When describing “Bad Times At The El Royale,” there will be people who will say that it’s “different,” “fresh,” “interesting,” or “captivating.” I would not disagree with those sentiments, but there is also one word that I would use for the movie that isn’t really a description, and more of what I had to have when watching it. “Patience.” Then if I want to be extra mean, another word I would use is “bored.” Oh, but let’s not stop there. I’ll toss in an actual descriptive word for the film. “Indulgent.”
I will say this about Writer-Director Drew Goddard, he has a good visual eye on how his movies should look, and clearly he has a lot of creative imagination with his writing. That’s something I’m not going to take away from him, because he’s in prime form with this film, as it is visually arresting, and the story is something you really want to see through until the end. Just from the very first scene, you can tell that the movie is going to be filled with a lot of great set pieces, and there are indeed. From the quirky premise of the El Royale, you can also tell that there are going to be twists and turns worth sticking around for, and sure enough they are.
With all that said, let’s go back to that word I said previously, “Indulgent.” This is a movie that seems to have a lot of ambitious ideas, that I think it ended up becoming a detriment to the overall experience. So much set up. So much backstory. So much plot turns. So much pay offs. There’s just so much here to digest. Ironically, another word that can also describe the movie is “slow,” because it does take it’s time before it gets to the point where you’ll really want to feel invested with what’s going on (about an hour in). That’s all despite the fact that I still feel like there is so much content crammed into this 142 minutes movie. As cliche as it is for me to say, but maybe Drew Goddard should have just made this a TV mini-series.
If this movie manages to cross the finish line a winner, it’s because it had the help of a fantastic ensemble cast. Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson, Lewis Pullman, Cailee Spaeny, and yes Chris Hemsworth who seemed to really be having a blast in his role. I’ll give credit once again to Goddard’s writing, because he manages to flesh out these characters in interesting ways, and yes I did find myself invested in their outcomes. Some people might also say that the “El Royale” is a character on it’s own, but if that’s the case then I want a little bit more development than what was given to us. The El Royale’s lounge / main hall however? Now that’s a character!
Being that I’m a fan of Drew Goddard’s work, I am a little disappointed that I didn’t completely love “Bad Times At The El Royale” as much as I hoped I would. It does have a lot to offer in terms of entertainment value, and I did like the twists and turns in the story. Seriously though, Goddard should consider just redoing this movie into a mini-series. Just saying…
loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible
