"THE SUICIDE SQUAD" (2021) Review

 

"THE SUICIDE SQUAD" (2021) Review

No one had felt more surprised than myself when I learned that Warner Brothers had plans for a new movie featuring the D.C. Comics characters - the Suicide Squad. Although a box office hit, the 2016 movie was a critical failure. "SUICIDE SQUAD" is also regarded as one of the worst films of the D.C. Extended Universe (DCEU) franchise.

Yet, Warner Brothers had went ahead with their plans. And the studio hired James Gunn; who had directed 2014's "GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY" and its 2017 sequel, "GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 2" for Disney Studios/Marvel Films; to write and direct its new film. Both Gunn and Warner Brothers claimed that their new movie, "THE SUICIDE SQUAD", was not a sequel to the 2016 film. Yet, they also claimed that it was also not a reboot. Both claimed that it is a "do-over". Huh. A do-over sounds like a reboot to me.

If "THE SUICIDE SQUAD" was not a sequel, I found it interesting that it had utilized at least four characters from the 2016 film - Harley Quinn, Amanda Waller, Rick Flagg and George Harkness aka Captain Boomerang. It would have featured Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot as well, but Will Smith was unable to do the film. Even David Ayer, the 2016's film's director, had been slated to helm this second film . . . as a sequel. But in the end, Gunn received the assignment. And both the latter and Warner Brothers had decided this new movie would be a reboot. Hmmmm. Okay.

"THE SUICIDE SQUAD" began with Amanda Waller, Director of A.R.G.U.S., assembling members from Task Force X - inmates from the Belle Reve prison - for a new mission. Broken into two teams, "A" and "B", they were sent to the South American island nation of Corto Maltese after its government is overthrown by an anti-American regime, and are tasked with destroying the Nazi-era laboratory Jötunheim which holds a secretive experiment known as "Project Starfish". Waller's immediate subordinate Colonel Rick Flagg led Team A to land on the island and is nearly wiped out from Corto Maltese forces. Apparently, another Suicide Squad member, Richard "Dick" Hertz aka Blackguard, had informed the Corto Maltese of their landing. Only Flagg and Harley Quinn had survived. Team B, lead by sharpshooter/mercenary Robert DuBois aka Bloodsport, managed to land without being detected, due to the Corto Maltese being distracted by Team A's landing. The Corto Maltese managed to capture Harley. Team B searched for Flagg and discovered him taking refuge at a base camp for rebel soldiers lead by one Sol Soria. Flagg and the Team B managed to convince Soria to help them achieve their mission to destroy Project Starfish.

What can I say about "THE SUICIDE SQUAD"? It seemed to possess James Gunn's crazy brand of humor. This was especially apparent in the interactions between Bloodsport and another Team B member, the aggressively patriotic Christopher Smith aka Peacemaker; the deaths of most Team A members on the Colto Maltese beach; Harley's constant failure to recognize one of Soria's rebel soldiers and her final interaction with her captor dictator Silvio Luna. It also featured some interesting action sequences. I especially enjoyed the Suicide Squad's crazy ride through Valle Del Mar's streets, as the Squad and Soria's forces race to save Harley.

The movie definitely benefited from first-rate performances from the cast. "THE SUICIDE SQUAD" featured excellent performances from Idris Elba as Robert DuBois aka Bloodsport, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, David Dastmalchian as Abner Krill aka Polka-Dot Man, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, Taika Waititi the Ratcatcher, Juan Diego Botto as Silvio Luna, Storm Reid as Bloodsport's daughter Tyla, Joaquín Cosío as Major General Mateo Suárez and Sylvester Stallone's voice performance as Nanaue aka King Shark. However, the movie had its standout performances.

One such performance came from Margot Robbie, who managed to knock it out of the park as Harley Quinn . . . as usual, despite some cringey dialogue. I was also impressed by John Cena's portrayal of the uber-aggressive Peacemaker. In fact, I would go as far to say that his comic timing may have rivalled Robbie's. I was surprised to see Peter Capaldi as the Thinker, let alone in a comic book movie. Yet, he gave a complex performance as Gaius Grieves aka The Thinker, the lead scientist of Project Starfish who finally revealed the truth and the U.S. government's role in it to the Squad. For me, the best performance came from Daniela Melchior, who portrayed Cleo Cazo aka Ratcatcher 2, daughter of the Ratcatcher. Melchior gave a very poignant performance in one scene in which she described her relationship with her father to Bloodsport during the team's respite inside a bar.

