Available in the original French version (with English subtitles) or in a dubbed English-language version.
Culture Representation: Taking place on Earth in the year 2075 (and briefly in 2932), the animated film “Arco” features a predominately human cast of characters (with some robot characters) that are from Earth.
Culture Clash: A boy from the year 2932 crashes into another time dimension, where he befriends a 10 year-old girl in 2075, and they are hunted by three alien-chasing brothers, as the boy tries to get back to his home in the future.
Culture Audience: “Arco” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in entertaining and family-friendly animated films that are about human compassion and respecting beings and lifestyles that are different.
Arco in “Arco” (Image courtesy of Neon)
Equally inspired by European art films and Japanese anime, Arco is a dazzling sci-fi adventure film about time traveling and finding a way back home. There are a few story influences from 1982’s “E.T.” film, but “Arco” has enough originality to charm. “Arco” also weaves in a meaningful story about environmental issues without being too preachy.
Directed by Ugo Bienvenu (who co-wrote the “Arco” screenplay with Félix de Givry), “Arco” had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. It also made the rounds at other film festivals, including the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it won the prize for Best Feature Film) and the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. “Arco” has also been nominated for Best Animated Film for the 2026 Academy Awards.
“Arco” (which takes place in unnamed parts of Earth) begins by showing the movie’s title character named Arco Durell, who is a boy about 10 or 11 years old, in the year 2932. Arco lives with his unnamed parents and his older sister Ada. It’s a stable and loving family.
Arco’s parents are explorers. In this futuristic society, people fly in the air and can teleport themselves into the past. They wear hooded outfits with rainbow cloaks for this type of traveling. Each flying outfit comes equipped with a magical diamond that allows this teleporting to different time periods.
When they teleport or travel in the air, they look like they’re flying on rainbows. The law is that people have to be at least 12 years old for this type of traveling. Arco is a curious and adventurous child, so he’s naturally impatient to get a chance to fly.
In the beginning of the movie, Arco’s parents and Ada have come back from a trip back to the dinosaur age. Ada says they were too afraid to pet the dinosaurs. Arco is eager to go on this type of time-traveling trip, but he is strictly forbidden by his parents.
One night, when Ada is asleep, Arco steals her flying outfit and flies outside on his own. He has trouble adjusting to learning how to fly. And it isn’t long before he finds himself teleported to the year 2075. He crashes in a wooded area.
Meanwhile, a friendly 10-year-old girl named Iris lives a lonely life because her parents are frequently working away from home. She is taken care of by a robot named Mikki, who also looks after Iris’ baby brother Peter. Mikki is intelligent, resourceful and very loyal. Robots are part of everyday life and are seen doing various jobs that humans can also do. For example, there are scenes in the movie showing robots as yard workers, garbage collectors and restaurant servers.
It just so happens that Iris is by herself in the woods when she sees Arco crash in a rainbow flash and collapse on the ground. It isn’t long before three eccentric brothers in their 30s show up because they saw the rainbow too. These three brothers are fanatical about chasing any alien life form that they think comes from outer space.
The names of these brothers are Stewie, Dougie and Frankie. The brothers, who frequently bicker with each other, have a unusual way of dressing: They all dress in monochromatic clothes and wear sunglasses. Stewie wears all blue. Dougie wears all red. Frankie wears all yellow.
It’s mentioned much later in the movie, that about 20 years ago, when the brothers were children, they saw rainbow flashes that they were convinced were aliens from outer space. The brothers’ parents and other people didn’t believe them. The brothers were often laughed at when they told people what they saw, and the brothers became society outcasts.
However, Stewie, Dougie and Frankie never lost their obsession over the rainbow flashes and finding what types of aliens caused these flashes. When the brothers show up in the woods, they ask Iris if they saw any strange creatures crash in the woods. She says yes but deliberately misleads the brothers in the opposite direction of where she knows Arco has collapsed.
Iris then takes Arco, puts him on the back of her scooter, and brings him home. Mikki dutifully helps Arco recover from his slight injuries. Iris eventually introduces Arco to her outspoken friend Clifford.
But there’s a big problem for Arco to go back home. The diamond that powers Arco’s teleportation suit has been lost in the woods. Arco and Iris go back to the woods and can’t find the diamond. That’s because the alien-chasing brothers found the diamond before Arco and Iris could.
The rest of “Arco” is about the quest to find the diamond and for Arco to go back home. Arco, Iris, Clifford and Mikki are involved in this quest and predictably come across all sorts of obstacles. These challenges are well-crafted scenes and are suspensefully filmed.
The voices of “Arco” characters are portrayed by different cast members, depending on the version of the movie. The original French version (with English subtitles) has Oscar Tresanini as Arco, Margot Ringard Olha as Iris, Nathanaël Perrot as Clifford, Alma Jodorowsky, as Swann Arlaud as Mikki, Louis Garrel as Stewie, Vincent Macaigne as Dougie, William Lebghil as Frankie, Sophie Mas and Frédérique Cantrel as Arco’s mother, Oxmo Puccino as Arco’s father, Joséphine Mancini as Ada, Alma Jodorowsky as Iris’ mother and Swann Arlaud as Iris’ father. There’s also a U.S. version, with the dialogue dubbed in English, that has Juliano Valdi as Arco, Romy Fay as Iris, Wyatt Danieluk as Clifford, Natalie Portman (who is one of the movie’s producers) and Mark Ruffalo as Mikki, Andy Samberg as Stewie, Will Ferrell as Dougie, Flea as Frankie, America Ferrera as Arco’s mother, Roeg Sutherland as Arco’s father, Zoya Bogomolova as Ada, Portman as Iris’ mother and Ruffalo as Iris’ father.
Unlike many other animated films that are about adventures, “Arco” isn’t overstuffed with characters. The plot is easy to follow, and the story remains engaging throughout. It has some touches of comedy (mostly because of the buffoonish brothers), but most of the movie has a serious tone. The voice performances are serviceable. Where “Arco” really shines are in the memorable story and the vibrant visuals that make this the type of movie that will inspire repeat viewings.
Neon released “Arco” in select U.S. cinemas on November 14, 2025. The movie was re-released in select U.S. cinemas on January 23, 2026, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on January 30, 2026. “Arco” was released in France on October 22, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on February 24, 2026.
Culture Representation: The animated film “Zootopia 2” (a sequel to the 2016 movie “Zootopia”), which takes place in the fictional city of Zootopia, features characters who are talking animals.
Culture Clash: An earnest bunny rabbit and a cynical fox, who are police officer partners, investigate a case of business corruption involving their city’s weather wall climate control system and accusations of stolen land.
Culture Audience: “Zootopia 2” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the first “Zootopia” movie, the “Zootopia 2” voice cast, and appealing animated adventure films about talking animals.
Gary De’Snake (voiced by Ke Huy Quan) in “Zootopia 2” (Image courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.)
“Zootopia 2” uses the same formula as the first “Zootopia” movie: A rabbit and a fox team up to investigate a crime mystery involving bigotry against certain animals. This sequel is entertaining but needed more originality. And like many sequels, “Zootopia 2” introduces new characters while bringing back previous characters, thereby making the movie’s cast of characters a little overstuffed.
Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard and written by Bush, “Zootopia 2” is a sequel to the 2016 movie “Zootopia,” which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Bush and Howard directed “Zootopia,” which was written by Bush and Phil Johnston. Because there are so many more animated features about talking animals now than there were in 2016, it will be harder for “Zootopia 2” to stand out as an Oscar-worthy movie.
