The way this cast was, by and large, wasted by writer/Director Drew Pearce was almost criminal. This was also the reason, in my mind, that 2016’s Free Fire worked so well despite its apparent nihilism. Aesthetically pleasing, but the narrative is predictable and clichéd. After her beloved son’s tragic death, working at this hospital hotel for criminals is all she has. In a series of little exchanges, you’re given some reason to root for or against the cast of characters inside a secluded, shuttered factory as they bluff and strut their way through an arm’s deal that takes an awful turn. A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action. Contrast this with a movie like John Wick, which might be this genre’s pinnacle so far and yet which sounds hilariously dumb on paper. Hotel Artemis Review: Bad Pacing and Drab Action Scenes Make for a Boring Movie. In 2028, Los Angeles is in the midst of the most violent riot in its history. Written By: Drew Pearce © 2021 Paste Media Group. The Hotel Artemis has been around for 22 years, but it’s about to have a very bad day that threatens to be its last. It’s never difficult to figure out why a movie that’s merely a cheap rip-off of other successful movies is bad or had a tough time at the box office. - Frequent explicit violence. The Good: Maybe, like many a spurned and left-for-dead underworld heavy, it’ll find new life and come out, fists flying and guns blazing, though. When one day the streets erupt in a riot over water rights, violence escalates inside and out of the hotel. 2. Generally, I find the better entries of this slim genre don’t mess around with complications: Baby Driver and Driver were both permutations on it and neither left you wondering at motivations, revelations or plot twists. HOTEL ARTEMIS is set in a futuristic Los Angeles during a riot regarding clean water. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), The 5 Best Moments from the Halloween Trailer, The Top 10 Douchebag Villains from 80s Teen Movies, The Worst Examples of Cousin Oliver Syndrome in TV Sitcom History, Remake Rumble: Flowers In The Attic (1987) vs Flowers In The Attic (2014), Remake Rumble: Fantastic Four (2005) vs Fantastic Four (2015), Follow It's Latin For Cookies on WordPress.com. Starring: Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Dave Bautista and Jeff Goldblum In the end all of those good things end up making this movie all the more disappointing. Was it lacking an emotional center? I don’t know if I was alone in this sentiment, but I actually felt a kind of cathartic glee when the two knuckleheads who started the fight finally got into their ultimate tussle and (spoiler alert) killed each other in the dumbest and most hilarious way imaginable. You can even see some Die Hard and its various lackluster imitators injecting the cinema landscape with recognizable and easily distinguishable baddies, in contrast to the poor faceless fools who fill out the ranks of thugs in most forgettable actioners. Tarantino, and his various precursors and inspirations, give us killers as nonchalant in a firefight as they are around the table with their fellow cutthroats. Hotel Artemis is a solid 'middle of the pack' action movie. No disrespectful words or actions allowed against Hotel Artemis staff. Set in riot-torn, near-future Los Angeles, HOTEL ARTEMIS is an original, high-octane action-thriller starring Jodie Foster, who runs a members-only hospital for criminals. – (Source), Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 58% (Critics) / 47% (Audience) Jenny Slate’s character was a lame plot device. You know by now that the plot revolves around the idea that Wick (Keanu Reeves) is on a roaring rampage of revenge because some thugs killed his dog in the midst of stealing his nice car. However, it is also a film which doesn't do a great deal right. The word “steampunk” gets thrown around a lot these days to describe things that (pushes up glasses) aren’t really steampunk. The Bad: Hotel Artemis | 2018 | R | - 2.7.10 Set in 2028, a woman known as the Nurse (Jodie Foster) operates a hotel that's actually a members-only secure medical facility for criminals in Los Angeles. And of course, John Woo introduced the world to gravity and logic-defying gunfights in movies like Hard Boiled. The titular building in Hotel Artemis is grand but grimy, a once resplendent Los Angeles structure fallen into disrepair and now serving as a safe house and hospital for deadly criminals. Hotel Artemis, however, is a solidly City of Angels affair. (You know, on Blu-ray.). - Violent acts shown in realistic detail with blood and tissue damage/. But what typifies Hotel Artemis’ particular genre for me right now is—and this may sound simplistic—the color. Jodie Foster is back on the silver screen as The Nurse, a character who functions as a kind of through-line for the plot and setting, offsetting the strutting gangsters and desperate triggermen around her with a stern, quirky kind of propriety. Call it the candy-colored shooter—bright, quirky characters engaged in nothing more complex than a rip-roaring shootout, inaugurated in its entirety, perhaps, by 2006’s Smokin’ Aces. Learn how your comment data is processed. In spite of a bad screenplay, there are things to like about Hotel Artemis. The story may be a little on the short and light side, but stunning visuals and stellar performances more than make up for it as the Hotel Artemis is definitely worth checking into. Set in riot-torn, near-future Los Angeles, ‘Hotel Artemis’ follows the Nurse, who runs a secret, members-only emergency room for criminals. Is an Inventive, If Meandering Genre Hangout. When a gang of bad guys aligned with L.A.’s fearsome Wolfking come across some unconscious riot police officers, the leader tells his associate to kill them—just in case. Hell, the Hotel Artemis in the movie shared more than a few similarities with the Continental Hotel that is featured in the JOHN WICK film series but aside from an homage or an outright rip-off of that concept (I leave the decision up to you), there is not much that the two films share in terms of vibe and that is a big deal because the movie’s marketing went out of it’s way to make those comparisons seem like an actual thing. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. When the associate balks, the leader says, “You want to get into heaven? I was expecting Sterling K. Brown to be the “Black John Wick” but instead the movie gave me bupkis with his character. ( Log Out / Hotel Artemis is rated R by the MPAA for violence and language throughout, some sexual references, and brief drug use. “Hotel Artemis” is based around a plot conceit so similar to one in the action hit “John Wick” that some may see this film as part of an extended John Wick Universe. The hotel takes its name from Artemis, the Greek goddess of both the moon and the hunt. Did Artemis move a little too slowly to survive in this business? “I don’t doubt there is some kind of secret doctor in a place like Hotel Artemis who deals with criminals right now, even in … The movie follows an underground, “I think Hotel Artemis was one of the first ‘Dark Rooms’ (spaces where people can explore their darkest desires) in that world, but I think there are more of them now,” says the screenwriter. While on the premises, no fighting with or killing other patients. Wait, Was It the Gunfights? However, it is also a film which doesn't do a great deal right. Dave Bautista and Sofia Boutella are the best things about HOTEL ARTEMIS. It's tough to talk about Hotel Artemis in any meaningful way, because all of the best adjectives to describe it sound like insults. Action is hard. Cillian Murphy and Brie Larson’s awkward flirtation, Sharlto Copley’s sexist and egotistical wholesaler, and Armie Hammer’s showman of a facilitator all keep the shifting alliances and treacherous geometry of the movie-long shootout in clear focus. I didn’t think so. Then Smokin’ Aces gets into its supposedly clever backstory and you realize it is a garbled mess you aren’t interested in following, and which doesn’t add any compelling context to scenes like, for instance, two guys feeding each other a ten-course meal of lead in a cramped elevator. They cared enough about her to actually serve her up an ethical complication in the appearance of a wounded cop (Jenny Slate) who has a connection to her troubled past. Nurse has been there for years now. The hotel is a place where injured criminals can receive medical care and some needed rest. Bautista as the aptly named Everest, The Nurse’s assistant at the Hotel Artemis, was funny, charming and a good playful sparring partner for Foster’s The Nurse. Every now and then, though, you get a curiosity like Hotel Artemis, which has just enough original ideas and ambitious world-building to register as something memorable, yet whose failure so clearly illuminates the rules of the genre that spawned it. They escape to the nearby Hotel Artemis, a secretive hospital that treats only criminals, run by Jean "the Nurse" Thomas. Sometimes that combination sticks the three-point landing. Change ). You can follow him on Twitter or read more at his blog. Bautista also showed all the tools necessary to be a standout action star all on his own and I hope that someday soon a smart producer in Hollywood