Despite its virtues, certain aspects of "THE SUICIDE SQUAD" did not sit well with me. For example . . . the details behind the slaughter of Team A. If Blackguard had not ratted out the mission to the Corto Maltese military, Team A - along with himself - would have never been slaughtered. How did he do it? How did Blackguard managed to make contact and make a deal with the Corto Maltese Armed Forces before leaving the U.S. for the island? While he was a prisoner at a maximum prison like Belle Reve? How did he do it? What makes this so frustrating is that Gunn's screenplay never revealed how Blackguard was able to contact the Corto Maltese in the first place.

And why did Amanda Waller assign Rick Flagg, her trusted second-in-command, to lead Team A? You know, the team that nearly got wiped out by the Corto Maltese troops upon landing? The team that was used as a distraction from Team B's landing. Why did she do this? At first, I thought she had finally regarded Flagg as disposable. And yet, once she had discovered that Flagg had survived Team A's slaughter, she ordered Bloodsport and Team B to rescue him. So, if she wanted Flagg rescued, why in the hell did she assign him to Team A in the first damn place?

If Waller never had any intentions of killing Flagg, why did she bother to recruit Bloodsport to act as Team B's leader? Why did she do that? Why not simply assign Flagg as leader of Team B? In fact, she wanted Bloodsport as leader of Team B so badly that she blackmailed him by threatening to incarcerate his delinquent daughter Tyla at the Belle Reve prison. It seemed bad enough that Waller did not assign Flagg as Team B's leader. But she had to blackmail Bloodsport into assuming the role? Why? If she had wanted Bloodsport on the mission so badly, Waller should have reminded him of the mini bomb planted in his skull. This whole scenario regarding the Corto Maltese landing, Rick Flagg's situation, and the leaderships of both Teams A and B seemed like a vicious circle of contrived writing that produced several plot holes in the end.

I find it amazing that both Gunn and Warner Brothers had insisted that "THE SUICIDE SQUAD" was a "do-over" or reboot of "SUICIDE SQUAD". Not only were four characters from the original film brought back for this movie, Gunn had utilized a good number of characterizations and plot points from the 2016 movie.

For example, Bloodsport nearly came off as a remake of Deadshot. I realize that Gunn had originally intended for Deadshot to be one of the leading characters. But once he was unable to cast Will Smith, he hired Idris Elba to portray Deadshot. Then he changed his mind and decided to have Elba portray another D.C. Comics marksman - Bloodsport. The problem is that aside from some minor differences, Bloodshot reminded me a bit too much of Deadshot. Both were portrayed by actors of African descent. Both are considered among the best marksmen within the D.C. Comics universe. And both characters had complicated relationships with their daughters. When Gunn realized that he was going to have Elba portray Bloodsport, instead of Deadshot, I feel he should have been more original with the former character.

Like "SUICIDE SQUAD", Harley Quinn had a romantic interest in "THE SUICIDE SQUAD". In the 2021 film, she had a romance with Corto Malta's leading dictator Silvio Luna. My problem with this romance is that it had no impact upon the movie's main narrative . . . unlike her relationship with the Joker in "SUICIDE SQUAD". Yes, I found Harley's breakup with the dictator to be one of the film's funniest moments. But I found the entire romance a big waste of time. I wish Gunn had thought of another way to handle Harley's experiences between surviving Team A's slaughter and joining Team B. Gunn had Harley discover Luna's plans to use Project Starfish against other nations. But so what? Even Waller had suspected that might happen. That is why she had sent Task Force X to Corto Malta in the first place. I am sorry, but I found Harley's romance with Luna to be a big waste of time.

Gunn had created his own "bar scene" in "THE SUICIDE SQUAD". Perhaps he had added this sequence to give his protagonists a breather. Or perhaps he wanted to repeat the bar scene from "SUICIDE SQUAD", which is regarded as one of the best aspects of the latter film. How did I feel about it? This sequence featured a great performance from Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2. Yet, it failed to impress me, unlike the 2016 film's bar scene. For me, a woman discussing her loving relationship with her father was not as interesting as a man regretfully confessing to killing his loving wife and kids in a fit of rage. And I still ended with the feeling that Gunn had simply attempted to plagiarize David Ayer's scene.

