Sete Estranhos no El Royale

Um filme ao estilo de Tarantino sem Tarantino. No filme anterior A Casa na Floresta, Drew Goddard brincou unicamente com os clichés do género de horror, aqui ele apenas tenta cozinhar fracamente ingredientes dos filmes de gangsters e uma variedade de personagens colocados numa situação difícil. O problema, porém, já está neles. A definição das duas personagens negativas (as raparigas) é fraca, e a sua colisão acidental com a linha principal do enredo (Jeff Bridges à procura de algo) parece muito óbvia. E o personagem menos funcional e pior escolhido do filme é Chris Hemsworth relacionado com isto, que, pelo contrário, deveria ter elevado o filme para um nível alto. O filme também não aproveita adequadamente o potencial do tema «no lugar errado no momento errado». O entrelaçamento temporal não é engenhosamente planeado e o ritmo é por vezes desnecessariamente lento, baseando-se em diálogos que carecem de refinamento. Mas Jeff Bridges consegue dá-lhe a força do macho, Dakota encaixa-se mais no papel da besta do que na menina das Sombras de Grey, e o jovem Lewis Pullman no papel secundário acaba por fazer o maior sentido de todos eles. (05/12/2022)

The beginning stumped me, when it is not clear who is on which side of the barricade and what brought them to the hotel, as did the unexpected reveal of the multiple red herring storylines of the individual characters, which intentionally bring no surprises. However, the last act does not fit in at all with the previous events and for something long awaited brings a damn shortage of entertainment. Not to mention that, considering all the tough talk from before, it pulls its punches several times, even shamefully. It's a pity, especially because the setting and the cast are spot on. (04/12/2019)

Drew Goddard, the director of the great The Cabin in the Woods, did not please me at all with this one and after a long time I left the cinema completely bored. (I guess the other four people in the cinema fell asleep and my friends said after an hour that if someone doesn't die and soon, we leave). I had high hopes for this film, the trailers were promising, there decent actors, an attractive premise, and there was also the similarity to both Identity and The Hateful Eight, which I liked, but this one unfortunately failed with me. The film is 142 minutes long and doesn't offer enough enticing material to fully entertain and satisfy the viewer. The hotel with a hidden secret was fine, the sets are nice, the music is great music, and at first I was even entertained by the unknown mystery, but it didn't really go anywhere. Most of the time is given to Jeff Bridges and Cynthia Erivo, who are probably the least interesting characters in the film, with only Dakota Johnson surprisingly pulling it off as an actor, and then Chris Hemsworth, but he shows up half an hour before the end, and that felt like a letdown. The twists and turns are unexpected but not shocking (Lewis Pullman slightly surprised in the ending), the dialogue is futile and the lack of blood and action scenes is a minus for me. There is only one shootout at the end and it's over before I could say shoemaker. Too bad the director didn't pull something in the style of The Cabin in the Woods, it would have fit nicely here. A tedious and not very entertaining film, but it has its own vibe. 60%. (23/10/2018)

I would give it 5 stars and would possibly be raving about the return to the dark 90s and how this is the best film of 2018 if it weren’t for some particular moments of the screenplay. This way the movie “only” qualifies for a pretty good genre film which reminds me of the best gangster movies of the 1990s put into a rainy, Seven-like feel. Have you noticed how the rain plays an important role in the atmosphere of similar films? It’s a pity I didn’t have the chance to experience a downpour comparable to the one in the movie in real life this year. Films are soon going to be the only thing reminding me of what rain even is. Anyway, from a film-making point of view Bad Times at The El Royale is a real smash. The closed setting of the hotel sometimes made me feel like I was watching an adaptation of some Agatha Christie detective novel. The well-written characters and dialogues then reminded me of Tarantino. Only here they fortunately didn't launch into endless discussions about nothing and most of the two and a half hours was pure action. All acting performances were brilliant but you gotta applaud Jeff Bridges in particular. (31/12/2018)

Several people arrive at a small hotel in the middle of nowhere. They have nothing in common at first glance, but in a few hours most of them will be dead, and the rest will be really upset. Drew Goddard directs a smart film in the style of Tarantino with interesting characters, good actors and fun direction. It does run out of breath a bit towards the end, but overall it manages to entertain quite nicely thanks to the ideas, the characters and a few rough twists. It probably won't be a genre classic like The Cabin in the Woods, though. (12/10/2018)