prince”, but she overpowers him. She explains that she pushed Wataru off a roof to lure Yuichi to the train as part of a plan to have him kill the White Death. To ensure his cooperation, she has someone holding Wataru hostage in the hospital.

Ladybug’s misfortune continues. He recognizes Lemon from a job in Johannesburg gone wrong (where Lemon shot Ladybug), offers to return the case in exchange for being allowed to leave. Lemon suspects that Ladybug killed The Son, leading to a fight. Lemon is knocked unconscious during the fight, and privately discusses Ladybug’s innocence to Tangerine, before splitting off to find him and frame him for the Son’s murder. The Prince finds the briefcase, booby-traps it with explosives, and rigs Yuichi’s gun to explode if fired. Ladybug encounters Tangerine, and after avoiding the White Death’s men, kicks Tangerine off the train as the train departs, but he climbs back aboard from outside. Suspicious of the two, Lemon shoots Yuichi but collapses after drinking from a water bottle Ladybug had previously spiked with sleeping powder.

The Prince (played by Joey “King”) shoots Lemon and conceals him and Yuichi in a bathroom. Ladybug encounters yet another assassin, “The Hornet”, who poisoned the Son and Wolf’s wedding party with the venom of a boomslang snake. After a struggle, both are exposed to the venom, but only Ladybug receives an anti-venom that saves him. Tangerine runs into the Prince and notices one of Lemon’s train stickers on her, realizing that she shot Lemon. Ladybug interrupts them, and Tangerine is killed before he can shoot the Prince. At the next stop, Yuichi’s father, “The Elder”, boards the train. He recognizes the Prince and informs her that Wataru is safe, as the henchman has been killed by his guard. After she flees, the Elder tells Ladybug he will remain to confront the White Death, who killed his wife while taking over the Yakuza.

Finding Yuichi and Lemon still alive, the four work together to make preparations to face the White Death. At Kyoto, Ladybug gives the White Death the briefcase. The Prince, revealed to be the White Death’s daughter, fails to goad him into shooting her with the rigged gun. The White Death explains that everyone on the train was linked to the death of his wife. He hired them hoping they would kill each other, not knowing Carver was replaced by Ladybug. The White Death’s henchmen open the briefcase, which explodes, knocking Ladybug and the White Death back onto the train. The White Death’s remaining henchmen board and battle the assassins, while the Elder duels the White Death.

The train crashes into downtown Kyoto. Emerging from the wreck, impaled with the Elder’s katana, the White Death tries to kill Ladybug, but the rigged gun explodes in his face. The Prince threatens Ladybug, Yuichi, and the Elder with a machine gun but is run over by a fruit truck driven by Lemon, who fell off the train earlier. Maria arrives to retrieve Ladybug, while Japanese authorities begin to clean up the damage caused by the train crash.

The movie is full of violence, insane twists and a general lack of logic only found in the films starting with Fast & something. The cast is colorful in terms of the acting ability and their ability to entertain the audience. The story runs out of steam by the end but the action sequences and humor are enough to allow audiences to stay invested until the end. Almost all the actors bring their “A” game except Joey King and Andrew Koji, whose performances were forgettable. Sandra Bullock had a small role but seems like talent wasted in this movie.

The non-Asian casting especially Brad Pitt as Ladybug and Joey King as The Prince, unlike the Japanese characters in the original novel attracted criticism. The criticism makes sense had this movie been set in the U.S.A or Europe, the white characters might have made more sense. However, the original setting of Japan has been retained but the characters changed. So, regarding the criticism, I do believe Asian characters can lead a good story, like Shang-Chi and Crazy Rich Asians but in a movie like Bullet Train, which lacked a strong plot and relied more on the humor and the action sequences, Brad Pitt was a good choice and was quite entertaining in the role. Joey King’s performance was forgettable and could have been played by almost any one. The movie does have a lot of diversity with Black, Latin, White and Asian characters so it doesn’t fit into the usual “woke” criticism of movies.

JAY’S VERDICT

Bullet Train woke critics might complain about the “white-washing” but if you don’t get too upset about movie details and prefer to enjoy a great action comedy with some popcorn, go check this one out.

Top Gun: Maverick is a 2022 American action drama film directed by Joseph Kosinski. The film is a sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun. Tom Cruise reprises his starring role as the naval aviator Maverick. The film also stars Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris and Val Kilmer. In the film, Maverick confronts his past while training a group of younger Top Gun graduates, including the son of his deceased best friend, for a dangerous mission. In this one, we assume age and politics would finally bring an end to Maverick’s devil-may-care ways but as like the real person behind the character, Maverick/Tom Cruise forces us to eat our words.

More than 30 years after graduating from Top Gun, United States Navy Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is a test pilot. Despite many achievements, repeated insubordination has kept him from flag rank; his friend and former Top Gun rival, Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, now commander of the Pacific Fleet, often protects Maverick. After a test gone awry, Iceman again saves Maverick’s career by assigning him to the Top Gun school at NAS North Island for his next assignment, but not before Maverick is told by the Commander at the test school, that the era of manned fighter aircraft will soon be over.

Maverick is informed that the U.S. Navy has been tasked with destroying an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant before it becomes operational (in a country that is a mix of China/North Korea/Russia). It is located in an underground bunker at the end of a canyon. It is defended by surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), GPS jammers, and fifth-generation fighters (seemingly Su-57s) as well as older F-14 Tomcats (no idea how these countries got it). Maverick devises a plan employing two pairs of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets armed with laser-guided bombs, but instead of participating in the strike, he is to train an elite group of Top Gun graduates assembled by Air Boss Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson.

Maverick dogfights his skeptical students and prevails in every contest, winning their respect. Lieutenants Jake “Hangman” Seresin and Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw—son of Maverick’s dead best friend and RIO Nick “Goose” Bradshaw—clash: Rooster dislikes Hangman’s cavalier attitude, while Hangman criticizes Rooster’s cautious flying. Maverick reunites with former girlfriend Penny Benjamin (a completely pointless waste of Jennifer Connelly), to whom he reveals that he promised Rooster’s dying mother that Rooster would not become a pilot. Rooster, unaware of the promise, angrily resents Maverick for dropping his Naval Academy application—impeding his military career—and blames him for his father’s death.

Cyclone removes Maverick as instructor following a training incident in which an F/A-18F is lost. Cyclone relaxes the mission parameters, so they are easier to execute but make escape much more difficult. During Cyclone’s announcement, Maverick makes an unauthorized flight through the course with his preferred parameters, proving that it can be done. Cyclone reluctantly appoints Maverick as team leader. A tough mission follows which involves Maverick being shot down by a SAM, trying to save Rooster. Believing Maverick to be dead, the others are ordered back to the carrier, but Rooster returns to find that Maverick ejected and is being targeted by an Mi-24 attack helicopter. After destroying the gunship, Rooster is shot down by a SAM and ejects. The two rendezvous and steal an F-14 from the damaged air base. Maverick and Rooster destroy two intercepting Su-57s, but a third attacks as they run out of ammunition and countermeasures. Hangman arrives in time to shoot it down, and the planes return safely. We are then shown Rooster helping Maverick work on his P-51 Mustang. Rooster looks at a photo of their mission’s success, pinned alongside a photo of his late father and a young Maverick, as Penny and Maverick fly off in the P-51.

The movie works not because of the new characters but rather due to Tom Cruise’s infectious charisma. The new group of pilots have some interesting moments but Miles Teller as Rooster just comes off as grumpy and Glen Powell as ‘Hangman’ comes across as cocky without being able to back it up. Jennifer Connelly as Penelope is brought as a love interest as the love interest from the first Top Gun movie, Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood played by Kelly McGillis was unable to prevent ageing unlike Tom Cruise who along with Paul Rudd seem to have stumbled upon some “forever young” serum which they do not want to share with the rest of the world.

The action sequences are amazing and this is a movie that flourishes on the big screen. It is a movie made for the typical Hollywood “Action Hero” or the “Last Big Movie Star” and Tom Cruise fits in beautifully. The movie also focuses on entertainment as movies should and not the New Hollywood habit of going Über-Woke and squeezing diversity even when it is not required. Otherwise we might have seen Penelope’s daughter whining about the different genders she thinks she has or some other nonsensical trend emerging out of the United States. Even the feminism is shown as it should by women being treated as women and as equals and men not ashamed of their masculinity, in the name of the non-existent “toxic masculinity”. Top Gun: Maverick works because it celebrates masculinity and accepts as normal and something not be ashamed of as Netflix movies and Instagram woke-fluencers would have men be.

If there is a sequel to Top Gun: Maverick, I hope that the movie continues the tradition of wanting to entertain above everything else because that is and always will be the recipe for a mass entertainer. Hollywood – stop focusing on Tom Cruise’s idiotic religious beliefs and focus more on making good movies that entertain, like he almost always does instead of trying to squeeze in idiotic trends that barely affect anyone in the world except for some permanently offended folk in the United States.

JAY’S VERDICT

No movie of 2022 entertains the way Top Gun: Maverick does – watch it for the thrills, watch it for the action and watch it for the awesome Tom Cruise.