I also found it interesting that the main villains for both movies were telepathic. And both - the Enchantress and Starro - had been exploited by the U.S. government. However, the Enchantress had been revealed as villainous before being discovered by Dr. June Moone and used by Waller. Starro did not work as a main villain for me. He had simply been an innocent captured and experimented on by the U.S. government. And his experiences had driven him to murderous behavior. Frankly, I feel as if the Thinker would have made a better "Big Bad" than Starro. The latter simply ended up as cartoonish and over-the-top to me. And his death . . . gruesome.

There were other aspects of the movie that bothered me. Whereas Ayer had wasted the Slipknot character in "SUICIDE SQUAD", Gunn managed to waste a slew of characters in this film's first twenty minutes. And one of those characters proved to be Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang. Another wasted character proved to be Michael Rooker's Brian Durlin aka Savant. The movie's opening sequence had spent a good deal of time on Savant's time in prison and preparation for the Corto Malto mission that his fate took me by surprise.

And then there was the matter of the mini bombs planted inside the heads of the Task Force X members. In the film's final sequence, Waller tried to prevent the remaining team members from stopping Starro in his rampage against the Corto Malta inhabitants. Why did she want to prevent the team from saving the Corto Malta citizens in the first place? In the end, her staff knocked her out and prevented her from setting off the bombs inside the remaining squad members' heads. The problem I have with this scenario is the device Waller had planned to use to set off the mini bombs. It resembled a piece of technology straight from the mid-to-late 20th century, instead of the late 2010s or early 2020s. What happened to the smart phones used by Waller and Flagg in the 2016 film? Did Gunn deliberately downplayed the bomb switch technology so that he had an excuse to prevent Waller from carrying out her executions . . . and give Bloodsport enough time to set her up for blackmail, using the Operation Starfish file? And why was Waller’s operations stationed at the Belle Reve Prison, instead of the A.R.G.U.S. headquarters in Washington D.C.? All of this . . . it simply smacked of contrived writing to me.

I also had a problem with King Shark. Earlier, I had pointed out that Sylvester Stallone gave a first-rate voice performance as this character. But I cannot say the same about how Gunn had written King Shark. The latter character struck me as rather infantile and cartoonish. Now I realize that King Shark was originally a human/shark hybrid from Hawaii named Nanaue. But was he portrayed in such a childish manner in "THE SUICIDE SQUAD", to the point I almost found it irritating and offensive. After all, the character had been portrayed with a great deal more intelligence in the comic books, the Harley Quinn animated series and in Arrowverse's "THE FLASH". Why Gunn had decided to portray King Shark as someone with limited intelligence, I do not know.

Over the years, I have noticed that when non-American directors - especially those from Europe - make action films set in the United States, they have a tendency to raise the level of gore and violence that American directors rarely use. I also noticed that Gunn utilized an unusually high level of gore and violence for "THE SUICIDE SQUAD". I found it ironic. Many critics had praised this movie to the skies and rarely anyone complained about the level of violence in this film. Whereas DCEU movies like "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE" received a great deal of complaints about its violence, "THE SUICIDE SQUAD" did not. Yet, I found the violence in the 2021 film ridiculously excessive. Huh.

Yes, "THE SUICIDE SQUAD" had its virtues. It featured some good action sequences and excellent performances from the cast led by Margot Robbie and Idris Elba. But I believe that thanks to James Gunn's writing, the movie featured an unsatisfying main villain, too many plot holes, too many flaws and unnecessarily excessive violence and gore. By the time the surviving members of the Suicide Squad had its final confrontation with the main villain, I found myself despising this film. Perhaps one day, I will give this movie another chance and learn to appreciate it. Who knows? But right now, I despise and regard it as one of my least favorite comic book movies of all time.

"THE SUICIDE SQUAD" (2021) Photo Gallery

Below are images from "THE SUICIDE SQUAD", the second adaptation of the DC Comics series. Written and directed by James Gunn, the movie stars Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, and Viola Davis:




"THE SUICIDE SQUAD" (2021) Photo Gallery

"BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) (2020) Review

 

"BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN)" (2020) Review

I never thought Warner Brothers Studios would do a follow up to the 2016 D.C. Extended Universe (DCEU) movie, "SUICIDE SQUAD". Not really. And there are reasons why I had harbored this belief.

Despite being a box office hit, "SUICIDE SQUAD" was poorly received by critics and many moviegoers. Yet, the movie also had its share of fans - including myself - who actually managed to enjoy it. But the Warner Brothers executives were more concerned with the critics' opinions than with box office performance. And since "SUICIDE SQUAD" was strongly associated with the D.C.E.U. films made by director Zack Snyder, I quickly formed the opinion that Warner Brothers would allow the movie to disappear from memory.

So, imagine my surprise when I learned that the studio had green-lighted a movie about the experiences of the Harley Quinn character featured in "SUICIDE SQUAD". I am aware that she was the most popular aspect of the 2016 movie, but I never thought Warner Brothers would approve a follow-up film about her and the formation of the Birds of Prey. So, color me surprised when I learned that this new movie would be made and it would be directed by newbie filmmaker, Cathy Yan.

"BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN)" begins four years after the events of "SUICIDE SQUAD". Off screen, the Joker ends his relationship with fugitive Harley Quinn by tossing her out on Gotham City's streets. After finding an apartment, thanks to a Tawainese restaurant owner she befriends named Doc, Harley became a roller derby player. Meanwhile, crime lord Roman Sionis has decided to become the new crime boss of Gotham following the Joker's disappearance. Due to a drunken Harley's assault on his driver and his memories of past insults, he tries to kidnap her, but the singer at his nightclub - Dinah Laurel Lance aka Black Canary - comes to her rescue. Impressed by Dinah's skills, Roman hires her as his new driver/bodyguard. Roman is also after a diamond embedded with the account numbers to the Bertinelli crime family fortune, who were massacred years ago. However, a young pickpocket named Cassandra "Cass" Cain steals the diamond from Zsasz and swallows it after she is arrested. Friendly with Cass, Dinah decides to become an informer for police detective Renee Montoya to protect the girl. Another person interested in Cass is Harley, who is after the girl and the diamond on Roman's behalf after he threatened to kill her if she does not cooperate. Another person threatening to overshadow everyone else's interests is Helena Bertinelli, a mysterious archer who has been carrying out a series of mob-related killings in revenge for her family's deaths.

On the surface, I was inclined to regard the narrative for "BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN)" as a loose series of subplots that barely connected. But the more I thought about Christina Hodson's screenplay, the more I realized that there is one aspect of the film's plot that strongly connected the subplots. And I am not referring to Harley Quinn. To me, Ronan Sionis aka Black Mask is the cord that connects the various subplots.

Think about it. Due to Harley's breakup with the Joker, he wants criminal control of Gotham City and petty revenge against her for past insults. Ronan had organized the massacre against the Bertinelli crime family with the help of his main enforcer Victor Zsasz, in order to get his hands on the family's diamond. This leads Helena to hunt down members of his crime family. Cassandra "Cass" Cain had managed to steal the very diamond that Ronan wants, leading to her becoming his main target. Dinah Lance was employed as the main talent at Ronan's nightclub, until he hired her to become his driver and a bodyguard. And because of Cass being endangered by Ronan, Dinah had agreed to serve as a spy within the Sionis' crime family on behalf of Detective Renee Montoya. As for the latter, she had been fixated in arresting Ronan for years. And because of this, she ended up being suspected from the police force and searching for Cass and the diamond. "BIRDS OF PREY" could have easily dissolved into a confusing movie that possessed disjointed story arcs. Thankfully, director Cathy Yan and screenwriter Christina Hodson had the good sense to use a strong and dynamic villain like Ronan Sionis as the main link to connect the movie's protagonists' varied subplots.

"BIRDS OF PREY" also featured a rather unique narrative style that reminded me of the first half of "MAN OF STEEL" and "SUICIDE SQUAD" in that it depended on a great deal of story utilizing flashbacks. In the case of "BIRDS OF PREY", the film's narrative use of flashbacks struck me as very colorful and unique - almost with a strong comic book style to it. Mind you, the speed in which the narrative jumps between the past and the present is a bit mind boggling and can force a moviegoer to keep on his or her toes, while watching it. As for the film's action sequences - I enjoyed them, but most of these sequences seemed to be dominated by Harley. It is not until the last major fight sequence in which Harley needs the help of Dinah, Renee and Helena to protect Cassandra from Ronan's goons. And I must say . . . it was a well-shot fight sequence.

As much as I had enjoyed "BIRDS OF PREY", I had some problems with the film. A lot of fans had complimented Harley's warehouse fight against Ronan's thugs, while accidentally inhaling cocaine. Honestly? I found Harley's accidental drug intake rather unnecessary. There was another scene that really annoyed me and it featured Harley’s "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" illusions after being punched by Ronan. It was one of the most pretentious montages I have ever seen in a comic book movie. And very unnecessary. There was also a scene in which Dinah finally used the famous Canary Cry on many of Ronan's thugs in the film's final action scene. After using it . . . she passed out. Why? Why was it so necessary to make her faint after using the Canary Cry? So that she and Renee would not participate in the chase scene featuring Harley, Helena, Cass and Ronan? Having the Black Canary faint after using her Cry irritated the hell out of me.

