Movie Reviews: Unhinged and The One and Only Ivan – Purcell Register

First of all this week, I would be remiss if I didnt say happy birthday to my wonderful mother, Judy Stull, who turns 75 this Friday.

I love you mom.

Thank you for always being there for me, and for encouraging me no matter what my interests may be at the time. Especially when those interests have included me spending an obscene amount of time watching movies.

Secondly, I would like to thank the fine folk at Solstice Studios for allowing me the opportunity to watch and review their latest theatrical film, Unhinged, in the comfort of my own home.

As I said last week, I dont plan on visiting movie theaters anytime in the near future due to the ongoing pandemic. That made getting the chance to watch and review Unhinged quite the welcomed surprise. One for which Im very grateful.

Anyway, along with Unhinged, this week I also saw a new Disney film inspired by a true story about a gorilla named Ivan who just wants to be free.

So without further ado, lets get to the reviews.

***

First up is Unhinged.

Rachel (Caren Pistorius), a young mother, is running late getting to work and her sons school when she crosses paths with a confrontational stranger (Russell Crowe) at a traffic light.

Soon, Rachel finds herself and everyone she loves the target of a man who feels invisible and is looking to make one last mark upon the world by teaching her a series of deadly lessons. What follows is a dangerous game of cat and mouse that proves you never know who youre driving next to.

I dont exactly know what I was expecting with this movie, but it definitely ended up being not quite what I assumed it would be.

Typically, if I can help it, I try to avoid learning all that much about a film before I watch it. For me, the surprise of not knowing what I have in store adds to the fun of watching the movie.

That said, I think I may have taken it a little too far in this case. Because not only did I not know what this film was about, or who was in it, beyond Russell Crowe of course, I didnt even realize what movie genre Unhinged fell into.

From the title Unhinged and the decision to cast an actor like Russell Crowe, I assumed this was another revenge movie.

Something like Death Wish, either the 1974 one staring Charles Bronson or the more recent reboot featuring Bruce Willis.

I figured Crowe would be our morally ambiguous protagonist. A man seeking revenge on those who have wronged him, executing righteous justice on anyone who dared to harm the people he loved.

Oh how comically wrong I was.

If it wasnt already made clear by the synopsis, this is not a revenge flick.

Unhinged may bill itself as an action/thriller, but at its core this is a horror movie. And Russell Crowe is not anything remotely resembling a hero here. Hes the monster.

I wish everyone reading could have seen my face when this simple realization dawned on me. Im sure it was a hilarious mix of incredulous shock and delight.

Here I was expecting a by-the-numbers revenge movie featuring a popular Hollywood leading man, but instead I got a horror film with a fairly unique concept, and the person I assumed would be playing the protagonist turned out to be the villain.

Once I finally processed that, and I figured out what I was in store for, I knew I was gonna have a good time with this film.

And it turns out I was right.

This might not be the best horror flick Ive ever seen, but it certainly was one of the more fun movie watching experiences Ive had in recent memory.

All the markings of a solid horror movie watching experience are here.

Youve got your likeable and easy to root for main characters in the form of Rachel and her son Kyle, played by Caren Pistorius and Gabriel Bateman respectively.

I like how the film takes its time to introduce Rachel and her family, especially her and her son.

Rachel isnt a perfect mother. Shes often late, occasionally forgetful, and maybe she could learn to de-escalate conferentations with passing motorists a little better. But she tries her best, and she clearly cares about her son.

Both Caren and Gabriel have a great mother-son chemistry together. They just felt natural with each other. Like theyve known each other their whole lives.

This brief insight into who Rachel is as a character is what makes all the horrible trauma shes eventually subjected to all the more riveting.

Speaking of horrible trauma, Russell Crowe actually makes for a surprisingly unnerving horror movie villain.

He might have been a little too gruff and growly at times for my tastes, but he certainly was intimidating. The film does a really good job building him up as a man far beyond the moral constraints of society, willing to inflict unspeakable suffering on anyone who he thinks may have wronged him.

So when Crowes character does eventually end up running across Rachel, the air is already thick with tension before the two of them exchange even a single word.

As far as horror movies go, there arent really too many scares in this film. Theres definitely a good amount of suspense though. And what the movie lacks in frights, it makes up for in intense and semi-creative ways of harming Rachels loved ones.

As for the narrative itself, Im of two minds when it comes to this film.

On one hand, it starts out as a very comprehensive script. One with some well outlined characters and the setup for quite a few moments that end up paying off later on at some point in the film.

Sadly, towards the end of the movie, things begin to make a little less sense as characters seem to start making decisions based on what would make for the most dramatic conclusion, instead of what might be the most sensible thing to do at the moment.