Kantara (transl. Mystical Forest) is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film written and directed by Rishab Shetty. The film stars Shetty as a Kambala champion who is at loggerheads with an upright forest officer, Murali (played by Kishore). However, the movie mixes mythology with present day corruption and greed. The mythology of the movie involves the depiction of the “Buta Kola” a ritual dance performance prevalent among the Hindus of Tulu Nadu and parts of Kasargod in northern Kerala, India.

According to the mythology, a wild boar perished in Lord Shiva’s pleasure garden. The young boar’s offspring was adopted by Goddess Parvati, the spouse of Lord Shiva. The young boar became destructive as he grew older and began destroying the plants and trees in Lord Shiva’s garden. Lord Shiva became upset by this and decided to kill him. Goddess Parvati, however, defended the boar and asked her husband to pardon him. So instead of killing him, Lord Shiva banished the boar to earth and tasked him with protecting the people of earth. This particular became a Bhoota (divine spirit) known as Panjurli – a spirit which is an important part of the film.

The movie begins in 1847, we are shown that there lived a king who had a great kingdom as well as a loving wife and child, but could not find peace and satisfaction. He sets out on a journey to discover true happiness and comes upon a stone in a forest occupied by Panjurli Daiva, the deity introduced earlier, that protects the villagers that reside in the forest. He donates vast amounts of his land to the villagers in exchange for taking the stone with him. Panjurli warns the king that his family and successors should keep their word and not reclaim the land, which will incur the wrath of Panjurli’s companion, the ferocious Guliga Daiva. Fast-forward to 1970, the King’s successor asks a Bhoota Kola performer, who is possessed by Panjurli to make the locals hand over the land to him, which the performer refuses and states he will die vomiting blood if he tries to. The successor raises doubt on performer’s possession by Panjurli, to which the performer replies he would vanish if he is possessed, after which he runs into the forest and is indeed never seen again. As warned, the king’s successor dies mysteriously, vomiting blood a few months later on the steps of the court, where he was going to argue the land case.

The performer leaves behind his pregnant wife, who bears him a child Shiva. Shiva, is a Kambala athlete (An annual buffalo race held in the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka. Traditionally, it is sponsored by local Tuluva landlords and households) from the Kaadubettu village which forms the centre of the movie’s plot. In 1990, Murali, a forest officer, is tasked with converting the villagers’ land into a forest reserve which brings him into conflict with the villagers led by Shiva. Shiva is backed by his patron and the village’s landlord, Devendra Suttooru, who is the king’s successor in the present. Although Shiva is continually asked to perform the Bhoota Kola, he refuses due to the trauma of his father’s disappearance. Instead, his cousin Guruva takes his place. Next follows the part which screws up the movie’s essence. A whole hour of the movie is spent in Shiva and Murali’s cat-and-mouse antics and dull humor from Shiva and his friends.

Anyways summarizing all of that, Shiva’s escalations cause him to be jailed for opposing the Government’s takeover of the forest. His cousin Guruva asks Devendra, the landlord, to bail Shiva, but Devendra, who just like his father covets the land of the villagers, tries to bribe him to act as if Panjurli orders the villagers to give him their land in the next Bhoota Kola. Guruva refuses and Devendra kills him; learning that Murali has figured out his ulterior motive, Devendra decides to set Shiva against him. Shiva, after hearing about his cousin’s murder, meets Devendra, who lies about Murali being Guruva’s killer. Enraged, Shiva goes to kill Murali, but learns from his blacksmith friend Mahadeva that Devendra himself killed Guruva. Shiva is attacked by Devendra’s henchmen, but manages to escape and meet the villagers, whom Murali has told about Devendra’s land seizure. After Shiva reveals that Devendra killed Guruva, he and Murali set aside their grudge and unite the village.

Devendra and his henchmen attack, leading to an intense battle where several of the villagers are killed. After nearly dying in the fight, Shiva hits his head against Panjurli’s stone, gets possessed by the Guliga Daiva, and kills Devendra and his henchmen, in a crazed performance that borrows from some of Nicholas Cage’s wildest uncontrolled performances. A few months after the battle, Shiva performs the Bhoota Kola, and is possessed by Panjurli, where he, Murali and the villagers join hands in a symbolic gesture and blesses the villagers. Later, Shiva disappears into the forest after meeting what seems to be his father’s spirit.

The movie excels in its realistic depiction of the Buta Kola performance and providing an insight into some of the hidden rituals and beliefs in Hinduism. The movie’s start and end keep audiences hooked even though to a Western audience, most of the rituals will seem bizarre but these are ancient and belonging to a religion and civilization older than most others. The movie is however, let down by the middle portion and the dull writing. The dialogues between the villagers are repetitive and Shiva is portrayed as an angry man who runs to fight at the smallest slight and is only afraid of his mother. The actress who plays Shiva’s love interest, Leela, could have been played by a wooden pole and would have made a similar impact. The movie is redeemed by Rishab Shetty’s energetic performance but is let down in the middle by its writing and boring plot. Though it introduces a fascinating mythology not known to many Indians as well, it suffers due to the mistake of adding masala elements to something that could have been much more richer had the focus remained on the mythological plot.

JAY’S VERDICT

Watch Kantara for its magnificent dance sequences, costumes and cultural history – ignore the masala elements to truly enjoy this movie.

Avatar: The Way of Water is a 2022 American epic science fiction film directed by James Cameron and a sequel to the 2009 box-office smash Avatar. 13 years is a long wait for a sequel. Avatar (2009) when it released, became a pioneer in terms of the cinematic experience. Wearing one’s 3D glasses and watching Pandora come to life on the big screen made for a fascinating experience. For those who have forgotten since obviously Avatar came out 13 years ago, in Avatar, we were introduced to the world of Pandora – a fictional exoplanetary moon inhabited by a sapient indigenous humanoid species called the Na’vi, as well as varied fauna and flora.

In the Avatar universe (set in the year 2154), we were told that humans had achieved a very technologically advanced, post-industrial society dominated by powerful corporations and industries who have also exhausted Earth’s resources which is where our current global situation seems to be heading. One of Earth’s most powerful corporations is the globally integrated Resources Development Administration (RDA), a public company which evolved from a Silicon Valley startup, that owns all resources off Earth. The Interplanetary Commerce Administration granted these sole rights to the RDA. Known RDA personnel on Pandora included head administrator Parker Selfridge (who was sent back to Earth after the RDA’s defeat in Avatar), Colonel Miles Quaritch (who returns in this movie despite dying in the first, in an Avatar form), Dr. Grace Augustine (whose character merged with Eywa but kind of returns in this movie in the form of her “daughter” born from her Avatar body. Don’t ask who impregnated her – even her fictional daughter can’t tell), Dr. Norm Spellman (who makes a return in this movie), and Samson 16 pilot Trudy Chacon (who died during the final fight against the RDA in the first movie)

Another quick info-bite about Pandora for the Avatar newbies before I begin my review, Pandora is depicted as being located in the Alpha Centauri A system, about 4.37 light-years (276,000 AU) from Earth. It is one of the many natural satellites orbiting the gas giant Polyphemus, named for the Polyphemus of Greek mythology. Pandora’s atmosphere is a mix of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, xenon, methane, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, the latter three of which are unbreathable for humans, who wear Exo-Packs when outside their buildings or vehicles. The atmosphere of Pandora does have enough oxygen for humans (21%-22%), but too much carbon dioxide (16%-18%). The Na’vi have special organs (similar to kidneys) called Wichow that take advantage of this atmosphere to extract greater amounts of oxygen for their bloodstream. These organs use carbon dioxide and water in their bodies and convert them into methane and oxygen.

In terms of who the Na’vi are they are an indigenous species that live on Pandora. They are humanoid in appearance and are 9 to 10 feet (2.7 to 3.0 m) tall, having pairs of eyes, ears, arms, legs and feet like humans, as well as a nose, a mouth, and expressions recognizable to humans. The Na’vi differ from humans in having blue striped skin, pointed and mobile ears, large eyes, catlike noses and tails, and hands each with three fingers and a thumb (hybrid avatars, on the other hand, retain the five-fingered hands of their human DNA). While taller than humans, they have narrower proportions in body frame. Their bones are reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fiber. The Na’vi also have a distinctive tendril feature protruding from the back of their heads, surrounded by hair (resembling a long plait or queue), feeding directly into the brain. This organ allows them to connect with other organisms around them, transferring electrochemical signals such as thoughts and memories to the trees, plants, and other creatures.

Already so having satisfied the nerd within me, let us move on to the actual movie review. More than a decade after the Na’vi repelled the human invasion of Pandora by the Resources Development Administration (RDA) (also because James Cameron took that long to make a bloody sequel) , our hero Jake Sully lives as chief of the Omaticaya clan and raises a family with Neytiri, which includes sons Neteyam and Lo’ak, daughter Tuk, adopted daughter Kiri (born from Grace Augustine’s inert avatar), and a human boy named Spider, the son of Colonel Miles Quaritch who was born on Pandora (again who the mother is is as unclear as why the Na’vi’s method of connecting with nature and having sex is similar) and was unable to be transported to Earth in cryostasis due to his infancy. The big bad RDA returns to prepare their homeworld Pandora for human colonization, as Earth is dying (obviously as they probably sent Greta Thunberg back to school and completely ignored climate change). Among the new RDA arrivals are ‘recombinants’, Na’vi avatars implanted with the minds and memories of deceased human soldiers, with Quaritch’s recombinant serving as their leader.

Jake stages a guerilla campaign against RDA supply lines, but Quaritch and his subordinates conduct a counterinsurgency mission against Jake and kidnap his children which is a disadvantage he didn’t have in the first movie, although over there he was always hooked to a machine without which his Avatar could not function. Jake and Neytiri arrive and free most of them, but Spider is taken by Quaritch, who recognizes him as his son (no clue how). He decides to spend time with him in order to draw Spider on his side, and in turn, Spider teaches Quaritch about Na’vi culture and language. Aware of the danger Spider’s knowledge of his whereabouts poses to their safety, Jake and his family exile themselves from the Omaticaya and retreat to the Metkayina reef people clan at Pandora’s eastern seaboard. Although Jake and his family are given refuge, they are viewed with antipathy from some of the tribesmen due to their human heritage. Nevertheless, the family learns the ways of the reef people, Kiri develops a spiritual bond with the sea and its creatures, and Lo’ak befriends Tsireya, the daughter of clan chief Tonowari and his wife Ronal.

The next bit of the movie is a lot of teenage crap where basically jealous kids take one of Jake’s kids to the territory of a dangerous sea predator and abandon him there. Lo’ak is saved and befriended by Payakan, a tulkun, an intelligent and pacifistic cetacean species (basically like a whale) whom the Metkayina consider their spiritual family. Upon his return, Lo’ak takes the blame on himself, winning Aonung’s friendship, but is told that Payakan is an outcast among his species. On a trip to the Metkayina’s Spirit Tree, Kiri links with it to meet her mother but suffers a violent seizure. She is healed by Ronal, but when Jake calls Norm Spellman and Max Patel for help, Quaritch is able to track them to the archipelago where the reef people live. Bringing Spider with him, he commandeers a whaling vessel which is hunting tulkuns to harvest their brain enzymes for anti-aging remedies called amrita (a little side note for Western audiences – “Amrita” is actually called Amrit in Pali and Sanskrit and is part of one of Hindu mythology’s most famous stories – the churning of the primordial cosmic ocean by the Devas (Gods) and the Asuras (demons). It is supposed to give immortality and stop ageing to those that drink it. Please don’t assume James Cameron came up with it).

Quaritch begins to brutally question the indigenous tribes about Jake’s location; when this proves fruitless, he orders the whaling crew to wantonly kill tulkuns in order to draw Jake out. Lo’ak mentally links with Payakan and learns that the tulkun was cast out because he went against the pacifist ways of his species and fought back against the RDA whalers who killed his mother. When the Metkayina learn of the tulkun killings, Lo’ak takes off to warn his Tulkun friend Payakan, followed by his siblings, Tsireya, Aonung, and Rotxo (I think James Cameron came up with these names while being drunk in his director’s trailer and asking his assistant to write down anything he mumbled). They find Payakan being chased by the whalers, and Lo’ak, Tsireya, and Tuk are captured by Quaritch. With their children in danger, Jake, Neytiri, and the Metkayina set out to confront the humans. Quaritch forces Jake to surrender, but upon seeing Lo’ak imperiled, Payakan attacks the whalers, triggering a fight that kills most of the crew and sinks the vessel. Neteyam rescues Lo’ak, Tsireya and Spider, but is fatally shot. Jake faces Quaritch, who uses Kiri as a hostage. When Neytiri does the same with Spider, Quaritch at first denies his relationship with him but desists when Neytiri cuts Spider across the chest.

Jake, Quaritch, Neytiri, and Tuk end up trapped inside the sinking vessel. Jake strangles Quaritch into unconsciousness and is rescued by Lo’ak and Payakan, while Kiri summons sea creatures to help her save Neytiri and Tuk. Spider rescues Quaritch, but renounces his cruelty and rejoins Jake’s family. After Neteyam’s funeral, Jake informs Tonowari and Ronal of his decision to leave the Metkayina. Tonowari, however, respectfully identifies him as part of the clan and welcomes his family to stay. Jake and his family accept and forge a new life at sea, with Jake vowing to keep fighting the human invaders. Basically this movie, is not about Jake Sully as much as being about his kids. Kiri does at times give off a blue-haired feminist vibe at times which makes her annoying but thankfully she spends most of the time chilling in the ocean. The two boys are mostly the same except one gets into trouble all the time and the other is a good boy who ends up dying in the movie, so we need to remember one less name going into Avatar 3 which probably might be released when I am 43 (give or take a decade as James Cameron seems to have found some “amrita” of his own which is why he takes so long to make a sequel)

So why were the critics so mad at this movie? Basically the 3D experience got too old, the ocean world was not creative enough, the movie was too long and the “Avatar” concept was broken in this movie. Okay let me destroy these “issues” one at a time. 3D Experience got too old – um not really. Yeah we had a dozen or so Marvel 3D movies come out but atleast the Avatar world takes us on a unique journey instead of experiencing Thor’s biceps in 3D. Ocean world was not creative enough. All these “genius” movie critics saying that should realize most story tellers build universes based on their personal experiences, slightly altering the same. The Pandoran wolves and leopard type creatures from the first movie, also had roots in animals found on Earth except with more limbs or different appearances. So why are you expecting something super crazy now? Even the flying fish creatures, ridden by the sea people have a basis in the Exocoetidae. Next complaint was, it is too long. Um, Lord of The Rings anyone? To describe a fictional universe, you need to take your time. The Harry Potter series tried to rush through The Goblet of Fire and the Order of the Phoenix and we got two pretty average flicks compared to the awesome books. Last was the “Avatar” concept was broken. Well, the villains were all in Avatar suits and plus technology moved ahead in a decade so obviously they could not be lugging heavy boxes everywhere. Plus, most of the original soldiers were already dead so they would need to introduce a whole new set of enemies and give them sort of back story and that would have made the movie even longer.

Avatar – The Way of Water is a brilliant movie and way better than most of the “woke” Marvel movies we have been enduring lately since Endgame. It is creative, it adds a whole new universe to Pandora and it keeps you engaged till the very end.

JAY’S VERDICT

Avatar – The Way of Water is as good as the original and still manages to leave audiences awestruck. Go watch it and explore a new world in Pandora.

Where the Crawdads Sing is a 2022 American mystery thriller drama (basically even the director and producer couldn’t decide the genre) film based on the 2018 novel of the same name. It was directed by Olivia Newman from a screenplay by Lucy Alibar, based on the novel by Delia Owens.

The movie follows an abandoned yet defiant girl, Kya, who raises herself to adulthood in a North Carolina marshland, becoming a naturalist in the process, while falling in love twice. When Kya’s ex-lover and town’s “pretty boy” is found dead, she is the prime suspect and tried for murder.

The movie delves into Kya’s past mostly – her growing up with siblings and a father who physically abused their mother. Kya talks about her mother leaving her father who is an alcoholic and a gambler too, Kya’s mother and older siblings flee one by one, leaving Kya alone with him until he too abandons her at the age of seven. She survives by selling mussels at Barkley Cove’s general store where the store’s owners James “Jumpin'” Madison and his wife Mabel Madison, treat her with kindness and sympathy. The townspeople, however know her as the “Marsh Girl”.

Over the years, her slightly older friend Tate Walker lends her books and teaches her to read, write, and count. They share an interest in nature and begin a romantic relationship until Tate leaves for college and breaks his promise to return to her on the 4th of July, devastating Kya and destroying her dreams of a normal life.

Kya, in the meantime, has her nature drawings and writings published and the income helps her keep her home and land. Her older brother Jodie reappears and tells her their mother died before she was able to reunite her children. Jodie promises to visit when he can. Her two other siblings have disappeared though.

In 1968, Kya begins a relationship with popular local quarterback Chase Andrews, who promises her marriage. Chase gives Kya a small shell which she makes into a necklace and gives to him. A year later, Tate returns to Barkley Cove wanting to rekindle their romance, but Kya is unsure and with Chase. Kya however, ends her relationship with Chase when she discovers he is already engaged to another girl in an awkward encounter in town.

Kya rebuffs Chase’s persistent attentions and when he tries to rape her, she successfully fights off his attempt, vowing to kill him if he does not leave her alone. The threat is overheard by a fisherman. Chase returns to Kya’s home and vandalizes while she hides in the bushes destroying her paintings and shells like a spoiled, angry little boy who cannot handle rejection like a grown up.

