If you’ve looked at the trailer for Hotel Artemis, you get the basis of what this film will be about. With an all-star cast, they can make a basic movie plot look entertaining. You can check out if you want, but you can’t exactly leave. So strap in for 90-plus minute bloody B-movie style flick.
This review will be spoiler-free.
In the year 2028, after a botched robbery, two brothers (Sterling K. Brown and Brian Tyree Henry) seek the help of The Nurse (Jodie Foster), sole proprietor and concierge of the Hotel Artemis, a hotel/hospital that treats criminals. Joining two other residents (Sofia Boutella and Charlie Day), they get fixed up. But when riots outside bring Los Angeles’ biggest crime boss, The Wolf King (Jeff Goldblum), to the hotel, mayhem comes along to cause chaos to the hotel.
From the trailer, I could tell that this movie might not have substance that we’re used to in movies today. Its plot reminded me of the days of John Carpenter’s campy films of the 80’s that have become cult classic to today’s generation. And overall, that’s okay. I didn’t expect this film to be great or a sleeper summer hit such as Upgrade. While this movie is forgettable in some forms, it’s still a fun watch. It doesn’t make more out of what it is. The strength of this film definitely lies in the literal execution of some of the characters, Boutella’s acrobatic fight scenes and Dave Batista’s physical, bruising style while also adding little quips for humor. Jodie Foster’s Nurse character is the only character with a deeper backstory that made you sympathize with her. Other characters, such as Brown’s and Boutella’s, have a history but these moments only act as buffers in the movie’s plot. Most of the story comes down to who will die first, and how, once trouble walks into the penthouse of the hotel.
All of the cast did a serviceable job with their characters, sticking to what they know or learned from previous films or projects that audiences loved about these actors in the first place. Writer-director Drew Pearce’s must have done something right in getting a cast like this to sign on for this type of film. As I stated earlier, this film felt like a homage to the campy apocalyptic films of the 80’s that audiences knew would at least be solid and fun; a 90-plus piece of bloody midnight-style entertainment. Despite the stellar cast, I was iffy on the premise of the film. It looked like this movie was close to becoming a Netflix Original film (which wouldn’t have been a bad thing), but Pearce’s directorial debut was a solid effort and an original concept film, while not perfect, is what Hollywood needs in theaters today.
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One Scene at A Time 