“Zootopia 2” begins with a montage summary of what happened in the first “Zootopia” movie: Earnest and cheerful bunny rabbit/police officer rookie Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) recruited jaded fox/con artist Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) to help her solve a mystery. Judy and Nick live in the large urban city of Zootopia, which is populated mostly by mammals. The majority of Zootopia’s mammals are considered prey to predators. Nick and Judy end up becoming friends because of their shared bond of being bullied as kids and being underestimated later in life. For years, the prey animals and the predator animals of Zootopia have lived in harmony.
In the first “Zootopia” movie, the villains wanted to make the predator animals look like out-of-control killers, for reasons that are explained in the movie. Mild spoiler alert for those who don’t know what happened in the first “Zootopia” movie: As shown in the beginning of “Zootopia 2,” Judy and Nick solved the case, which resulted in Zootopia’s short-lived ewe mayor Dawn Bellwether (voiced by Jenny Slate) to be exposed as the mastermind villain. Dawn was subsequently arrested and sent to prison. Nick then gave up a life of crime to became a police officer at the Zootopia Police Department, and he was assigned to be Judy’s cop partner.
In “Zootopia 2,” Nick and Judy are still cop partners at the Zootopia Police Department. This time, the prejudice spreading throughout Zootopia isn’t against predators. It’s against all snakes, which were exiled from Zootopia years ago because of snakes’ reputation for being too dangerous to live in Zootopia. Other reptiles are also looked at with suspicion by many of Zootopia’s residents.
Zootopia is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the city’s weather wall climate control system, which is the driving force of Zootopia’s ecosystem. Zootopia’s most powerful family is a clan of lynxes, called the Lynxley family, because the Lynxleys own the patent to the weather wall climate control system, which was invented by a Lynxley ancestor. The Lynxleys are hosting a Zootennial Gala, where a valuable notebook called the Lynxley Journal has this patent and is on display in a glass case.
The Lynxley patriarch is Milton Lynxley (voiced by David Strathairn), whose underachieving son Pawbert Lynxley (voiced by Andy Samberg) is a scion to family fortune. Pawbert seems to be a disappointment to Milton because Pawbert is the type of shrewd business dealer that Milton wants Pawbert to be. Milton’s other children are arrogant Catrrick Linxley (voiced by Macauley Culkin) and spoiled Kitty Linxley (voiced by Brenda Song), who are competitive for their father’s approval.
In the beginning of “Zootopia 2,” Judy and Nick get pulled from regular duties by their African buffalo boss Chief Bogo (voice by Idris Elba), who is displeased that Judy and Nick disobeyed orders to “stand down” during car chase of criminals. The car chase caused a lot of destruction, so Chief Bogo re-assigns Judy and Nick to do lightweight traffic cop duties. Nick and Judy, who often disagree with each other, are also ordered to attend a Partners in Crisis therapy group, led by a mouse named Fuzzby (voiced by Quinta Brunson), who is a polite but firm therapist.
After being pulled from police detective duties, Judy and Nick decided to go “undercover” as guests at the Zootennial Gala. Judy is curious to see the Lynxley Journal because the Lynxleys have said that a pit viper attacked the Lynxley’s family maid many years ago, in an attempt to steal the journal. Snakes have been banned from Zootopia for years because of this incident.
At the Zootennial Gala, a pit viper named Gary De’Snake (voiced by Ke Huy Quan) arrives in Zootopia to crash a gala event, by dropping underneath a red cloak on stage while Milton is giving a speech. Gary announces to the shocked crowd that his great-grandmother Agnes De’Snake was the one who actually invented the weather wall climate control system, and she was wrongfully accused of attacking the Lynxley maid.
Gary claims that there is proof that he’s telling the truth, and he wants to clear the De’Snake family name and for Zootopia to lift the ban against snakes and other reptiles. Gary says the Lynxleys are the real enemies, so Gary kidnaps Milton. What happens next is a madcap adventure where Judy and Nick get involved in solving this mystery. A talkative beaver named Nibbles Maplestick (voiced by Fortune Feimster), who is a conspiracy-theorist host of a podcast titled “Scales & Tales of the Weird,” tags along and helps guide Judy and Nick through some unfamiliar territory.
“Zootopia 2” also features brief returns of characters who were in “Zootopia.” These returning characters include Benjamin Clawhauser (voiced by Nate Torrence), a cheetah who is a desk sergeant/dispatcher at the Zootopia Police Department; Flash Slothmore (voiced by Raymond S. Persi), a sloth DMV employee, who is notoriously slow in urgent situations; Judy’s supportive parents Stu Hopps (voiced by Don Lake) and Bonnie Hopps (voiced by Bonnie Hunt); and Duke Weaselton (voiced by Alan Tudyk), a weasel who is a small-time crook who sells bootleg DVDs on the street.
Also making return appearances in “Zootopia 2” are Mr. Big (played by Maurice LaMarche), an Arctic shrew crime boss who is based in Tundratown and is a parody of the Vito Corleone character from “The Godfather” movies; Fru Fru (voiced by Leah Latham), Mr. Big’s bubbly daughter, who is now the mother of a daughter named Judy, named after Judy Hopps; stoner yak/naturalist club owner Yax (voiced by Tommy Chong); and pop singer Gazelle (voiced by Shakira), who does a big concert at the end of “Zootopia 2,” just like Gazelle did in the first “Zootopia” movie. And don’t be surprised to see a previous villain from “Zootopia” show up in “Zootopia 2.”
New characters in “Zootopia 2” include Zootopia’s current Mayor Winddancer (voiced by Patrick Warburton), a vain stallion who is a former actor; a streetwise basilisk named Jesús (played by Danny Trejo), who is an underground informant; look-alike police zebras named Zebro Zebraxton (voiced by Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoai) and Zebro Zebrowski (voiced by Phil “CM Punk” Brooks), who call themselves the Zebros; and two razorback Zootopia cop partners Captain Hoggbottom (voiced by Michelle Gomez) and Truffler (voiced by David Fane), who are tough and aggressive.
“Zootopia” has so many celebrity voice cast members, many are just reduced to doing short cameos because there isn’t enough time to develop all of these characters in this 108-minute movie. These guest appearances are so quick, many viewers might not know these celebrities are in the “Zootopia 2” cast unless they look at the movie’s credits that list all the cast members. Michael J. Fox (as fox prisoner Michael J. the Fox), June Squibb (as Judy’s grandmother Gram Gram), Amanda Gorman (as giraffe reporter Deerdra Bambino), Mario Lopez (as wolf reporter Denny Howlett), Tig Notaro (as bear prisoner Big Tig), Yvette Nicole Brown (as EMT Otter and The Bearoness) and Ed Sheeran (as sheep Ed Shearin) are some of famous names in the “Zootopia 2” voice cast.
Many of these celebrity voice cameos are people who are known for making a lot of money for Disney. Josh Gad (of Disney’s “Frozen” movie fame) is the voice of a mole named Paul Moledebrandt. Dwayne Johnson (a star of Disney’s “Moana” movie franchise) has a voice role listed in the “Zootopia 2” end credits as Zeke AKA That Dik Dik Stuck in that Tuba. Auli’i Cravalho (2016’s “Moana”) has the voice role of an anti-venom pen. Anika Noni Rose (Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog”) is the voice of “Squeal of Fortune” mouse. Bob Iger (Disney’s CEO) also gets his own “Zootopia 2” character: a tiger weather forecaster named Bob Tiger.