Days later, Chase is found dead at the bottom of a fire tower from which he had apparently fallen. The muddy bog floods at high tide, destroying any tracks from the killer, and no fingerprints are found in the tower. The shell necklace, which he had been wearing on the evening of his death, is missing from his body. Kya is charged with first-degree murder and prejudged by the suspicious townspeople who considering her to be different, believe that she is a criminal as well.

Despite knowing Kya had been meeting with a book publisher in Greenville at the time, the police and the prosecutor speculate she could have disguised herself and made an overnight round-trip bus ride to Barkley Cove, lured Chase to the fire tower during the brief layover and killed him. With only the unfounded theory, the missing necklace, and the fisherman’s testimony, Kya is found not guilty at her 1969 trial.

Kya and Tate spend the rest of their lives together. Kya publishes illustrated nature books, and is frequently visited by Jodie and his family. While boating through the swamp in her 70s, she imagines seeing her mother returning to the cabin. Tate finds Kya lying dead in the boat at their dock,. Boxing up Kya’s things, Tate finds a passage in her journal saying that to protect the prey, sometimes the predator has to be killed. It is accompanied by a drawing of Chase. Next he finds the missing shell necklace, meaning that Kya had indeed killed Chase to save her herself from having to live in constant fear of him. Tate throws the necklace into the marsh water.

Now, the movie by itself isn’t that bad for what it is – a romantic love story full of hardships, lost love and disappointment followed by redemption. However, it is portrayed as a mystery thriller which it definitely is not. The “thrills” are nowhere to be found – not in the slow boat rides through the marshes, not through the hum-drum fake accents of two of the three primary cast members who are English and not in the courtroom drama which is dreadfully dull.

The movie is driven by a strong performance from Daisy Edgar-Jones who portrays Kya and David Strathairn, who portrays Tom Milton, the kind man defending Kya in her trial. The two male leads are basically just pretty boys who do not really do much other than give Kya a headache from time to time. Even their “fight” in one of the scenes involves one guy just punching the cap off the other. The Madisons play their part well, as the kind black couple who take care of Kya, in a town which treats them as outsiders too.

The movie is gorgeously photographed and makes the marshlands look like a magical place. Had it not been for the annoying characters, one could think they were watching a tourism advertisement for North Carolina.

JAY’S VERDICT

Go watch it if you like a romantic drama. Don’t watch it if you’re expecting a mystery thriller.

X is a 2022 independent slasher film written, directed, produced and edited by Ti West. It is from arthouse distributor A24 and a slasher movie about what really horrifies us. Writer/director Ti West (from The House of the Devil fame) builds a movie that a youth-obsessed society is far more terrified than a evil boogeyman, of not only growing old, but of confronting the fact that the elderly may still possess some very inconvenient desires.

The movie is set in 1979 Texas and stars Mia Goth as Maxine, an aspiring young porn performer who travels with her older producer boyfriend (Martin Henderson) to a remote farm outside Houston to shoot an adult film for the booming theatrical pornography market. Along for the ride are two other performers (Kid Cudi and Brittany Snow), as well as the director and soundperson (Owen Campbell and Jenna Ortega), the latter of whom quickly decides that her best talents lie in front of the camera, not behind it. Bobby-Lynne and Jackson strike up a romance, while Lorraine is unimpressed with the film’s content until she sees Jackson “performing”, with RJ attempting to make it seem like a serious cinematic piece.

True to form, the farm is isolated and creepy, and the group’s first interaction with the ancient proprietor (Stephen Ure), Howard, comes at the business end of a shotgun. Howard makes it clear that he disapproves of any youthful shenanigans on his property (and that’s well before he realizes what they are actually up to). He claims he wants to protect his elderly wife, Pearl (also played by Mia Goth) from any shocks. But just who needs protection — and from whom — quickly grows complicated and forms the crux of this disturbing story.

As filming commences without Howard’s knowledge, Maxine is invited inside the couple’s home by Pearl (after almost being eaten by an alligator in the couple’s pond of which she was blissfully unaware of) where they have a conversation. Pearl laments her age, expresses jealousy for Maxine’s youth, and makes a sexual advance towards her. She later watches Maxine have sex with Jackson and is aroused. Pearl pleads with Howard to have sex with her, but he refuses, claiming his heart is too weak. Night falls, and the film crew relaxes in the guesthouse. Lorraine, keen to shed her reputation as a prude and intrigued by the film, asks to participate in the shoot. RJ is immediately opposed to the idea and accuses the group of putting her up to it, though they assure him that they did not and that Lorraine’s choice to be in the movie falls on her alone, regardless of his feelings. RJ then films the scene of Lorraine and Jackson having sex.