However, my main problem with the "BIRDS OF PREY" narrative was that two actions by the Joker - his rejection of Harley and departure from Gotham City - kick started the film's story. If the Joker had not rejected Harley, she would have never been forced to re-start her life on her own and play a role in the formation of the Birds of Prey. And Ronan would have never made the effort to elevate his position to Gotham City's top crime lord. So . . . why did the Joker dump Harley? Why did he leave Gotham City? Unfortunately, Hodson's screenplay never provided a reason behind the Joker's actions. In the case of Harley Quinn and the Joker, Warner Brothers could have made a movie depicting their relationship and what led to their breakup. Or . . . Hodson and Yan could have provided some explanation on why the Joker had dumped Harley in the first place. But what I found really baffling was his decision to leave Gotham City. Why did he do it? And why did Hodson and Yan make no effort to explain his disappearance?

I certainly had no problems with the film's performances. Margot Robbie, as usual, gave an energetic and skillful portrayal of the comic book villain. Some have claimed that Robbie's performance in "BIRDS OF PREY" was superior to her performance in "SUICIDE SQUAD", due to how Harley was written in both films.. To each his or her own, I suppose. Personally, I found this claim hard to swallow. I thought Harley's characterization was excellent in both films. More importantly, both films did an excellent job in depicting Harley's character during different periods in her life.

I have only seen Ewan McGregor portray a villain - major or minor - in two other films before "BIRDS OF PREY". And honestly? He should portray villains as often as he can. I thought his portrayal of the narcissist and vindictive Ronan was superb and spot on. I also enjoyed how he managed to inject a bit of homoerotic overtones in Ronan's relationship with his henchman, Victor Szasz. Another performance that I truly enjoyed came from Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Dinah Laurel Lance aka the Black Canary. Smollett-Bell did an excellent job in conveying Dinah's emotional turmoil over her current life and desires. Thanks to the actress' performance, Dinah seemed torn between her disgust and fear of Ronan, her sense of self-preservation, her continuing trauma over her vigilante mother's death and her desire to help others - especially someone like Cassandra Cain. Rosie Perez gave a first-rate, yet colorful performance as the world-weary and alcoholic Detective Renee Montoya. Perez skillfully conveyed Renee's struggles with being underappreciated by her fellow Gotham City Police detectives and being rejected by her ex-girlfriend, District Attorney Ellen Yee. At the same time, Perez's Renee conveyed a steely determination to not only arrest Harley early in the film, but also bring down Ronan at all costs.

"BIRDS OF PREY" proved to be Ella Jay Basco's second movie in a career that spanned at least six years. I thought Basco gave a first-rate, yet subtle performance as the pickpocket Cassandra Cain. Basco managed to form strong screen chemistry with both Robbie and Smollett-Bell. And she also conveyed a talent for sharp and witty dialogue that seemed to come from no where, taking others by surprise. The role of Helena Bertinelli aka the mysterious archer aka the Huntress was a curious one for actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Her role in the film was not as big as the others. And unlike the others, her connection to Ronan was clouded by the fact that she was unaware of Ronan being personally responsible for her family's deaths. Despite having a smaller role than the other protagonists, Winstead gave a memorable performance the ruthless assassin, whose emotional growth, stunted by past trauma, made it difficult for her to connect with others. I have personally not seen Chris Messina in a movie for nearly a decade - not since 2012's "ARGO". But I have to admit that the role of Victor Szaz has to be one of the most fascinating I have ever seen him portray. Messina's Szasz is a brutal, yet observant enforcer with a talent for ass-kissing I have yet to see in any other comic book movie. Not only was Szasz one of Messina's best roles, but I also believe it was his funniest. The movie also featured competent performances from the likes of Steven Williams, Ali Wong, François Chau, Daniel Bernhardt, Dana Lee and Derek Wilson.

Overall, I enjoyed "BIRDS OF PREY" very much. It is not perfect. No movie really is. And I have pointed out that I believe its main flaws came from Christina Hodson's screenplay. But I thought she did a good job in using the Ronan Sionis character to connect the protagonists' subplots in order to form a main one. The cast, led by Margot Robbie, provided excellent and entertaining performances. And Cathy Yan proved that given a chance by the studios, she is a talent to be reckoned with as a director.

"BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) (2020) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from the eighth entry in the D.C. Comics Extended Universe (DCEU) movie franchise, "BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN)". Directed by Cathy Yan, the movie starred Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn:

"BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) (2020) Photo Gallery

"ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD" (2019) Review

"ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD" (2019) Review

When I had first learned that producer-director Quentin Tarantino had plans to make a movie about "Old Hollywood", I assumed that it would be set during the early 20th century - at least sometime between the 1920s and the 1940s. I had no idea that the movie would be set near the end of the 1960s.

The reason behind my initial assumption was that I have never considered the 1960s decade to be a part of . . . "Old Hollywood". For me, that era in film history had ended by the late 1950s. I eventually learned that a good number of movie stars - Rock Hudson being one of them - had retained contracts with the industries movie studios even during the Sixties. Even those who had transferred from movie to television productions. Then . . . I heard that the movie would be about the LaBianca-Tate Murders from August 1969. Familiar with the level of violence featured in past Tarantino movies, I was pretty determined to avoid this movie. I am used to the violence featured in the director's past movies. But I really could not see myself sitting in a movie theater and watching a re-creation of the murder of actress Sharon Tate, Hollywood hairdresser Jay Sebring and a few other friends at the hands of Charles Manson's Family. I had seen the 1976 movie, "HELTER SKELTER" when I was a kid. Once was enough and that was only a two-part television movie. But when I had eventually learned that "ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD" was a revisionist movie like his 2009 film, "INGLORIOUS BASTERDS", I decided to give it a chance.

"ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD" covered a six month period near the end of the 1960s - from February to August 1969. To be honest, the movie is divided into two time periods. Two-thirds of the movie is set during a 36-hour period in early Februrary 1969. The last third of the film is set during the afternoon and evening hours of August 8-9, 1969. The movie is about the experiences of two men - Hollywood television actor Rick Dalton and his friend/stunt man/chauffeur Cliff Booth. Following the cancellation of his television series, "Bounty Law", Rick had been making guest appearances in various television shows as villains. Casting agent Marvin Schwarz warns Rick that the longer he continues appearing in television episodes as the villain, his career will eventually die and no one will remember him from "Bounty Law". The agent suggests that Rick consider going to Europe to star in an Italian western or two. And Cliff find his career as a Hollywood stuntman over due to rumors that he may have killed his wife and an altercation with Bruce Lee on the set of "THE GREEN HORNET". Only his job as Rick's chauffeur/handyman has allowed Cliff to earn any cash, thanks to the actor's alcoholism and collection of DUIs that led to the removal his driver's license.

Rick has also acquired new neighbors - Polish-born director Roman Polanski and his actress wife Sharon Tate - both with Hollywood careers that seemed to be on the upswing. The couple had just began leasing the home of music producer Terry Melcher. Rick has dreams of befriending them as a means to revive his career. Meanwhile, he contemplates accepting Marvin's suggestion, while he begins work on his current job - a guest appearance as another villain in the pilot episode of the TV western called "LANCER". As for Cliff, he becomes acquainted with a beautiful hitchhiker named Pussycat. She turns out to be a member of the Manson Family, who are staying at Spahn Ranch, where he and Rick used to film "Bounty Law". Cliff's encounter with the ranch's owner, the blind and aging George Spahn and members of the Manson Family foreshadows a later encounter on that infamous night, six months later.

While contemplating his career, I noticed all of the four movies made by Quentin Tarantino in the past ten years were period pieces. All of them . . . from "INGLORIOUS BASTERDS" to this current film, "ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD". I would never consider the other three films as nostalgic, but a part of me cannot help but wonder if I could say the same about this latest one. The pacing for "ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD" struck me as a lot more detailed, relaxed and reflective than any of his previous movies. It almost seemed as if Tarantino was paying some kind of loving tribute to the end of the old Hollywood studio system. For me, this seemed like both a good thing and a bad one.

Tarantino always had a reputation for scenes that featured long stretches of dialogue or detailed action sequences. And yes, the pacing in his films - with the exception of scenes featuring action or revelations of previous mysteries - can be a tad slow upon first viewing. But "ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD" marked the first time I can recall such a small amount of violence or action. Tarantino seemed more evoking a sense of the past than in any other of his period films. For "ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD", it was a good thing for the film managed to permeate the end of the 1960s in Los Angeles and the Hollywood Studio system thanks to Tarantino's direction, Barbara Ling's superb production designs, Arianne Phillips' costume designs and the art direction led by Richard L. Johnson.