The energetic and playful visuals for “Zootopia 2” are perfectly suited for the story’s quick pace, which involves a lot of chase scenes and “race against time” scenes. The story also has some comedy that people of many generations can enjoy, with a few jokes that adults will understand better than very young kids. The performances of Goodwin and Bateman continue to anchor the “Zootopia” story with aplomb, as the friendship between Judy and Nick evolves and is put to the test when they are forced to be apart for much of the story. Quan and Feimster are good additions to the “Zootopia” franchise, with “Zootopia 2” making more room for the possibility that Feimster’s Nibbles Maplestick character is more likely to have a prominent role in future “Zootopia” movies.
By adding so many new cameo characters (many of whom are unnecessary to the story), “Zootopia 2” almost trips over its eagerness to show off its all-star cast, when the story would’ve worked just fine without half of these cameos. The end of “Zootopia” and an end-credits scene give hints on what to expect in the third “Zootopia” movie. Even with “Zootopia 2’s” excessive casting, retread of story concepts, and somewhat preachy “life lessons,” “Zootopia 2” is a fun ride that retains much of the charm and intrigue of the first “Zootopia.” And sometimes, that’s all you need.
Walt Disney Pictures will release “Zootopia 2” in U.S. cinemas on November 26, 2025.
Culture Representation: Taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area and briefly in England, the comedy/drama film “The Roses” (a re-imagining of the 1989 film “The War of the Roses”) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: An architect husband and his chef wife, who are both British immigrants living in the United States, have a reversal of fortunes in their respective careers, which cause deep resentments and lead to a very bitter divorce.
Culture Audience:“The Roses” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, “The War of the Roses” movie and book, and viewers who like dark comedies with banter-filled dialogues about relationships.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Ncuti Gatwa, Olivia Colman, Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg in “The Roses” (Photo by Jaap Buitendijk/Searchlight Pictures)
As a dark satire of divorce, “The Roses” plays it much safer than 1989’s “The War of the Roses.” This re-imagining takes a little too long to get to the main couple’s major conflicts. However, there’s enough witty banter to make the movie worth watching.
Directed by Jay Roach and written by Tony McNamara, “The Roses” is a different take on 1989’s “War of the Roses,” directed by Danny DeVito and starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. DeVito had a supporting actor role in “The War of the Roses,” which was adapted from Warren Adler’s 1981 book of the same name. Perhaps because there is more sensitivity in contemporary times about homicidal domestic violence (compared to how this issue was handled in the 1980s), the marital acts of rage in “The Roses” aren’t as extreme as they are in “The War of The Roses.”
Unlike the very American “War of the Roses” movie, “The Roses” is very much steeped in the mixtures of American and British cultures. Roach (who is American) and McNamara (who is Australian) make good use of the British couple at the center of the story having a British sense of dry wit. However, there’s not nearly enough in the movie about how British and American cultures can clash.
At times, viewers might wonder why “The Roses” is primarily set in the United States (specifically, the San Francisco Bay Area), because there’s almost nothing in the story that couldn’t have taken place in the central couple’s native England, where “The Roses” was actually filmed. The couple’s immigrant status is almost never mentioned in the movie.
“The Roses” begins by showing quarreling married couple Theo Rose (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) and Ivy Rose (played by Olivia Colman) in a marriage counseling session. Theo and Ivy are both strong-willed and quick-witted. The counselor asks Theo and Rose to list 10 things that they like about each other. Theo replies, “I’d rather live with her than a wolf.” Ivy responds, “He has arms.” Their comments get increasingly hostile and then turn into vicious insults.
The movie then goes in flashback mode to show how Theo and Ivy ended up at this point, and then continues to show their nasty divorce battle. Theo (an architect) and Ivy (a restaurant chef) met and started a quickie romance in their native England when both of their careers were on the rise. At the time, Theo had a higher income than Ivy, who was working in the kitchen at a hotel where he was having a business meeting. On the day that they met, Ivy told Theo that she was moving to the United States to pursue a career as a chef. Theo and Ivy use it as a reason have sex (in the kitchen cold room) within an hour of meeting each other.
Theo moved to America to be with Ivy. Theo and Ivy got married, and they settled in Mendocino, California, which is about 155 miles north of San Francisco. Their two children—fraternal twins Hattie and Roy—were born in the United States. Hattie is the more obedient child. (Delaney Quinn has the role of Hattie at 10 years old. Ollie Robinson is the character of Roy at 10 years old. Hala Finley portrays Hattie at 13 years old. Wells Rappaport depicts Roy at 13 years old.)
Theo got a job at a prestigious architecture firm, where he became a top employee. Ivy eventually quit her chef job to become a homemaker. For years, the Rose family had an idyllic life. When the twins are about 10 years old, Theo encourages Ivy to open her own restaurant, which she does. It’s called We’ve Got Crabs (a seafood eatery), which is only open a few days a week and does sluggish business at first.
Theo’s high-profile work on designing the East Bay Maritime Museum turns into a disaster when the museum’s roof (which had a giant ship sail on top) collapses during a major rainstorm and causes the rest of the building to collapse. The building collapse and Theo’s frantic reactions are filmed on bystander videos, which go viral. During this rainstorm, Ivy’s restaurant becomes crowded from people seeking shelter. One of the customers is an influential food critic named Sylvia (played by Caroline Partridge), from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Theo gets fired from his job on the same day that Ivy finds out that the food critic gave a rave review to We’ve Got Crabs. This review is the turning point for Ivy’s career, which has a meteoric rise that includes opening more We’ve Got Crabs locations. Ivy becomes rich and famous. Meanwhile, Theo’s career stalls, he becomes a homemaker, and his resentment and jealousy of Ivy begin to grow, as she becomes a busy, jet-setting workaholic who has less time for Theo and their children.
“The Roses” also shows how the different parenting styles of Theo (the disciplinarian parent) and Ivy (the lenient parent) also have a lot to do with their marital discord. For example, Theo wants Hattie and Roy to mimic his strictly healthy diet and pushes the twins to become champion athletic runners. Ivy, who smokes marijuana, makes decadent desserts for the twins to eat as late-night snacks, and she doesn’t care if the twins participate in sports.
“The Roses” has some supporting characters that bring some laughs, but this movie is mainly elevated by the believable chemistry between Cumberbatch and Colman. “The Roses” adds layers to the original “War of the Roses” movie with the addition of several new characters who are friends or colleagues of Theo and Ivy. All of these characters are American. Ivy and Theo don’t have any close British friends in the movie.
The movie’s purpose of these supporting characters is for Theo and Ivy to compare their lives to people who seem to be happier than Theo and Ivy. Needless to say, it’s a minefield of insecurities for almost everyone involved. By contrast, “The War of the Roses” main couple did not have multiple friends making commentary and giving advice about the couple’s problems.
Barry (played by Andy Samberg) is a “know it all” real-estate attorney who met Theo because of their jobs. Barry is married to Amy (played by Kate McKinnon), a self-described progressive feminist who lusts after Theo. Although Barry and Amy say they are open-minded about their own marriage, Amy sexually propositions Theo in a way that implies she doesn’t want Barry to find out that she wants to have sex with Theo. Even though Barry is not a divorce attorney, he ends up representing Theo in the divorce negotiations.
Rory (played by Jamie Demetriou) and Sally (played by Zoë Chao) are a married couple who are architect colleagues of Theo. Rory is smug and competitive with everyone, including Sally. Before Theo got fired, Theo was condescending to Sally too. But then, after Theo became an outcast in the architecture industry, Sally’s career begins to take off. And it makes Theo feel jealous.
We’ve Got Crabs employees Jane (played by Sunita Mani) and Jeffrey (played by Ncuti Gatwa), who are platonic friends, have been loyal staffers for Ivy from the beginning of her business, when Jane worked as a sous chef and Jeffrey was the head waiter at the restaurant chain’s first location. Ivy is a supportive and motivating boss, but even Jane and Jeffrey can see the changes in Ivy when success pumps up her ego. The stress of a bad marriage makes Ivy irritable and vindictive.
It’s a mixed bag to have all these supporting characters who were not in the “War of the Roses” book and movie. These supporting characters have some amusing lines of dialogue in capable performances, but the characters of Sally and Rory are not essential to the story. A supporting character who is essential is Ivy’s divorce attorney Eleanor (played by Allison Janney), who has barracuda-like skills in negotiations and brings her pet Rottweiler as a scare tactic in a negotiation meeting.
“The Roses” missed many opportunities to get more comedy out of the differences between British and American cultures. The closest that the movie comes to contrasting British and American cultures is a scene where Ivy and Theo go to a gun range with Barry, Amy, Rory and Sally. Theo and Ivy learn to use guns for the first time at this gun range. (Of course, you know where this gun use is going to go when the divorce gets ruthless.) The scene at the gun range has some slapstick elements, but there are much better scenes in the movie.
The meltdowns in the movie are symptoms of a larger, deep-rooted problem that can plague many marriages: In relentless pursuit of material success and having a perfect family image, spouses can often can be consumed by jealousy, they can neglect communication, and they can stop making an emotionally healthy relationship a top priority. “The Roses” might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But as a dramedy for adults, it’s entertaining enough in taking an acerbic and cautionary look at the effects that divorce can have on people’s lives.
Searchlight Pictures will release “The Roses” in U.S. cinemas on August 29, 2025. A sneak preview of the movie will be shown in U.S. cinemas on August 27, 2025.
Spider-Man/Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation)
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Power and Justin K. Thompson
Some language in Spanish with no subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in New York City and in the fictional multiverse called the Spider-Verse, the superhero animated film “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” features a racially diverse cast of characters (black, white and Latino) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: American teenager Miles Morales, who is one of many spider characters in the Spider-Verse, encounters various heroes and villains in the Spider-Verse.
Culture Audience: Besides appealing to the obvious target audience of comic book movie fans, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching animated movies that have an inconsistent visual style and a very muddled plot.
Jessica Drew (voiced by Issa Rae), Gwen Stacy (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), Peter B. Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson) and his daughter Mayday in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (Image courtesy of Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation)
Just like a tangled web from a scatterbrained spider, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is a convoluted mess. This overstuffed movie takes too long to define the plot. It’s a barrage of inconsistent visuals that often look like ugly comic-book graffiti. And it’s a huge disappointment as a sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (based on characters from Marvel Comics), a visually stunning, highly entertaining film that showed tremendous potential as the next great “Spider-Man” movie series. Superhero movies are supposed to tell viewers within the first 30 minutes what the story is going to be about and who the villain is, but the 140-minute “Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse” fails to deliver those basic elements until the movie is more than halfway done.
“Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse” (directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Power and Justin K. Thompson) also commits one of the worst sins of a movie sequel: It’s very unwelcoming to newcomers. People who didn’t see or don’t know what happened in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” will be confused from the very first scene of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” And even if viewers saw and remember “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” they will have their patience tested by how the overly long “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” jumps from one subplot to the next without much explanation or resolution. Characters appear, disappear for long stretches of time, and then might or might not reappear with any meaningful context on what they’re really supposed to be doing in this movie.
In “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” Miles Morales, also known as web-slinging superhero Spider-Man (voiced by Shameik Moore), is a student in his last year of high school. Miles is the movie’s central character, and he seems to be just as confused by what’s going on in his world as many viewers will be. Miles (who lives in New York City’s Brooklyn borough) is one of several people or creatures who have a Spider superhero alter ego. In the Spider-Verse, these various Spider iterations can time jump and appear in other universes, depending on if they have the power to do so, or are sent there by someone else. Unlike the teenage Peter Parker in the “Spider-Man” franchise, or even the Miles Morales in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” the Miles in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is barely shown in school or interacting with his schoolmates.
That’s not what’s irritating about this movie. What’s irritating about “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is that it’s so enamored with the concept of various Spider beings, it overloads in introducing these characters but doesn’t have much real character development for them. There are moments of wisecracking jokes (the movie’s comedy is best appreciated by teenagers and adults), but these quips don’t make up for the rest of the uninspired plot and dialogue. And the movie’s big climax just drags on and on, like a rambling stand-up comedian who doesn’t know when to get off the stage.
Miles’ main ally in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is Gwen Stacy (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), a teenager who’s close to Miles’ age and who might or might not be his love interest. Gwen has a superhero alter ego named Spider-Gwen, who was the last person known to see the adult Peter Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson), also known as the most famous Spider-Man, before Peter died. (This death scene is shown as a flashback of Spider-Gwen at Peter’s side when he dies in a massive urban wreckage.) Gwen’s widower father George Stacy (voiced by Shea Whigham), who’s had a rocky relationship with Gwen, is determined to arrest Spider-Gwen, not knowing that his daughter is really Spider-Gwen.
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has such a poorly constructed narrative, the only backstory that viewers get about Gwen is her vague voiceover narration in the movie’s opening scene: “I didn’t want to hurt him, but I did. He’s not the only one.” After the flashback of Parker Parker dying in the wreckage, Gwen says in a voiceover: “I never really made another friend after that—except one, but he’s not here.” That other friend, of course, is Miles Morales. But only Spider-Man experts or people who saw “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” will know what Gwen is babbling about in this opening scene.
Gwen is the drummer for an all-female rock trio called the Mary Janes. (The band’s name is a cheeky nod to Mary Jane Watson, who is Peter Parker’s girlfriend in other “Spider-Man” stories.) The beginning of the movie shows the band rehearsing and then Gwen quitting in anger. Why? Don’t expect a good explanation, except she appears to be angry over Peter’s death but she can’t talk to anyone about it. It’s a scene that’s ultimately pointless, like many other scenes in this long-winded film.
After her temper tantrum, Gwen goes home, where she has a bratty attitude with her father, who tells her that the police have gotten a break in the Peter Parker/Spider-Man death case. George says to Gwen: “Too punk rock to hug your old man?” She then quickly hugs him, and all seems to be forgiven. But as soon as you know that George and his police colleagues have made progression in their Peter Parker death investigation, you know what’s eventually going to happen.
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” also shows that Miles’ home life is affected by his superhero antics. A lot of time in this movie is spent on repetitive and not-very-interesting subplots about Miles’ parents—Jefferson Davis (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) and Rio Morales (played by Luna Lauren Velez, previously known as Lauren Velez)—getting annoyed and worried because Miles is constantly tardy or absent from places where he needs to be. A running “joke” in the movie is that Miles’ parents keep adding to the number of months that they say Miles is grounded.
Miles pops in and out of a meeting that he’s supposed to have with his parents and his school principal (voiced by Rachel Dratch) to discuss his plans after high school. The principal is worried that Miles might be squandering his potential, since he’s been skipping classes. And there are some racist overtones when the principal says she wants to fabricate a narrative for Miles’ college applications by saying on the applications that Miles (who is Afro-Latino) is a poor, underprivileged kid with a rough childhood. (He’s not. Miles actually comes from a stable middle-class family.) Fortunately, the principal’s awful idea is nixed.