will give him a shot to headline a big budget action movie. Wick had the reveal that Reeves’ mourning assassin wasn’t taking revenge for a dog so much as for the dead dream that he could escape his (sexy, cool, super awesome) life of gun kata murder. There's nothing bad about it, but the parts that are great, aren't great enough to make it stand out. I have a confession to make: I have no use for guns, but I freaking love shootout movies, and the more transparently absurd the better. Hotel Artemis – Good, Bad & Ugly Review Posted on June 9, 2018 by Derek Set in riot-torn, near-future Los Angeles, ‘Hotel Artemis’ follows the Nurse, who runs a … It was just a shameful display of a movie not knowing what to do with the characters or the actors playing those characters. As a riot rages in the streets of Los Angeles in the year 2028, a bank robbery involving Sherman (Sterling K. Brown) and his brother Lev (Brian Tyree Henry) goes … It’s precisely that simplicity that allows directors (and former stuntmen) Chad Stahelski and David Leitch to put all the focus on the few scenes of weighty emotion necessary to get to the heart of the characters, then go full steam ahead into dazzlingly shot action sequences. (Call it a “gunfight cozy” maybe?) Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. For an example of how this was not done well, you can check out Everly (2015). Violence: - Frequent non- graphic violence. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Hotel Artemis should have been good. Hotel Artemis isn't going to dethrone Upgrade as the low budget sci-fi action film of the summer, but it works very well alongside it as another option for fans of a certain ilk. Aces and one of the other movies I consider to be the forebear of these shooters, The Way of the Gun, were so in love with the sound of their own voices that they couldn’t shut up for a second and let us focus on the action. Hotel Artemis. REVIEW: Hotel Artemis is a Messy but Fun Star-Studded Action-Thriller Once the dust clears, however, the hotel survives this wild and destructive night, and Pearce achieves his objective of blurring the lines between hero and villain. Speaking of Smokin’ Aces, I can’t think of a better analog to Artemis 11 years later, though it was by far a worse movie for a few key reasons, starting with its overly convoluted plot. Yet I don’t think this was Artemis’ problem, either. Goldblum had a great character on paper but in the movie he was onscreen for such a short time that nothing of interest came from him either. All Rights Reserved. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. In that film, I was not exactly sure what the deal was with Salma Hayek until what felt like a third of the way into the film, and not deeply emotionally invested in her for what felt like all of it. Serving as both a penthouse and an ER, the Hotel Artemis only caters to one exclusive cliental: criminals - all of who now set their sights on the robbers. Movies as early as John Carpenter’s Assault On Precinct 13 place combatants in a discrete space before unleashing the squibs. What was it? If you watched any of the trailers or TV spots for HOTEL ARTEMIS you would not be out of bounds expecting a high octane action movie in the vein of JOHN WICK. ( Log Out / Directed By: Drew Pearce Most of the violence/action is comic book-style, with occasional moments of gore. In a capitalist America where basic needs are restricted to the rich — so, a world little different from our own — is the titular Hotel Artemis. It just kind of hangs in mid-air, with clichéd characters acting in clichéd ways and having clichéd conversations. Hotel Artemis bombed at the theaters and suffered from mediocre reviews so i waited to see it as a rental which was a BIG mistake. So, what have been the hallmarks of its more successful fellows? Hotel Artemis is a film which doesn't do a great deal wrong. During the robbery, Lev takes a fancy pen from a well-dressed bank customer who tells Lev he is making a terrible mistake. In one of the rare moments of sustained action in HOTEL ARTEMIS, Boutella kicked butt impressively in a scene that brought to mind the “Hallway Scene” from OLDBOY. So instead of a slick action movie like we were sold, HOTEL ARTEMIS is a drab character study that has some action sprinkled throughout but never pulls the trigger on anything that would even approach taking advantage of the highly interesting premise. A return to the screen for Jodie Foster, The Sterling K. Brown and Brian Tyree Henry superstardom train, and a futuristic plot about… Sofia Boutella starred as determined assassin Nice and she was charismatic, sultry and