On the other hand, Tarantino's in-depth peek into Los Angeles 1969 also had a negative impact . . . a minor one, if I must be honest. This slow exploration also included a look into actress Sharon Tate's life . . . at least in the first two-thirds of the film. Basically, the movie reflected a peek into the daily life of the actress - attending a party at Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion, visiting a bookstore in the Westwood Village, and watching her latest film ("THE WRECKING CREW") at the theater. I realize that Tarantino was trying to pay some kind of homage to Tate, but I found this . . . homage rather dragged the film's pacing.

There were two other aspects of "ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD" that I found troubling. One brief scene early in the film featured an appearance by Charles Manson at the Polanski-Tate home, searching for music producer Terry Melcher, who owned it. In real life, Manson had visited the house on several occasions, searching for the music producer. These visits had led to the Tate-LaBianca murders. But the movie only featured one visit by Manson and it happened early in the film . . . six months before the night of August 8-9. I believe this is where Tarantino's narrative structure for the film had failed. I belief the film's second act, which is set during that very night, should have began at least a few days or a week or two earlier, allowing one or two more visits by Manson to 10050 Cielo Drive and setting up his plan to send some of his followers to kill its inhabitants.

And there was Cliff's infamous fight with Bruce Lee that outraged a good number of critics and moviegoers and led them to accuse Tarantino of disrespct toward the actor/martial artist and racism. Many took umbrage at Tarantino's portrayal of Lee as a braggadocio who needed to be taken down by a white man in a fight - namely Cliff. If I must honest, I felt the same. I still do . . . somewhat. I recently discovered that one of the production companies backing the film is Bona Film Group, a Chinese organization controlled by Yu Dong and Jeffrey Chan. As producers and co-financiers of the film, why did Bona Film Group fail to protest against the Booth-Lee encounter? Did the company's executives have a personal grudge against the late martial artist? Was this lack of protest due to some unpopularity of Lee in mainland China? Or did the production company simply not cared? One minor nitpick . . . actor Mike Moh's hairstyle for Lee was a bit too long for that 1966 or 1967 flashback. Personally, I think Tarantino should have never added that scene in the first place. It was not that relevant to the film's overall narrative. Or he could have easily allowed Cliff to have a fight with a fictional character, instead of Lee . . . anything to avoid the unnecessary controversy that followed.

Despite these flaws, I really enjoyed "ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD". As I had stated earlier, I really enjoyed the film's atmospheric setting of the Hollywood community at the end of the 1960s. The movie also did an excellent job in conveying Tarantino's talent for creating a narrative structure for his films. The director allowed moviegoers a peak into a Hollywood industry that was in the process of change from the old studio system to the industry's American New Wave era between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s. This transistion was conveyed in the film not only marked by Rick Dalton's anxiety over his foundering career, but also capped by the Manson Family's attack upon Cielo Drive. However, Rick was not the only one anxious about his future. Cliff Booth faced professional oblivion following Rick's marriage to an Italian actress in the film's second half. Despite their close relationship, Rick made it obvious that he could not afford to keep Cliff in his employ. The night of August 8-9 was supposed to be his last night in Rick's employ. What is also interesting about this film is that like "THE HATEFUL EIGHT", it ended on an ambiguous note. Was Rick's career ever salvaged? Also, many have forgotten that on the following evening, Charles Manson himself led a second attack upon Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in Los Angeles' Los Feliz neighborhood. Did the revisionist ending of "ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD" prevent these murders? I wonder.

The movie also featured many sequences that I found very enjoyable to watch. They also help set up and maintain the film's narrative. These scenes included Marvin Schwarz's frank assessment of Rick's career, Polanski and Tate's appearance at a Playboy Mansion party, Rick's delightful interactions with an eight year-old actress named Trudi Fraser on the "LANCER" set that helped him turn in a memorable performance, Rick's breakdown in a trailer after flubbing his lines, and Cliff's meeting with Pussycat. But there were two scenes that really stood out for me. One of those scenes were Cliff's encounter with the Manson family at Spahn's Ranch seemed like Tarantino's take on what happened between "the family" and a stuntman named Donald Shea in late August 1969. I thought Tarantino did a superb job with this scene. It was well-paced, filled with a great deal of tension.

I can say the same about the movie's last sequence that featured the Manson Family's attack upon Cielo Drive during the night of August 8-9. This is where Tarantino' use of historical revision came into play. The director-writer used Rick's constant complaints about "hippies", his celebrity as a former television star and Cliff's previous encounter with the Manson Family to re-direct the latter's attack from the Polanski-Tate household to the Dalton household. And what unfolded was chaotic, occasionally funny and yes, very scary. It truly was a well shot and well-acted sequence.

"ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD" featured a good deal of cameos - probably a lot more than any previous Tarantino film (I could be wrong, since I have not seen all of his films). Making solid cameos were Damian Lewis, Michael Madsen, Timothy Olyphant (as actor James Stacy), Luke Perry (as actor Wayne Maunder), Damon Herriman (as Charles Manson), Ramón Franco, Lena Durnham, Rumer Willis, Martin Kove, Clu Galagher, Rebecca Gayheart, Brenda Vaccaro, Scoot McNairy, Clifton Collins, Jr., James Remar, and Toni Basil. The movie also featured some very memorable supporting performances - especially from the likes of Al Pacino, who delightfully portrayed casting agent Marvin Schwarz; an entertaining Kurt Russell who not only portrayed stunt gaffer Randy Miller, but also served as the film's narrator; Zoë Bell, who was equally entertaining as Randy's stunt gaffer wife Janet; Mike Moh, who gave a colorful performance as Bruce Lee; Lorenza Izzo, as Rick's wife Francesca Capucci; a rather frightening Dakota Fanning as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, Manson family member; Maya Hawke as "Flower Child"; Nicholas Hammond as actor-director Sam Wanamaker; Rafał Zawierucha as Roman Polanski; Julia Butters as the delightful child actor Trudi Fraser; a very charming Emile Hirsch as Jay Sebring; the always entertaining Bruce Dern as George Spahn; and Margaret Qualley, who was very memorable as Manson Family member "Pussycat".

I will be the first admit that Tarantino made little use of Sharon Tate in this film. It was quite clear that her presence really served as a catalyst for Tarantino's story and possibly a muse. But I cannot deny that Margot Robbie gave a very charming and ellubient performance as the late actress. Brad Pitt, on the other hand, gave a very subtle yet memorable performance as former stuntman Cliff Booth, whose career had seen better days. This was due to the mysterious circumstances behind the death of Cliff's wife. Many believe he may have killed her and got away with the crime. And Pitt managed to reflect this ambiguity in his performance and in his eyes. There were times when it seemed there was a bit of a "cool superhero" element in the character that at times, made it a bit difficult for me to relate to him. But thanks to Pitt's natural screen persona and a very subtle performance, I was able to do so in the end.

If I had to choose the most complex character in the entire movie, it would have to be former television star Rick Dalton. And I cannot deny that Leonardo DiCaprio did an exceptional job of conveying this character to the movie screen. Thanks to DiCaprio's performance and Tarantino, Rick is such a conumdrum. One could label him as one of those actors from the late 1950s and early 1960s, who became television stars and later tried to make the transition to film. I have read many comments that Rick has a conservative outlook on his tastes and acting skills that will forever limit him from becoming a star in Hollywood's New Age in films. This is very apparent in Rick's pompadour hairstyle in the film's first half, his occasional rants against hippies and his reluctant to adapt to the new Hollywood. And yet . . . Rick eventually concedes to Schwarz's suggestion that he try Italian westerns, he changes his hairstyle and wardrobe to reflect the fashions of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and he seeks to make social connections with Polanski and Tate to further his career. Rick is also an alcoholic and might be bipolar. DiCaprio did an excellent job in conveying Rick's emotional state that reflect these traits.

"ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD" is not my favorite Quentin Tarantino film, it has became my favorite film of 2019. I do not think it has a chance of winning any of the big prizes during the awards season of 2019-2020. I have a deep suspicion that the media and the Hollywood community is not as enamoured of it as I am. Which is okay . . . to each his or her own. But damn it, the movie was superb. I have heard rumors that Tarantino plans to retire from filmmaking. Personally, I think this is a mistake on his part. Perhaps he wants to end his career on a high note. And "ONCE UPON A TIME . . . IN HOLLYWOOD" is certainly a reflection of it, thanks to Tarantino's direction, his screenplay, the movie's production values and especially the cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. But I hope that Tarantino continues to make movies.