In the meeting, it’s mentioned that Miles wants to go to Princeton University to study physics. Rio gets upset because she thinks New Jersey is too far away from Brooklyn. (It’s not.) And then, Miles is out the door before the meeting is over because he has to attend to some secretive Spider-Man superhero business. His plans for what he wants to do after graduating from high school are never mentioned again in the movie. It’s just a time-wasting scene.
n “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Miles’ relationship with his parents looks authentic. In “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” Miles’ relationship with his parents looks fake and rushed. There’s a very disjointed sequence where Miles is late for a rooftop party that his family is having to celebrate Jefferson getting promoted from lieutenant to captain at the New York Police Department. The death of Jefferson’s thieving criminal brother Aaron, which was shown in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” is treated as an quick afterthought in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” Miles introduces Gwen to his parents in this rooftop party sequence, which keeps getting interrupted by Gwen and Miles going in and out of the Spider-Verse.
During this very sloppily told and often visually unappealing movie, other characters show up, disappear, then show up again, and might disappear again, with the movie never clearly defining who some of them are and what is purpose of these characters. A villain who comes and goes with no real significance is Adrian Toomes, also known as The Vulture (voiced by Jorma Taccone), who gets into a battle with Spider-Gwen. Don’t expect the movie to give an explanation of who The Vulture is and where he came from, because it’s never mentioned in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”
Miles later thwarts a convenience store robbery by Jonathan Ohnn, also known as The Spot (voiced by Jason Schartzman), a portal-jumping villain character with a black hole for a face and who looks like he’s wearing a white full body suit with Dalmatian patterns. The Spot appears and disappears into portal holes, with no explanation for viewers who aren’t familiar with this character from Marvel comic books. The only clue offered is when The Spot tells Miles, “I’m from your past.”
Other characters who are dropped in and out of scenes are Miguel O’Hara (voiced by Oscar Isaac), a mysterious motorcycle-riding character dressed in a Spider-Man costume; Jessica Drew (voiced by Issa Rae), a no-nonsense, highly trained fighter who happens to be pregnant; and Lyla (voiced by Greta Lee), who is Miguel’s artificial-intelligence assistant. A version of the adult Peter Parker shows up, as a married father of a baby daughter named Mayday, who seems to fill the movie’s quota to have a cute kid character in the movie. A LEGO universe is briefly shown as nothing more than product placement for LEGO.
There are also international versions of Spider superheroes. Hobart “Hobie Brown,” also known as Spider-Punk (voiced by Daniel Kaluuya), is a snarling, sarcastic Brit who seems to be influenced by a 1980s-era Billy Idol. Spider-Punk is the only character who does not have a non-generic personality. Margo Kess, also known as Spider-Byte (voiced by Amandla Stenberg), is an American, openly queer computer expert, whose presence in the movie barely makes a difference to the story. Ben Reilly, also known as Scarlet Spider (voiced by Andy Samberg), is a clone designed to look like Peter Parker. Spider-Man India (voiced by Karan Soni) doesn’t even get his own birth name in the movie, which gives him a brief, goofy appearance that reeks of tokenism.
Some of the movie’s animation is deliberately made to look like unfinished sketches from a comic book. There might be some people who like this visual style, but most viewers of superhero movies want to see consistency in the animation style of movies in the same series. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” have almost entirely different teams of screenwriters and directors—and these difference show to the movie’s detriment. Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman directed “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which was written by Rothman and Phil Lord. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” was written by Lord, Christopher Miller and Dave Callaham.
There are huge parts of the “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” that look like an experimental art project gone wrong. The animation sometimes look jagged, unpolished and blurry. As for the movie’s unfocused plot, it looks like it was made only for the type of people who know Spider-Man inside jokes or who religiously look for Easter Eggs in “Spider-Man” visual content. A typical family with children under the age of 10 who see this movie will probably feel alienated by how so much of the film is cluttered and unclear. And it begs the question: “Why mess up such a good thing?”
Not all of the visuals in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” consists of animation. There are a few Spiderverse scenes where people appear as cameos in live-action visuals. Donald Glover has one of these cameos. (In real life, Glover famously campaigned to get the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the early 2010s. Andrew Garfield ended up getting the role.) Another cameo is from sassy convenience store owner Mrs. Chen (played by Peggy Lu), who is a minor character in the “Venom” movies, which are connected to the “Spider-Man” franchise. People who haven’t seen the “Venom” movies just won’t know or care about this Mrs. Chen cameo. These cameos are nothing more than stunt casting and add nothing to the plot.
It seems like “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is trying to be an artsy superhero animated film. The problem is that the “Spider-Man” movie brand was made for a wide variety of people, not just comic-book enthusiasts who are obsessive about Spider-Man “canon,” which in comic-book terms means the story as it was originally presented in the comic books. The movie has an annoying tendency to assume all viewers are going to be Spider-Man experts.
And speaking of “canon,” expect to hear a lot of about “canon disruption” in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” Pity any viewer of this steaming pile of pretentiousness who doesn’t have encylopedic knowledge of what is and what is not “canon” in the Spider-Verse. Because yes, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is a very pretentious animated film that is sure to baffle and disappoint many people who think they’re going to see a continuation of what made “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” so special.
Anyone who’s letting children under the age of 10 watch the very messy “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” should be warned that these children will most likely be bored and/or confused, unless all they care about is seeing bright, splashy visuals on screen. The voice cast members for “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” do what they’re supposed to do. But the plot is so jumbled and smug with its fan-service pandering, by the time the end of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” announces that the story continues in “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse” (due out in 2024), many viewers will be thinking to themselves: “No, thank you.”
Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation will release “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” in U.S. cinemas on June 2, 2023.
Blobby (voiced by Genndy Tartakovsky), Wanda (voiced by Molly Shannon), Wayne (voiced by Steve Buscemi), Griffin the Invisible Man (voiced by David Spade), Ericka (voiced by Kathryn Hahn), Dracula (voiced by Brian Hull), Jonathan (voiced by Andy Samberg), Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez), Frank (voice by Brad Abrell), Eunice (voiced by Fran Drescher), Murray (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) with (pictured at far right, in the front row) Dennis (voiced by Asher Blinkoff) and Winnie (voiced by Zoe Berri) in “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” (Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation/Amazon Content Services)
Culture Representation: Taking place in Transylvania and South America, the animated film “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with one African American and two Latinos) depicting monsters and humans.
Culture Clash: Count Dracula is ready to retire and pass Hotel Transylvania along to his daughter Mavis, but a mishap with Van Helsing’s invention changes Mavis’ human husband Johnny into a monster and Dracula and his monster friends into humans.
Culture Audience: Aside from obviously appealing to “Hotel Transylvania” movie series fans, “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” will appeal mainly to people who are interested in lightweight animated films with cliché-ridden and predictable plots.
Johnny (voiced by Andy Samberg) and Van Helsing (voicd by Jim Gaffigan) in “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” (Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation/Amazon Content Services)
It’s never really a good sign when a movie studio takes a sequel film from one of its most popular franchise series and sells it to a streaming service. It usually means that the movie is considered not commercially appealing enough for the studio to release the film. It’s also not a good sign when two of franchise’s biggest stars decide not to be part of this sequel.
That’s what happened when Sony Pictures Animation dumped “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” (the fourth movie in the “Hotel Transylvania” hotel series) by selling it to Amazon, which is releasing it on Prime Video. (China is the only country where Sony will release the film in theaters.) It’s easy to see why Sony thought this movie was substandard. It’s also easy to see why original “Hotel Transylvania” franchise stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James took a hard pass on being involved in this movie, whether it was because they weren’t going to paid what they wanted and/or legal issues. (Sandler and James both have lucrative movie deals with Netflix.)
