Weapons (from the creator of Barbarian)

Mr Crispy

Here's a teaser trailer for the upcoming Weapons, the new film from the writer/director of Barbarian, Zach Cregger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3qtHlROEuc

From the website;

A chilling mystery has gripped the small town of Maybrook after 17 children voluntarily left their homes Wednesday morning. Authorities are baffled by the inexplicable disappearance, which has shaken the community to its core.

Upon investigation, front door camera footage showed the children leaving their homes at 2:17am Wednesday morning without any signs of force. Since then, little information has surfaced, and the case continues to baffle investigators.

The cast looks good too (Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan). It releases in August in the US.

The Black Oil

Good, mood setting teaser.

Mr Crispy

First full trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDQf8Mp-vA0

speedboatchase

Best trailer I've seen in a while.

Dades

Wow, that looks great.

Mr E

That's the perfect trailer. They shouldn't do any others.

p to the e

Apparently Jordan Peele wanted to direct this badly

Osmosis Jones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123407078#Comment_123407078

It was always Cregger directing, Peele wanted it for his production company though and even went so far as to fire his team after they failed to get it!

sydthebeat

Yes please

p to the e

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123407272#Comment_123407272

Doing some reading on it and Peele is a friend of Cregger's and shared the same manager so he likely thought it was a lock.

Also didn't know Cregger was part of the Whitest Kids You Know troupe.

gmisk

https://youtu.be/QKHySfXqN0I?si=bZOw3h896j6T0nji

New trailer

speedboatchase

Very, very excited for this.

gmisk

Reviews starting to come out look generally very good.

speedboatchase

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123679528#Comment_123679528

Early days but 100% on Rotten Tomatoes so far.

El Duda

https://twitter.com/TheMovieBadger/status/1953209928463913446?t=pKM63yl_plvvSma7Cfsxtg&s=19

Can't wait for this 🙌

AbusesToilets

Just saw it tonight, a really good film. The atmosphere and way it builds tension is superb. One the best endings I've seen in a long time.

Lived up to the billing in a way Barbarian didn't imo.

p to the e

Really enjoyed this. Similar to Barbarian it has great blend of terrifying jumpscares and dark humour. I think the real winners here were the marketing team that did a great job of building hype and not revealing too much. Some may not like the payoff but if you're not expecting anything too deep you'll be fine.

Fysh

I really liked the setup and probably first half of Barbarian, but the mid-story development fell absolutely flat on its face for me.

Still, though, the stuff it did well was very good, and the teaser for this looks really promising, and I've seen some positive reviews - including one from Anton Bitel, who I generally find a reliable/useful indicator that I'll enjoy or at least appreciate something.

speedboatchase

Looks like it's going to have an excellent weekend in the US box office, potentially $35m+.

hynesie08

Original, funny, clever, some solid jump scares and a damn fine boogeyman.

Sinners clears it but it'll be near the top in the end of year list.

gmisk

Going to see this today, looking forward to it based on trailers and a glance at reviews

McDermotX

OK, but didn't quite deliver what I'd hoped for. Have never revisited Barbarian since it's original release, but recall being impressed with the setup and initial half, but as they story revealed itself, the interest level dropped off a bit sharper than I would have hoped. Still a finely crafted movie evident of a creator who knew what they wanted on the screen, so I was looking forward to his second solo effort.

Other than the trailer, I'd avoided anything about it - hadn't even heard how it had been received for fear of some comment spoiling something - so was looking forward to a somewhat blank slate tonight. Looked right up my street, and while it was always in the back of my mind that the actual 'revelation' of the mystery would be unlikely to completely satisfy, I was still hopeful of a unique and enjoyable couple hours. Does Cregger succeed ? I'd say yes………….and no.

It's a somewhat patchy and tonally mixed tale, that while finely crafted and entertaining, doesn't quite scratch the itch, or at least not consistently enough, but there's enough to keep the viewer engaged. Much like Barbarian, there's a deliberate pace to the opening half, here with the use of POV chaptering, which probably could have been tighter in all honesty. It's a brave way to frame a story - not uniquely original by any means - but some sections do suffer somewhat bogging the flow down. It's always a fine line for the viewer in these cases, needing something to keep them engaged as different perspectives are told, and while it broadly succeeds, I can see were some will have issues with it - certainly an opportunity to take 10-15mins or at least use them differently. Cregger's comedy bone is allowed to come through a lot of these sections, gradually turning into the frequent spots of dark humour that permeate through the remainder of the film. Sort of a reverse 'Mom and Dad' on occasion, which I wouldn't be surprised to find on Cregger's media shelf. The dark fable, almost Grimm story-telling, aspect of the film is, again, nothing we've not seen before and borrows heavily from many sources, but it allows the mystery to be set extremely early in the runtime gradually moving into full-on territory in the final third.

It's sort of the appeal and the flaw of the movie overall. There's so much variety on show and thrown at the audience, that it doesn't all gel, or at least set sufficiently. That said, it's the variety on show that keeps the viewer engaged and even when it drops into absurdity, it's generally in keeping with proceedings. To have it all contained in a two hour runtime is admirable and clearly needed a talented creator, but it also partly explains that nagging unsatisfying feeling when leaving the showing IMO.

Performances are grand throughout, including one or two little surprises not covered by press or trailers, with Garner and Brolin taking the meat of things. Use of music in parts works well, even if there appeared to be a somewhat dodgy audio mix where I had watched it, but I'll put that down to the cinema.

Looking at some of the online reviews post-viewing, it appears quite positive, and while I'd not be quite as effusive as some I've seen, I think most people would take to it or get something from it. It's not deep by any means, and if your expectations don't require too much in the way of explanation, then the overall mystery or lack thereof succeeds in the main.

gmisk

I enjoyed the hell out of that. The story was very Stephen King, in a good way, with a decent ending too. Rashomon stuff was very well done. Julia Garner was terrific as was Josh Brolin.

Spoiler Warning

I am never going to be able to look at Uncle Bucks girlfriend in the same way.

When the crazy aunt appeared it had a few laughs too some of them horrified.

Some proper decent gore in it which was nice.

RIP Wong :(

RickBlaine

I really enjoyed it and was thoroughly engrossed throughout. It's a great movie for audience reaction too if you get a good crowd.

One plot hole that annoyed me though was that…

Spoiler Warning

The film made a big deal out of security camera footage and yet none of the houses on the way to the aunt's house caught 18 kids running through the streets. Even if you justify that plot hole by saying the police were inept, surely the residents of the neighborhoods would check their footage if only out of curiosity. It might have been better if that house was in a more isolated location.

johnny_ultimate

I was going to liken this film to a rollercoaster, but I think an escape room is a more apt comparison. It's really fun in the moment but there's probably no need to revisit it again for many years, if ever, once you've seen what it has to offer. But just to stress: it's REALLY fun in the moment.

Like Barbarian, the structure is the juice here, but I think this works more consistently than that did, even when some parts inevitably work better than others. Really, what happens is very straighforward and could have been told that way. But when you're jumping between perspectives, back-and-forth in the story, across tones / genres and even some what I'd classify as mid-film cliffhangers, then the basics are obscured, and Cregger has a blast with that. I'd class him as a storytelling troll above all else: while you do get hints of subtext here and there, ultimately his biggest interest is in wrongfooting or disorientating the audience, and that's where this film's pleasures lie. Something weird happens, and he takes his time explaining why it happened. That said, this isn't really an unsatisfying mystery box either, because the main mystery is very neatly explained. That willingness to tie it all up nicely could've been a problem, but Cregger really delivers with a riot of a finale that is properly gleeful in its excess and absurdity.

I do appreciate his willingness to make characters quite unlikeable. Julia Garner's character, to pick the most obvious example, is playing both into and against some familiar tropes - a genuinely good and kind teacher who's also a bit of a destructive asshole in her private life (even before having to deal with a bizarre trauma). Same with Ehrenreich and Brolin's characters - in both cases the sympathethic elements of their characters are offset by their often selfish actions. The characters are more interesting than they are likeable, which works to the story's benefit ultimately.

While I don't think the film is particularly scary - it's too busy blurring genre lines for that - there is nonetheless some effectively ominous imagery. Some initially abstact moments do give into some recurring imagery, especially when it comes to doors and windows. One recurring door constantly appears to open almost of its own accord (or at very least by some unknown person masked in shadow), seeming to beckon outsiders in. And the use of windows is also exceptional…

Spoiler Warning

… and taken to a whole other level when you have kids crashing through them like the **** Hulk in that proper barnstormer of a closing chase sequence.

Anyway, a great time in the cinema. I know its tricks so feel like I'll have little inclination to revisit any time soon, but who really cares when it's this much fun?

Akrasia

I really liked Weapons, and I think I'll rewatch it when it comes out on streaming.

I went in completely blind. Avoided all trailers and hype and had no idea about the plot or what to expect other than it was a horror film

What did I get?

A gripping mystery film seen through multiple perspectives. Very well shot, very well acted. It slowed down a little bit in the middle but finished very strongly.

They tied up most of the plot ends by the end, there are some political undercurrents in there that explain some of the other plot holes

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123709244#Comment_123709244

On your spoiler...my other half and I said exactly the same thing! Didn't spoil it though a cracking film.

McDermotX

TBH, there always needs to be some sort of willingness to suspend disbelief, even for the best films out there, and certainly for those routed in mystery, but I think it's only an issue if you're not enjoying it, and it certainly doesn't hurt the film.

Spoiler Warning

The whole police/FBI investigation as a whole appears to be deliberately downplayed, whether to furnish the frustration of the likes of Brolin's character, keep the storytale-feeling being played out etc. Generally works, although there is a definite unrealistic feel of the police being mere window-dressing to the proceedings.

One of my bug bears actually played out at times, especially at the end when all hell breaks loose, cutting back and forth between fights, doors being broken down, shots fired etc, yet when focused on either one of the other characters, you get the feeling they're someplace else, because you can't hear any commotion in the background. Very minor, but it's always there when noticed. It's not alone in this regard at all though

MrStuffins

Saw this tonight.

Was enjoying it throughout but it slowed a bit too much in the middle..........

However, man did it make up for it in those last 20 minutes. One of the best cinema experiences I've had.

Everlong1

Absolutely loved this. It's a rare experience these days to find a movie so rivetting that you're on the edge of your seat until almost literally the very last line of the film. Wasn't too impressed with Barbarian myself but this was superb. Could see it getting some serious Oscar nominations.

ancapailldorcha

I haven't seen Barbarian but this was very, very good. Went in blind. I wonder if it could have been streamlined a little bit but it's still a fantastic thing to experience at the cinema.