Mayhem

Movie Name: Mayhem
Year of Release: 2017
Director: Joe Lynch
Starring: Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving, Steven Brand, Caroline Chikezie, Kerry Fox, Dallas Roberts, Mark Frost, Claire Dellamar, André Eriksen, Nikola Kent, Lucy Chappell
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review

"Mayhem" is Joe Lynch's follow up to "Everly", a "Colombiana" style film which featured Salma Hayek as the lead actress. The film focuses on the story of Derek Cho, a young man who has been diligently working at a massive consulting firm. He comes across a client by the name of Melanie Cross, who is desperately trying to retain ownership of her home, and Derek explains her options and how she can do so. When the tension escalates he asks security to escort her out. He realizes that a mess of a legal case has been pinned on him by his boss, Kara Powell, someone he considerably dislikes. The tension also escalates there and they decide to take the situation to the next level, the CEO of the company, John Towers. Derek is targeted as the fall guy for that messy situation, and is fired by Human Resources chief, Lester McGill. As he is about to be escorted out from the building, the building itself is placed under quarantine, as the virus ID-7 (a red eye virus which makes people fall prey to their darker instincts, including murder) has been detected inside. While a neutralizing agent has ben released in the building, it will take approximately eight hours for the virus to be decimated. Stuck inside the building, Derek decides to protest and get his job back, however he is taken to the basement to be beaten up by Towers' security team. Derek gets beaten, his friend Derek gets killed, and he eventually finds himself locked up with Melanie, who didn't make out of the building before the quarantine procedures. They eventually decide to work together, and start solving both their problems and eliminate anything that stands in their way, starting with Kara Powell. 

This film feels oddly prescient of the times we're currently living. At a time when most organizations are reaping more financial rewards at the cost of laying off more and more people, the events this film illustrates seem ironically relevant. The director smartly positions this film as a B-movie vehicle, though at times one can't help but think what someone like David Cronenberg could have done with this material in the 1980s. What this means is that we get barely defined characters, but these archetypes, including Derek's fall guy who is in reality a hard worker who had to climb the ladder with perseverance and talent, Melanie the client who is facing eviction, the villainous managerial staff, all of them are so finely embodied by these actors, one can't help but appreciate the over the top events that are taking place. The film is pretty straightforward on its premise, and very low on pretension: hard worker gets blamed and fired, client is desperate and is pushed aside, management is unscrupulous and greedy, and a rage catalyst virus is spread across the building. Those ingredients start a series of non stop action tableaus that are bloody, and at times, even quite funny. The director and his creative team get their point across quite well, namely that the greed DNA isn't easily extinguishable, but that ultimately everyone gets their comeuppance. The cast is uniformly solid, with Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving, Dallas Roberts, and the unexpected (for this film) Kerry Fox, giving credible and ferocious performances. The production team is solid, with the highlight going to Mina Buric's production design, building the corporate offices into something believable and relatable, and also Steve Moore's score. It may not be for everyone, but it's an entertaining film nonetheless. 

Blue Steel

Movie Name: Blue Steel
Year of Release: 1990
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver, Clancy Brown, Louise Fletcher, Philip Bosco, Elizabeth Peña, Kevin Dunn, Richard Jenkins, Markus Flanagan, Mike Hodge, Mike Starr, Tom Sizemore, Matt Craven
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review

"Blue Steel" was Kathryn Bigelow's third feature since her debut with "The Loveless" in 1981. It was also another collaboration of her with screenwriter and director Eric Red, who made a name for himself in the 1980s with Robert Harmon's "The Hitcher", his own "Cohen and Tate", and his previous collaboration with Kathryn Bigelow, the vampire film "Near Dark". The film focuses its narrative on a fresh out of school police officer by the name of Megan Turner. In one of her first assignments she's forced to shoot a robber, who is holding up a neighborhood supermarket, and is threatening to kill people. When she shoots him, his gun falls to the ground, and one of the people in the supermarket, commodities trader Eugene Hunt, takes the gun and eventually slips away. Even with the eyewitnesses, but because the gun could not be retrieved, Megan is suspended from the job (and treated very harshly in the process). Eugene in the meantime starts killing random people with the gun all the while having paranoid delusions. Megan is trying to clear her name, but also starts dating Eugene, who has become obsessed with her. He admits to her he took the gun from the supermarket, and has been killing people since then. Megan arrests him, but Eugene is freed since his lawyer claims lack of evidence. Megan manages to partner with Detective Nick Mann, and they both seek out the evidence needed to arrest Eugene, but the following events just keep harming Megan's credibility further and further.

Kathryn Bigelow has a rare talent of making her stories and her characters both vivid and authentic. Even when the narrative is a futuristic one such as "Strange Days" or more of a trip back in time such as "The Weight of Water", every story fills inhabited by credible characters and situations. "Blue Steel" is one of her films where the plausibility of what's taking place is stretched beyond reasonable. While the obsessive relationship that is captured between Eugene and Megan has some possible ties with reality, everything else that is occurring around it, is stretched to a limit that undermines the narrative that is being told. There are sub-plots in the film that aim to bring some additional dimension to Megan as a character, and they do have enough dramatic ethos to do so (namely the relationship between her parents), however that is not extended to any of the other characters, including Eugene, who is illustrated as a sudden serial killer who is able to hold a very visible job during the day (he's the original "American Psycho" apparently). What eventually starts happening as the film progresses, and the incredulity of the situations mount, the ability to capture the audience's attention and investment lessens. The disconnect between where the narrative started and where it eventually leads is enormous, which in itself is not problematic, but that journey for the characters themselves feels less organic and more like a science-fiction narrative (which I don't think is the purpose). Jonathan Demme in his brilliant take on Thomas Harris' "The Silence of the Lambs" also took us on a journey, but one where even with the horrific tale being presented on screen, there was a consistency to it that made it engaging to go on the journey with Clarice Starling from beginning to end. This film lacks a supple journey, Megan's events feel unstructured, and Eugene's ability to circumvent every single challenge, particularly for someone who has no idea of what he is doing, feel unreal. The cast tries their best with the material they have, particularly Jamie Lee Curtis who gives it her all, with Clancy Brown, Louise Fletcher and Philip Bosco providing good support. The production team is impeccable, including Brad Fiedel's score and Amir Mokri's cinematography. It's a lessen feature in Kathryn Bigelow's body of work.