Genndy Tartakovsky—who directed the first three “Hotel Transylvania” movies and co-wrote 2018’s “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation”—co-wrote “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” with Amos Vernon and Nunzio Randazzo. The first two movies in the series are 2012’s “Hotel Transylvania” and 2015’s “Hotel Transylvania 2.” Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluskais directed “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania,” which is not a completely terrible movie. But in terms of its story, the movie is lazy and not very interesting.
As the fourth movie in the series, “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” had the potential to go on an original adventure with the franchise’s well-established characters. Instead, the movie is filled with over-used clichés that have already been in other films. “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” is essentially a not-very-funny comedy with this not-very-original concept: Two characters with opposite personalities are forced to travel together and find out how much they have to rely on each other in order to reach a shared goal. Relationships and characters that could have been developed are ignored or shoved to the margins of the story. The ending of the movie is also kind of weak and abrupt.
“Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” is also one of those sequels that doesn’t adequately explain some of the backstories of some of the main characters. If people need to watch one movie to prepare for “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania,” it should be “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.” That’s the movie that introduced monster hunters Van Helsing (voiced by Jim Gaffigan) and his sassy great-granddaughter Ericka (voiced by Kathryn Hahn), who started off as enemies to the “Hotel Transylvania” protagonists and ended up becoming their friends. And in Ericka’s case, more than friends, because she and widower Count Dracula fell in love with each other.
The voice of Count Dracula was originated by Sandler in the first three “Hotel Transylvania” movies. In “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania,” Dracula (voiced by Brian Hull) and Ericka (who is a human) are now happily married, but it’s barely explained in this sequel how they got together. The prejudice between monsters and humans, which fueled much of the conflicts in the previous “Hotel Transylvania” movies, is only used as a flimsy plot device in “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.” Dracula’s vampire daughter Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez) is married to a human named Jonathan, nicknamed Johnny (voiced by Andy Samberg), who’s had a hard time getting reluctant acceptance from Dracula, who thinks Johnny is too goofy for practical-minded Mavis.
But now that Dracula is married to a human, “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” does not do anything to explore this new aspect of Dracula’s life. Instead, the movie’s story goes back to Dracula disapproving of Johnny, which was the basis of the first “Hotel Transylvania” movie, when Johnny and Mavis began dating and fell in love with each other. In “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania,” Johnny and Mavis have been married for several years and have a son named Dennis (voiced by Asher Blinkoff), who is about 8 or 9 years old and who has very little screen time in the movie.
In “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania,” Dracula still owns and operates Hotel Transylvania (a hotel for monsters), but he wants to retire so that he can have more time to spend with Ericka. Dracula has decided that he is going to give ownership of the hotel to Mavis and Johnny. Mavis, who has hearing superpowers, overhears Dracula telling Ericka about his retirement plans, which he says he’s going to announce at the hotel’s 125th anniversary celebration.
Mavis is excited to find out that she and Johnny will be taking over ownership of the hotel. She tells Johnny, who’s also elated. Johnny immediately comes up with ideas of how he’s going to change the hotel.
When Johnny enthusiastically shares these ideas with Dracula, his father-in-law is so turned off, he changes his mind about wanting Johnny to co-own the hotel. Instead of telling the truth about why he changed his mind, Dracula lies to Johnny by telling him that there’s an ancient law that says hotels for monsters can only be owned by monsters. At the hotel’s 125th anniversary party, Dracula lies to everyone and says his big announcement is that the hotel will get a new restroom in the lobby.
A dismayed Johnny then asks for help from Van Helsing, who has been living as a retired eccentric who tinkers with inventions. Van Helsing has an invention called a Monsterfication Ray, which can turn humans into random monsters. The device looks like a long ray gun with a giant crystal as its source of power. Van Helsing uses the Monsterfication Ray on Johnny, who is turned into a giant green monster resembling a dragon. Even though his physical appearance has drastically changed, Johnny has the same personality, and he can still talk like a human.
Dracula is furious about Johnny’s transformation into a monster because he still doesn’t want to give Johnny ownership of the hotel. And so, Dracula angrily goes over to Van Helsing’s place to take the Monsterfication Ray and use it to turn Johnny back into a human. But the plan backfires when Dracula shoots the Monsterfication Ray at Johnny, the lasers on the ray ricochet off walls, and the rays accidentally hit Dracula, who turns into a human being as a result. Much to Dracula’s horror, he is now looks and feels like an old man, with a balding head, a stomach paunch and weaker physical strength.
Dracula’s four closest monster friends—good-natured Frankenstein (voiced by Brad Abrell, replacing James in the role), worrisome werewolf Wayne (voiced by Steve Buscemi), fun-loving mummy Murray (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) and sarcastic invisible man Griffin (voiced by David Spade)—have all witnessed this debacle. Dracula is terrified about Mavis finding out about him turning into a human and Johnny into a monster. Dracula orders his friends not to tell Mavis.
Somehow, when Dracula used the Monsterfication Ray, the device got broken, and the crystal no longer works. Van Helsing says that the crystals used for the Monsterfication Ray are extremely rare. Through a tracking device, Van Helsing finds out that the nearest crystal is in South America. Guess where Dracula and Johnny are going for most of the movie?
Meanwhile, a poorly written part of the movie has Frankenstein, Wayne, Murray and Griffin turning into humans too. It’s shown in an awkward scene where the hotel’s DJ—a green blob called Blobby (voiced by Tartakovsky)—gives the four pals a drink that has something in it which automatically turns them into humans. Blobby consumes the drink too, but he’s just turn to a green gelatin mold.
Frankenstein changes into a vain “hunk” with a tall and muscular body, Wayne transforms into a very hairy man, and Murray becomes an old man with rolls of body flab. Griffin is exposed as someone who only wore eyeglasses, so he’s naked the entire time that he’s human. Griffin’s nakedness is used for some dimwitted comedy in the movie.
Just like Dracula and Murray, Griffin is horrified that he looks old and out-of-shape as a human. This movie has not-so-subtle and problematic messages that looking like an elderly human being is a terrible fate that should be avoided at all costs. It’s the closest reason to explain why Frankenstein suddenly becomes an egotistical jerk over how he looks as a young and virile human being. This drastic personality change still comes across as too phony, and it doesn’t serve the story very well.
Mavis, Ericka, Frankenstein’s shrewish wife Eunice (voiced by Fran Drescher) and Wayne’s loving wife Wanda (voiced by Molly Shannon) find out that Dracula and Johnny have gone to South America. And so, Mavis, Ericka, Eunice, Wanda, Frankenstein, Wayne, Murray, Griffin and several of Wayne and Wanda’s werewolf kids go to South America to find Johnny and Dracula. It’s never really explained why some but not all of the werewolf kids (Wayne and Wanda have dozens of children) are along for the ride or why these kids even need to be there in the first place.
Meanwhile, much of “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” shows repetitive mishaps that Dracula and Johnny go through as they wander around Amazon River areas in South America in search of the crystal. Dracula has a hard time adjusting to life as a human. He no longer has to fear being in the sunlight, but he’s frustrated that he gets tired, thirsty and sweaty on this grueling trip. When he jumps into a waterfall that Johnny warns could be dangerous, Dracula gets bitten by several piranhas and is shocked that he can’t recover quickly from these injuries.
Johnny is the same cheerful goofball, but he still gets on Dracula’s nerves. Dracula is also jealous that Johnny now has more physical strength than Dracula does. It goes on and on like this for too long in the movie. As an example of how “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” stretches out the banality, there’s a scene with Johnny singing a Spanish version of Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” during a bus ride that Johnny and Dracula take with some local people. It’s intended to be hilarious, but it just comes across as dull and cringeworthy.
