[EXPRESSO] Presence (2024) | Guest Ghost

While this is another of those movies that’s better enjoyed/experienced by just going in cold, it’s not exactly for the usual reasons, but i will try to spoil as less as i can.

Even though it’s frustrating because the basic premise of Presence really isn’t exciting in itself: a family moves into a new house, especially to help the daughter, Cleo, having her life shook by a tragic event before, and to start things over, hopefully for the better.

Cleo soon starts noticing something wrong with her room and nobody believes her… until some events make it clear as day to the entire family there’s something supernatural going on in the house, causing further tensions and panic in the already fractured family, as Cleo believes is her dead friend haunting the place, for reasons unknown…

It sounds a lot more generic than it actually is, but aside from some gimmicky yet effective stylistical choices, it’s actually kinda original, as in, this isn’t a blood or jumpscare laden “haunted house attraction” at the fair, and it’s refreshing as in it’s an actual ghost story, and not the by now overdone “allegorical parenthood trauma ride” most of these modern horror thrillers try to be (with varying degrees of success), the family drama is there, its quite good, the acting is quite good as well and so are the characters, and later their drama does become important to understand this really quiet “haunting” purpose as the plot unfolds and pieces come together for a tense and tragic finale.

It’s a slow burner supernatural horror-thriller but it’s also devoid of any excess fat, being short but intense, emotional and quite engaging, using well its single-location structure, even if by the end it becomes a bit predictable, though the execution makes up for it.

Recommended.

[EXPRESSO] Red One (2024) | Christmas In Wakanda Pole

The Rock is back, as Santa’s bodyguard in Red One, which comes out in mid-November because fuck it, you’re already thinking of Christmas anyway.

One Red goes for the “Santa Is Real” school of phylosophy, but actually adds something as Santa is real and powerful as the legend says, as true as the various mythical creatures related to his figures, often working for/with him in a hidden Wakanda-esque city-factory, where they prepare all year so on Christmas they can actually deliver children worlwide their gifts in one night, using magic and top-tier technology to be unseen and unheard. This time however a legendary hacker manages to find a flaw in their security, which leads to a mysterious figure kidnapping ol’ Nick.

So its up to The Rock (as Santa’s grand general) to find out who’s responsible, alongside the same hacker that unknowingly helped kidnap Santa, and a gauntlet thingie that gives him bootleg Ant Man powers, because why not, it makes for some fun (albeit not original) ideas and visuals.

As expected, this is yet another one of those that could simply be called “The Rock/Dwayne Johnson movies”, as it features everything you’d associate with the actor and his filmography, so it has monsters, fantasy stuff, action, comedy, The Rock having “legal plot armor”, all in a family friendly package, even more as this one it’s a christmas film, so JK Simmons can’t reprimand Mark Grayson or insult Peter Parker.

The final battle is a bit of an anticlimactic cop-out, but overall, this one of the better ones as of late, far from turds like Black Adam but also definitely above middling and completely forgettable stuff like Red Notice, there’s definitely a bit more creativity and energy to be found in it, making for a decently entertaining action-comedy-fantasy Christmas romp.

[EXPRESSO] Shazam: Fury Of The Gods (2023) | Atlantomachia

Superhero time again, this time of the DC Comics variety, with the sequel to 2019’s Shazam, which introduced new audiences to the magic-powered hero and its origin story, before we got a DC Extended Universe entry related with last year’s spin-off film about Shazam’s nemesis, Black Adam, but honestly i’d rather not discuss of that movie again, what’s the point since their MCU attempt was such a mess that they hired James Gunn as well to reboot the entire thing?

So, talking about Fury Of The Gods, we have our boy Billy Batson and his foster siblings having to face a new menace, the Daughters of Atlas (played by Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren), who have come to reclaim a world ending artifact.

As you can guess, thanks to the new foes we get the explore the lore a bit more, learning of the origin of their powers, the world of Greek gods long gone, which also means it’s a great “excuse” to have a pandemonium style of monsters from said mythology run amok, from cyclops to harpies and manticores, and like the first you can tell this is from a horror director, because a lot of people get straight up killed (or worse) even in the prologue.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the first Shazam movie, and this one it’s just as good, being also a n everincrensigly rare specimen of superhero movie that isn’t plagued by tonal issues, has genuinely funny comedy bits (and the style of writing fits more with the protagonists being young teens), and balances well all of the aforementioned with the more emotional moments, which do feel earnest and not just there because the template says so.

Third act could have been a lil’ shorter, but still, lots of silly but genuine fun.