The primary licensed bomb of 2025 entails a were-creature, however it isn’t Wolf Man, consider it or not. No, I’m not speaking about wolves. I’m speaking about an ape, kind of, one that’s extra CGI monstrosity than beast.
RELATED: ‘Wolf Man’ Overview – Half Wolf, Half Man, Half
Higher Man is the season’s newest musical following Mufasa and Depraved (and likewise Joker: Folie a Deux in case you critically wish to depend it). The previous can be the latest pop star biopic of a Brit, using the coattails of Rocket Man and Bohemian Rhapsody a few years too late.
It chronicles the profession of Robbie Williams, a charismatic hitmaker and ruffian who hasn’t had a considerable hit in over 20 years. Within the US, his greatest splash was “Millennium,” which parallelled the flip of the final century and made him essential sufficient to justify a duet with Nicole Kidman no person remembers.
If anybody who remembers him, or these songs, noticed this film, they’re out of luck as they by no means get to see his face or these of the actors enjoying him. For your complete movie, Williams is rendered as a speaking animated chimp for superficial causes.
They attempt to clarify it – he’s a “cheeky monkey,” he appears like a educated circus animal inside, he thinks of himself as “much less advanced” – however the thought by no means is sensible. Within the film, Williams is a chimp from start and that’s the way in which it’s, barely acknowledged.
RELATED: ‘Depraved’ Overview – A Bloated, Screechy Symphony Straight From Pink And Inexperienced Hell
All this inventive determination does is give Higher Man an excuse for some CGI and extra aptitude. It provides nothing to the story or the expertise, and will get distracting earlier than lengthy. When your film is over two hours, that’s an issue.
The pathos and performances are robust sufficient to hold it, even when you’ve got seen the identical primary story a number of instances, however they’re hampered by this interminable visible stunt that performs like a poor man’s Kafka. Besides, as a substitute of a bug’s life, you have got a monkey in your again attempting to steal the present.
Regardless, I give credit score to the results home WETA for doing a powerful job with the design of the ape. They may win an Oscar and good for them. If there are folks dumb sufficient to throw $100 million at you for one thing that ought to solely price a tenth of that, you would possibly as effectively take the cash and run.
Stash it for a wet day. Peter Jackson might attempt to make one other Hobbit film or Mortal Engines (you by no means know).
No studio is a stranger to throwing money at one thing they suppose is a certain factor, solely to stare down the barrel of disappointment. I suppose they thought the musical numbers and occasional homosexual imagery and overtones would get the identical crowd Depraved reeled in, however no, it didn’t occur.
I can report firsthand that nobody apart from me confirmed as much as see Higher Man after I went. In actual fact, attendance should have been up to now under expectations that they didn’t care sufficient to show up the warmth within the theater. I sat, with a deep freeze exterior, in a cold AMC, attempting not to go to sleep.
That’s the entire fact, however I gained’t name Robbie Williams boring. He’s led a compelling life stuffed with drama, surprising moments, and the standard ups and downs of stardom. It’s simply that nobody took under consideration if he had the recognition left to make this ship sail, or if changing his face with a monkey’s was the appropriate promotional transfer.
However, on the intense facet, not less than we DC followers know what a Detective Chimp musical might be like.
READ NEXT: ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Overview – A Cinematic Dick Punch To A Billion Greenback Viewers
Extra must-reads: