Review of Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) by Thiele — 22 Oct 2018

Bad Time at the El Royale is trying to be a Tarantino film. There, I said it, the one thing that was on my mind the entire length of the film. Imagine "The Hateful Eight" but instead of a cold cabin in the middle of a snowstorm and eight strangers with something to hide, imagine a cold motel in the middle of a thunderstorm and 5 strangers with something to hide.

... wow it really is just "The Hateful Eight" in another era. But don't let that stop you watching the film. While it tries to be a Tarantino film, it lacks dialogue that flows, it chooses the wrong time to change the mood, and it has pacing issues especially in the final two acts of the film.

While the dialogue isn't great, at times I could see that the actors were trying their best to make the most out of it. There really isn't a main character, with the story jumping perspective throughout the film.

This at times is done really well, with the first two acts being non-linear (another Tarantino trait) however, in the final act, in the last 30 minutes of the film, a character is given more backstory which seems to come out of nowhere and feels like it's been thrown into the story to make another plot point.

I could rant about it all day, but I'll leave it because I'll be getting into spoilers. So overall the characters have some interesting backstory, and all have something to hide or be ashamed of. Cynthia Erivo is the stand out for me.

Also Chris Hemsworth's antagonist reminded me of Joseph Seed (Far Cry 5) with a lot more crazy in him. I think he was an interesting character but, I wish was used and developed more. But not all is bad, the music, was used tremendously throughout most of the film.

The only negative was that at times I felt the music didn't fit the scene but often the camera work would pull me back in. Because visually the film is amazing, the cinematography was on point, starting with symmetrical framing and ending with a noir film look and feel while the lighting starts neutral it again takes on a film noir look.

Sadly, the visuals don't save the film it from its plot and structure. With many plot point going unsolved or just forgotten, and many instances where the pacing changes because they want to add another subplot to the already congested main story.

Yet, I enjoyed watching it but because it kept going and going, I slowly lost interest. (sorry to bring it back to the plot, I really didn't enjoy the structure of the film.) I still think it's worth a watch.

It has the body of a Tarantino film, making it enjoyable even if it's long. But it doesn't have the soul of a Tarantino film. TL; DR: The weak structure of the film and the not so great dialogue would pull me out, but I'd find myself going "wow that looks cool" So well done Drew Goddard.