Luckily, it too isnt convoluted, but I certainly did raise a questioning eyebrow at some of Rachels decisions.

Theres also the issue of the grander message this film tries to present.

After the introduction to Crowes character, the film shows an extended opening montage showing the stresses of everyday life, and real life footage of people lashing out and becoming violent, including acts of road rage.

Its heavily implied that these constant stresses could make anyone go crazy given the right circumstances. Heck, its even in the tagline of the movie itself. He can happen to anyone.

But for better or worse, this thesis is largely dropped after the opening credits. There isnt a deeper exploration of these ideas. All of that is just the window dressing.

I guess in recent years, thanks to filmmakers like Jordan Peele, Ari Aster, and Robert Eggers, Ive come to expect my horror movies to be a little more thought provoking, but this film just isnt that.

Unhinged is a simple, yet entertaining, horror thriller. One thats content in being not much more than meets the eye.

This definitely doesnt make it bad. Far from it. I had a blast with this movie.

Honestly, I think its been months since Ive had this much fun watching a horror film.

Thats one of the things Ive missed the most since this pandemic started. Popcorn horror movies.

Simple little horror flicks that are easy to watch, and even better seen with a crowd.

If thats the kind of movie itch youre looking to scratch, I cant say I necessarily recommend driving up to a theater to watch this film with the current state of things.

But if you were already planning on visiting your favorite cinema and youre looking for something fun to watch for 90 minutes, this movie would certainly fit that bill just nicely.

Unhinged is rated R and is playing in theaters.

***

The other movie this week is The One and Only Ivan.

Ivan (Sam Rockwell) is a 400-pound silverback gorilla who lives at Big Top Mall, a suburban shopping mall with a circus, owned by Mack (Bryan Cranston), along with a stray dog named Bob (Danny DeVito).

Ivan has few memories of the jungle where he was captured, but when a baby elephant named Ruby (Brooklynn Prince) arrives, it touches something deep within him which causes him to question his life, where he comes from and where he ultimately wants to be.

Like many films that have ended up on Disneys subscription based streaming service this year, this is yet another movie that was initially set to be released in theaters, but ultimately ended up on Disney+ due to the ongoing pandemic.

In a lot of ways, it almost feels like this was Disneys response to Dolittle, a film which released earlier this year and also featured a wide variety of talking animals.

Funnily enough, it also feels a bit like a response to Disneys own recent reimagining of another film featuring a cute baby elephant at a circus, Dumbo.

And though it isnt necessarily the highest bar to surpass, I think The One and Only Ivan actually ended up being the best movie out of all three of these films.

Like both Dolittle and Dumbo, The One and Only Ivan is a live action movie featuring real life actors alongside a wide variety of fully computer animated realistic looking animals.

Just like Dolittle, this is a fully voiced cast of talking animals, including the voice talents of Rockwell, DeVito, and Prince as I mentioned before, along with Angelina Jolie as an elephant, Helen Mirren as a poodle, Chaka Khan as a chicken, Phillipa Soo as a parrot, and Mike White as a seal.

Unlike Dolittle though, there is no unusually gifted man who can talk to the animals. The closest we get is a little girl at the circus named Julia (Ariana Greenblatt), who seems to have a keen intuition of how Ivan is feeling at any given moment.

But Im getting lost in the weeds trying to find all the ways this movie is or isnt similar to other films.

Youre probably more interested in knowing if this movie is worth watching? And maybe more importantly, will your kids enjoy it?

And I think I can answer with a semi-confident yes to both questions.

The story here is a little less structured here than Id like, but I dont think its anything a child would find offensive.

Instead of a flowing narrative, it almost feels like a bunch of little vignettes stitched together. All of them lead into each other, but none of these moments really build on each other.

Theres no consequences if something goes right or wrong. Things just happen, and when that scene is over, everything just resets as if nothing happened in the first place.

This leads to a story with almost no tension and rock bottom stakes.

Despite that, the film manages to stay fairly engaging throughout due to some fun, well acted characters, who are just enjoyable to be around.

Id say young children around five or six would probably get the most out of this movie. There are some sad moments that may bother kids who are more sensitive, but theres nothing too traumatic here. No worse than some Disney animated classics, thats for sure.

This may not be the most thrilling movie, or a film with larger than life stakes, but its a cute film with cute animals, solid performances, and a happy ending to boot.

If youre looking for something pleasant to put on for the kids, and you already have Disney+, you can do far worse than this movie.

The One and Only Ivan is rated PG and is available to stream on Disney+.

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Movie Reviews: Unhinged and The One and Only Ivan - Purcell Register