#The terminal movie review full
#The terminal movie review series

Director Stein cannot be faulted on his visual sensibilities, but letвЂ™s hope his next film is a drastic step forward in the storytelling department. Terminal lacks even the memorability of failed future-set efforts like 2017вЂ™s Ghost in the Shell or 2005вЂ™s Aeon Flux.

ItвЂ™s the Thirteenth Floor to Blade Runner 2049вЂ™s Dark City, then, feeling oddly dated, like the kind of weak-kneed sci-fi flicks that popped up post- Matrix. There is no sense of a world beyond these locations itвЂ™s merely empty-headed stylization. There is a Blade Runner 2049 vibe to some of the design, but whereas 2049 felt like it existed in a full, lived-in universe, Terminal feels like a few sets in Hungary. ItвЂ™s the worst thing in an already bad film. There are long stretches here that range from the dull to the absurd, and it all culminates in a laughable, Alice in Wonderland-aping finale. Pegg, Irons and Fletcher, and Myers have some connection to each other, and all have an unknown - to them - link to Annie. ItвЂ™s a strange return, to be sure.ДЄll of these folks come into contact with Robbie, either as a waitress (Pegg, Irons), a seductress (Irons again), or something in between. There are plot reasons for all of this, but they are hard to take seriously thanks to the absurdist casting of the Austin Powers star. This is Myers in hideous, Kruschev-like makeup and a cockney accent so fake that it makes Dick Van Dyke sound as convincing as Ray Winstone. It arrives about eight minutes into the film, and it is here that the already rickety Terminal goes off the rails. The appearance of the latter is noteworthy, if for the wrong reasons. The same is true of PeggвЂ™s wheezing traveler, and the strange train station janitor played by one Mike Myers. ItвЂ™s easier to discern the details of the two squabbling hitmen played by Fletcher and Irons. Her characterвЂ™s initial backstory is unknown like the Wonderland reference, the payoff comes with just a few minutes to go.

#The terminal movie review series

Which luckily вЂ¦ I am.вЂќ The reasoning behind the Wonderland reference does not arrive until much, much later.ДЇeaturing a borderline incomprehensible collision of characters, the start of Terminal is structured around a series of introductions to the filmвЂ™s mostly unlikable cast, starting with RobbieвЂ™s femme fatale. Some say to survive it, you need to be as mad as a hatter.

#The terminal movie review full

Robbie clearly relishes the part, and is offered the chance to open the proceedings with lines from Lewis CarrollвЂ™s Alice in Wonderland: вЂњThere is a place like no other on earth вЂ¦ A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger.

She is, seemingly, an assassin, but one with many different disguises. Robbie plays Annie, a steely-eyed charmer who, asВ director Vaughn SteinвЂ™s film begins, is negotiating to take over the empire of a mysterious, unseen employer. Fresh off one of her best performances in I, Tonya, the actress is TerminalвЂs stand-out, but any time in which sheвЂ™s off screen, the movie grinds to a halt. This is especially disappointing because it wastes another memorable performance from Robbie. ItвЂ™s a shame, however, that none of it pays off. Yes, it fails, but the effort involved must be acknowledged. ItвЂ™s a bold, confident film that goes for broke. Featuring a rather stellar cast led by Margot Robbie, Simon Pegg, Max Irons, Dexter Fletcher, and Mike Myers (!), this noir-action film set in not-too-distant future is powered by some stellar visual and stylistic concepts. And yet Terminal is so wrong-headed that it borders on the laughably enjoyable. When the seemingly interminable (ahem) Terminal draws to close, it is hard to fight the feeling that there might not be a bigger cinematic misstep this year.