Visually, “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” does nothing special, although the movie makes good use of vibrant hues in the outdoor South America scenes. The cast members’ performances are adequate. Thankfully, movie clocks in at just 98 minutes, but the story is filled with too many recycled tropes of two opposite personalities stuck together on a road trip; the hunt for a treasured item; and the central characters being chased by people who want to find them.
“Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” doesn’t have much use for the adult female characters, who basically just worry about and react to what their husbands are doing. And because Dracula is separated from his four closest monster pals for most of the movie, that friendship rapport is largely missing from “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.” This rapport was one of the highlights of previous “Hotel Transylvania” movies.
The movie shows almost nothing about what Dracula is like as a grandfather to Dennis. Wayne and Wanda have a daughter named Winnie (voiced by Zoe Berri, replacing Sadie Sandler in the role), who is Dennis’ best friend/love interest, but that relationship is also essentially ignored in the movie. Instead, some the werewolf children, who do not have names or individual personalities, get unnecessary screen time when they tag along during the trip to South America.
Some people might enjoy “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” if they want to see another “Hotel Transylvania” movie about Dracula and Johnny trying to navigate their tension-filled relationship. “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” is being marketed as the final movie in the “Hotel Transylvania” series. If that’s true, then the “Hotel Transylvania” movie series is going out with a toothless whimper, not a bang.
Prime Video premiered “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” on January 14, 2022.
Culture Representation: Taking place primarily in Palm Springs, California, and briefly in other parts of the U.S., the comedy film “Palm Springs” has a predominantly white cast (with a few black people, Asians and Latinos) representing the middle-class.
Culture Clash: A single man and a single woman find themselves in a repetitive time loop where they keep waking up to the wedding day of the woman’s younger sister in Palm Springs, California.
Culture Audience: “Palm Springs” will appeal to primarily people who like offbeat “time warp” comedies, but much of the vulgar humor lacks wit or originality.
Meredith Hagner and Andy Samberg in “Palm Springs” (Photo courtesy of Hulu)
A blatant and vastly inferior ripoff of the 1993 Bill Murray classic comedy “Groundhog Day,” the time-loop comedy film “Palm Springs” might be interesting to fans of star Andy Samberg, but everyone else will feel like they’re stuck watching a repetitive time-loop skit get less funny as time goes on. A sardonic supporting performance by the always-great J.K. Simmons isn’t enough to save this smug film, which isn’t as clever as the filmmakers like to think it is.
People who follow news in the entertainment industry might be aware that the Hulu comedy film “Palm Springs” broke a Sundance Film Festival record for the highest amount paid ($17.5 million and 69 cents) to acquire a film that premiered at Sundance. The previous record holder was Fox Searchlight’s $17.5 million purchase of the 2016 drama “Birth of a Nation,” actor Nate Parker’s feature-film directorial debut.
The record-breaking sum that Hulu paid for “Palm Springs” would lead people to believe that this movie, which clearly won’t be an Oscar contender, is at least on par with a crowd-pleasing classic, such as director Harold Ramis’ “Groundhog Day,” a movie about a weatherman who’s stuck in a Groundhog Day time loop. Unfortunately, “Palm Springs” (directed by Max Barbakow and written by Andy Siara) doesn’t come close to the charm and memorable humor of “Groundhog Day.”
It’s pretty obvious that the overrated “Palm Springs” was sold for an overpriced amount because movie executives got caught up in a bidding war for a mediocre film. When has Samberg ever starred in a quality movie that was a big hit with audiences? Never. “Palm Springs” certainly won’t be his first “blockbuster” hit.
In “Palm Springs,” Sandberg plays an obnoxious ne’er do well named Nyles, who is stuck in a time loop where he keeps waking up to November 9, the day of a wedding that he is supposed to attend with his girlfriend Misty (played by Meredith Hagner), a stereotypical ditsy blonde who is one of the bridesmaids. Viewers won’t find out about this time loop until after the first time that the movie shows Nyles at the wedding.
The wedding is taking place in the upscale desert vacation city of Palm Springs, California. The bride is Tala (played by Camila Mendes), the groom is Abe (played by Tyler Hoechlin) and the maid of honor is Tala’s divorced older sister Sarah (played by Cristin Milioti), who looks and acts like she’d rather be anywhere else but the wedding. The proud parents of the bride are Howard (played by Peter Gallagher) and Pia (played by Jacqueline Obradors), who don’t do much except look horrified at some of the silly antics that later ensue in the story. And then there’s Nana Schlieffen (played by June Squibb), the token matronly grandmother at the wedding.
Nyles, Misty and Sarah are all staying at the same hotel. When Nyles wakes up in the hotel on the day of the wedding, Misty has just come out of the shower and is putting lotion on her legs. Nyles wants to have sex, and Misty agrees, but only if they make it quick because she says she doesn’t want to get too sweaty. A predictable erection joke is part of this scene, which sets the tone for the rest of this movie. “Palm Springs” makes a lot of crude jokes about sex, but most of the jokes aren’t very funny.
At the wedding, Nyles stands out (and not in a good way) because he’s wearing clothes that are too casual: a Hawaiian shirt and shorts. At the reception, Misty makes an awkward wedding speech, and then it’s Sarah turn to give her speech. Even though she’s the maid of honor, a miserable-looking Sarah seems shocked that she’s expected to make a toast to the bride and groom.
But before she gets a chance to make the speech, Nyles butts in and makes a speech that’s even more cringeworthy than Misty’s speech. What Nyles has to say is both overly sappy and nonsensical. He ends it by stating to the newly married couple: “We may be born lost, but now you are found.”
After that, Nyles (who is constantly chugging beer from beer cans) and Sarah strike up a conversation. Nyles flirts heavily with Sarah and asks her if she wants to go somewhere private with him for a quickie tryst. Sarah tells him that he’s being very forward, but she’s intrigued by his boldness.
While Nyles and Sarah are outside, they pass by a bathroom where the reception is being held. The bathroom is on the ground level, and they can clearly see into the bathroom’s window (this place clearly doesn’t care about guests’ privacy), where they witness Misty cheating with a wedding guest named Trevor (played by Chris Pang). Trevor, who’s dressed in a glittery cowboy suit at the wedding, is one of those quirky characters that was written in this movie in its failed attempt to be like a Wes Anderson comedy.
Now that Sarah knows that Nyles’ girlfriend/wedding date doesn’t really care about him, Sarah takes Nyles up on his offer to hook up with him out in the desert. Before that happens, Sarah tells Nyles that she’s the “black sheep” of her family, because her family thinks she’s a “liability” who thinks “I fuck around and drink too much.”
While Sarah and Nyles are having a steamy makeout session, Nyles suddenly gets wounded on his shoulder by an arrow. Out of the shadows, a man wearing dark camouflage paint on his face starts to chase Nyles with a bow and arrow, while Sarah freaks out and is confused by what’s going on. It turns out that the angry bow-and-arrow hunter is named Roy (played by J.K. Simmons), and Roy wants revenge on Nyles for a reason that’s revealed later in the story.
Meanwhile, during this chase scene, Nyles runs into a cave where there’s a strange glowing red light. Sarah follows Nyles into the cave. And it turns out this mysterious cave is the portal that causes a time-loop that keeps going back to November 9. Now that Sarah has gone into the cave, she’s stuck in the time loop with Nyles too. Just like Nyles, every time Sarah now wakes up, it’s in the Palm Springs hotel on the November 9 wedding day.