Frustrated with the change in the script and in shock by Lorraine’s unfaithfulness, RJ sets out to leave the crew stranded at the farm while they are asleep, but he is stopped by Pearl, who attempts to seduce him. When he rejects her advances, she stabs him to death in a gory bloodlust. Lorraine and Wayne notice RJ is missing and go searching. Pearl kills Wayne with a pitchfork in the barn, right through his eyes, while Lorraine is invited into the couple’s house by Howard, who claims Pearl is missing and asks Lorraine to retrieve a flashlight from the basement. When Lorraine attempts to leave the basement, she discovers she has been locked in. After turning on the light, she discovers the rigged corpse of a male sex slave horrifying her.

Howard approaches the guest house and asks a gloriously nude Jackson and his “extra long Johnson” to help him locate Pearl. Jackson finds a submerged car in a pond (belonging to the corpse in the basement) before Howard shoots him dead, revealing himself to be complicit in Pearl’s violent tendencies. Meanwhile, Pearl enters the guest house and climbs into Maxine’s bed naked. Maxine awakens and screams, causing Pearl to flee the house, which Bobby-Lynne witnesses. In the farmhouse, Lorraine uses a hatchet to break through a panel in the basement door, but Howard attacks her, breaking her finger, and forces her back inside. Bobby-Lynne follows Pearl outside to the nearby lake and tries to guide her away from the water. Pearl angrily accuses Bobby-Lynne of being a whore before pushing her into the lake, where she is devoured by an alligator.

Maxine sees Pearl and Howard return to the guest house and hides under the bed. The elderly couple discusses the murders before having sex. Maxine manages to flee to the van, where she finds RJ’s corpse and the tires to the van, slashed. Armed with a pistol from the glovebox, Maxine enters the farmhouse and frees Lorraine, who angrily blames Maxine for what has happened. Lorraine panics and runs out the front door, only to be shot by Howard. As Howard and Pearl begin moving the bodies, intent on framing the crew as intruders, a dying Lorraine moves, startling Howard, who has a heart attack and dies.

Maxine retrieves the keys to Howard and Pearl’s truck and attempts to shoot Pearl, but the pistol is not loaded. Pearl tries to shoot Maxine, who dodges, while the recoil from the shotgun causes Pearl to fall and break her hip. As Pearl lies injured outside the house, she begs Maxine for help. Maxine refuses, and as Pearl berates her, Maxine runs her over with the truck, crushing Pearl’s head. Maxine drives away from the farm. The next morning, the police arrive at the house to retrieve the bodies. It is revealed that Maxine is the daughter of a fundamentalist Christian preacher, whose speeches frequently played on Howard and Pearl’s television. The police discover RJ’s camera and speculate about what it contains.

Since “X” is a slasher film, it’s not spoiling anything to note that most of these people will not make it out alive. An axe, a pitchfork and a shotgun are all in easy reach, and for good measure there’s an alligator in the pond. Howard and his wife, Pearl, give off sinister vibes, and West’s knack for zooming, cutting, manipulating point of view and layering sinister sounds creates an unmistakable anticipation of doom. Ti West wants to show that despite their physical superiority over the, ahem, monsters on the loose, the visitors are nevertheless doomed by their ignorance and inexperience, underestimating the threats on the farm until it’s too late. It never even occurs to them to consider what some people might still want — or be capable of. Basically a flaw inherent in almost every horror movie actor. Still, in the tradition of A24 arthouse horror such as Hereditary, Midsommar, and The Witch, the movie puts ideas in the foreground as much as it does bloodshed. West knows that slasher and porn films are less about violence and sex, respectively, and more about the shock and titillation of social transgression. With X, he has made a movie in which the most unsettling moments compel the viewer to question what society really considers taboo and why.

For one thing, X could hardly be more upfront about its son-of-“Chain Saw” atmosphere — which is to say it’s a deliberate, loving, and meticulous homage that isn’t simply trying to cash in on the legacy of the greatest horror film of the last half century. “X” is threaded with blithe references to key films — a car in a swamp like the one in “Psycho,” an ax through a door like the one that kicks off Jack Nicholson’s rampage in “The Shining,” an alligator borrowed from “Alligator” (ingeniously shot from high above in one jittery sequence), an ending that nods to the premise of Paul Schrader’s “Hardcore” (which came out in 1979). All in all, X is a highly enjoyable film and it makes me look forward to the prequel, “Pearl” which dives into the background of the film’s villain.

JAY’S VERDICT

X is a comeback for the Slasher film genre, reminiscent of classics like Texas Chainsaw Massacre while asking deep questions about aging and desires. Prepare to be uncomfortable while enjoying this slasher flick.