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The Killer (Netflix): David Fincher continues his partnership with Netflix with an adaptation of a French comic starring Michael Fassbender and the movie is an adequate use of two hours. Fassbender has a great performance and the first 20 minutes of him narrating his thought process as he works is fantastic but ultimately the rest of the movie never lives up to that moment. It’s not bad and it is substantially better than the majority of the Netflix original movies, however, there is a little something missing to make the movie consistently interesting. Maybe it is that the revenge plot doesn’t quite feel as interesting and the movie would operate better where Fassbender’s killer is a weapon only deployed when needed because he is going to (mostly) successfully accomplish his mission.
Doctor Who: The Star Beast (Disney+): David Tennant, Catherine Tate, and Russell T. Davies are back for the first of the three 60th Anniversary specials and it feels like the show has returned to the quality it was before Steven Moffat took over as showrunner (see last year’s weekly discussions of The Time Traveler’s Wife for more Moffat-disdain). Considering the robust history of Doctor Who, it can be a daunting show to get into, however this special is very much an on-ramp for anyone who wants to give the show a chance. The infusion of money from it being a Disney+ co production is visible and it feels clear that this new iteration of the show will be a soft reboot going into the inevitable regeneration of Tennant into Ncuti Gatwa. Hopefully, the Disney+ visibility will lead to a more consistent release cadence.
The Santa Clauses Season 2 Episode 4 (Disney+): So the show is now halfway through its run and Scott has finally met Magnus Antas and the viewer is still no clearer about why this is any more of a threat than the fake Santa in The Santa Clause 2 or Jack Frost in The Santa Clause 3 or even Kal Penn in the first season of this show. No information has been given as to what “The Mad Santa” has done to earn him that name besides saying humans shouldn’t have magic, however considering the viewer doesn’t have a frame of reference for if humans had magic, this means little. Also, the elves seem really concerned about Scott finding out and apparently the secret is so big that if Scott finds out that the elves were hiding it they will be exiled, but it has been at least three to four months since Magnus escaped or his nutcracker prison was found to be missing and there is no sense of urgency to try and recapture him.
This Week In Theaters:
Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé: Following the success of Taylor Swift’s theatrical run for the Eras Tour, Beyoncé is bringing her Renaissance tour to premium format theaters for those who were unable to see the show live in person.
Dream Scenario: Nicolas Cage stars in this dark comedy about a man who mysteriously ends up in the dreams of every person on Earth and the ramifications of that event as the dreams start to get a little strange.
Silent Night: Iconic action director John Woo (Face/Off) returns to theaters for the first time in 20 years with a holiday action film starring Joel Kinnaman with almost no dialogue about a man who declares war on the criminal underworld to avenge his young son’s death.
Godzilla Minus One: The latest Godzilla film out of Japan arrives in American theaters this weekend. This film is set in the immediate aftermath of World War II and harkens back to the anti-nuclear weapons themes of the original from 1954.
Last Week At The Box Office:
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: $28.8 Million
Napoleon: $20.4 Million
Wish: $19.5 Million
Trolls Band Together: $17.5 Million
Thanksgiving: $7.3 Million