“Palm Springs” has a lot of slapstick humor to distract from the uninspired dialogue in the movie. After Sarah finds out that she’s stuck in the same time loop as Nyles, much of the film is about Sarah being angry with Nyles because she feels that she didn’t deserve to be unknowingly trapped in the loop.
Nyles has been in the loop long enough to warn Sarah that attempts to get out of the loop have failed. Committing suicide doesn’t work. (Although an idea presented later in the story contradicts that theory.) It also doesn’t work to take stimulant drugs that keep people up for days. Traveling to another city (which Sarah does when she drives all the way back to her messy house in Austin, Texas) also doesn’t get them out of loop either.
The movie never explains what Nyles did for a living before he got caught in the time loop, but he’s reached a point of feeling resigned about his fate in the loop. Therefore, he acts as recklessly and obnoxiously as possible (including breaking several laws), because he knows that when he wakes up, he’ll be back in that Palm Springs hotel room on the November 9 wedding day.
Nyles also tells Sarah that being stuck in the time loop has caused him to feel free to have sexual hookups with as many people as possible, including three people who keep showing up in this story: a bartender named Daisy (played by Jena Friedman), who works at the wedding reception; Darla (played by Dale Dickey) a crusty regular at a local bar; and fashionable Jerry (played by Tongayi Chirisa), one of the wedding guests.
At first, Sarah gets caught up in being as “bad” as possible, so a great deal of the movie shows Sarah and Nyles acting like drunken, irresponsible teenagers. But Sarah soon grows tired of these shenanigans and wants to get out of the loop and back to her normal life. It goes without saying that Sarah and Nyles start to have romantic feelings for each other, so Nyles is conflicted about Sarah wanting to leave the loop while he might remain stuck there.
Unfortunately for “Palm Springs,” the chemistry between Samberg and Milioti isn’t very believable when Nyles and Sarah start to become a romantic couple. Milioti seems to be doing her best to bring some laughs to the story, but Sarah is such a deeply unhappy, self-loathing person that it’s hard to believe that Sarah can fall in love when she doesn’t even love herself.
Parts of “Palm Springs” seem like a more adult-language version of a “Saturday Night Live” sketch that’s worn out its welcome. Samberg, who’s a “Saturday Night Live” alum, has the same type of one-note “man child” persona that he had on the show. It’s the same persona that Pete Davidson has also taken as part of his comedic image.
A comedy with this “time loop” concept should be fun to watch, but “Palm Springs” is a chore to watch because the two main characters don’t have charismatic personalities. Huge stretches of “Palm Springs” drag on for too long. And even the movie’s visual effects look cheap and clunky.
The best thing about “Palm Springs” is how the “travelogue” type of cinematography (from Quyen Tran) makes a vacation in Palm Springs look very enticing. But people can watch attractive travel videos for free on the Internet, and this movie isn’t supposed to be a travel video.
People aren’t going to sign up for Hulu en masse to watch this movie, so “Palm Springs” certainly wasn’t worth the $17.5 million price tag. “Palm Springs” is not only a waste of Hulu’s money but it’s also a waste of viewers’ time, unless people have a high tolerance for Samberg’s recycled “man child” persona.
Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg at the 70th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on September 17, 2018. (Photo by: Paul Drinkwater/NBC)
The following is a press release from Dick Clark Productions and NBC:
Sandra Oh, star of the critically acclaimed BBC America drama series “Killing Eve,” and Andy Samberg, star of NBC’s Golden Globe-winning comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” will co-host the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
The three-hour telecast will air live on NBC coast to coast Sunday, January 6 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT from The Beverly Hilton.
The Golden Globes serve as the official kickoff to the 2019 awards season. Winners in 25 categories — 14 in film and 11 in television — are voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).
“Sandra and Andy are the perfect choices to host this world-class event,” said Paul Telegdy and George Cheeks, Co-Chairmen, NBC Entertainment. “They bring wit, charm and style to a room filled with the very best of film and television. It’s sure to be another unforgettable fun-filled night.”
“We’re excited to welcome Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg as co-hosts of Hollywood’s Party of the Year,” said HFPA President Meher Tatna. “Both Golden Globe Award recipients have continually showcased their talents in film and television, and we can’t wait see what their undeniable chemistry will bring to the Golden Globes stage.”
“We are thrilled to have Sandra and Andy co-hosting the Golden Globes,” said Mike Mahan, Executive Producer and CEO, dick clark productions. “This innovative pairing sets the perfect tone for the most entertaining awards celebration of the year.”
Oh currently serves as co-executive producer and earned an Emmy Award nomination for Lead Actress in a Drama for BBC America’s “Killing Eve” as Eve Polastri, an MI5 officer who hunts down and becomes entangled with a cold-blooded female assassin. Previously, Oh starred as Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” for which she won a 2006 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Female Actor in a Drama Series and five Emmy nominations for Supporting Actress in a Drama. Oh’s film credits include “Sideways,” “Under the Tuscan Sun,” “Catfight” and “Meditation Park,” and she produced the animated film “Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming” as well as voicing the title character.
In 2014, Samberg was a two-time Golden Globe winner for “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” winning Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy and as a producer on the show for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. Prior to that, Samberg was a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” from 2005-12. His work on NBC’s iconic late night franchise earned him an Emmy Award and six additional Emmy nominations for his work with The Lonely Island and their digital shorts. The Lonely Island has also been nominated for three Grammys. In 2015, Samberg hosted the 67th annual Primetime Emmy® Awards and in 2013, hosted the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
The new season of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” begins Thursday, Jan. 10 at 9 p.m. on NBC.
The Golden Globe Awards, often referred to as “Hollywood’s Party of the Year,” is one of the biggest nights on the calendar for live viewing. It’s also one of the few awards shows that combine the honorees of both film and television.
The 2018 Golden Globe Awards telecast averaged a 5.0 rating in adults 18-49 and 19 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, putting it ahead of every show on television from the previous 10 months in total viewers, since the prior year’s Academy Awards. The Golden Globes led NBC to the nightlong win in total viewers despite NFL playoff competition.
Produced by dick clark productions in association with the HFPA, the Golden Globe Awards are viewed in more than 210 territories worldwide.
Meher Tatna is President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Allen Shapiro, Executive Chairman of dick clark productions, Mike Mahan, CEO of dick clark productions and Barry Adelman, Executive VP of Television at dick clark productions, will serve as executive producers. About the Hollywood Foreign Press Association The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was founded in 1943 as the Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association (HFCA) by a group of entertainment journalists representing world media in Hollywood, who realized the need to unite and organize to gain the recognition and access to studios and talent accorded to the domestic press. All qualified journalists were accepted, with the bold goal of “Unity Without Discrimination of Religion or Race.” A year later, the HFCA created the Golden Globe Awards which, to this day, the entire membership selects, votes on and awards every year for outstanding achievements in motion pictures and television. This year marked the 75th anniversary of the Golden Globe Awards. Members of the HFPA represent 56 countries with a combined readership of 250 million in some of the world’s most respected publications. Each year, the organization holds the third most watched awards show on television, the Golden Globe® Awards, which has enabled the organization to donate more than $33 million to 80 entertainment-related charities, scholarship programs and humanitarian efforts over the last 25 years. For more information, please visitwww.GoldenGlobes.comand follow us on Twitter (@GoldenGlobes), Instagram (@GoldenGlobes), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/GoldenGlobes).
ABOUT DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS
Dick Clark Productions (DCP) is the world’s largest producer and proprietor of televised live event entertainment programming with the “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “American Music Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” and the “Streamy Awards.” Weekly television programming includes “So You Think You Can Dance” from 19 Entertainment and dcp. dcp also owns one of the world’s most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries with over 60 years of award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.