surprisingly vulnerable while also showing off some serious action movie chops of her own. Studio: Global Road Entertainment. Parents need to know that Hotel Artemis is about a nurse (Jodie Foster) and her orderly (Dave Bautista), who run a secret, high-tech hospital for criminals.Bad guys show up, some worse than others, conflicts occur, and there are lethal confrontations. Hotel Artemis is a film which doesn't do a great deal wrong. Action films of yesteryear tended to be grimy and low-contrast, and the disciples of the Jason Bourne movies of the early ’00s decided that frenetic and choppy camera movement and editing made for edge-of-your-seat action (rather than merely kinetosis). And then it ends. By Renaldo Matadeen Published Jun 11, 2018 WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Hotel Artemis, in theaters now. It’s a sort of truism that every movie needs a kind of anchor—or maybe better to say life preserver—to latch onto when you’re moving through a world that doesn’t in any way resemble our own day-to-day life. But what typifies Hotel Artemis’ particular genre for me right now is—and this may sound simplistic—the color. Quinto could have been something more but all of the possible avenues they could have taken with his character were ignored. Aces in particular went the same route as Hotel Artemis in bringing an A-list team (Andy Garcia, Ben Affleck, Ray Liotta, and some guy who starred on some show called Entourage, I think? But for all the parts that have nothing to do with the actual blood-and-bullets scenes that you have to get right—a clear tone, a fleet-footed plot, polished dialogue from strong characters—you also need plenty of cordite and fisticuffs. ( Log Out / The Ugly: ), and in trying to keep the stakes brutally simple—somebody must be protected from somebody else who wants them dead. Drew Pearce's Hotel Artemis ends on a high-octane note which paves the way for a franchise built on seedy hotels in a crime-ridden dystopian future. MetaScore: 57 – Mixed or average reviews Final Verdict: HOTEL ARTEMIS is a clinic in missed opportunities and wasted resources. Kenneth Lowe has written for Colombia Reports, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Illinois Issues Magazine. There are several compelling performances, the production design is well done and the premise is really good. And why did this curious specimen fail to catch that same lightning in a bottle? Hotel Artemis is a clever, taut action movie with an all-star cast playing very bad people on a very bad night. ( Log Out / The thing is, it's a real trashy movie, pulpy and derivative, and these are all good things in this case. The look of Hotel Artemis is terrific—the sets are faded but still colorful, resplendent with grimy detail, and the little touches of future-tech all integrate very smoothly. The character’s motivations are clear and the near-future world they live in (which may not even be fictional by the time the actual year 2028 rolls around), doesn’t overstay its welcome. Four bank robbers, injured after a botched heist and on the run from the police, head to their only hope for survival- the HOTEL ARTEMIS. Other times, as with Hotel Artemis, it stumbles: The modest $15 million film has barely brought in half its budget. For all its self-seriousness, “Hotel Artemis” is ultimately a silly story of bad guys, big egos and one good fight sequence. The marketing of this film was such a bait and switch. It just kind of hangs in mid-air, with clichéd characters acting in clichéd ways and having. So, did Hotel Artemis go too deeply into ludicrous lore for audience’s tastes? I don’t think so, for my part. As seen on the official trailer, Hotel Artemis 10 rules are: 1. A hospital for criminals run by the Nurse (Jodi Foster), it is situated in downtown L.A. right next to the water company’s building; on a night where riots […] This movie had all the ingredients to be a super fun instant action classic but squandered it and instead was just a mediocre disappointment. Hotel Artemis had all of the pieces to be something special. It is worth noting, however, that I may have some bias in the casting choices, that I'll discuss later. Harder, perhaps, even than horror, from the sheer standpoint of the filmmaking skill and the time investment required to do it right. It’s interesting to find the various sources of Artemis’ DNA—taut tales of assassins who are on their way out the door only to feel the sensation of a target on their backs—date to at least two 1967 classics: the Japanese pot-boiler Branded To Kill and Jean-Pierre Melville’s inimitable Le Samouraï. 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