Bad Times at the El Royale

Derivative, predictable, and dull

> There is something about hotels that I find very romantic. You get to try on a different life in a hotel. You're usually in a new place when you're staying in a hotel. There's something about the experience that allows you to be a different person. You can think to yourself: "Oh, this is what it would look if I were in Paris. This is what it would look like if I were in New York." There's something about it that transports you somewhere and that, I suppose, has always been good for creativity and imagination. I love the entire spectrum of hotels, because for a creative person, it's about trying on a new life. For the El Royale, I liked this idea of a hotel that had a shadier side to it.

- Drew Goddard; "Exclusive Bad Times At The El Royale Interview With Drew Goddard" (Simon Gallagher); WhatCulture (October 9, 2018)

Following the genre-bending, utterly insane, and extremely funny The Cabin in the Woods (2011), Bad Times at the El Royale is the second feature from writer/director Drew Goddard, who has also accrued writing credits for Matt Reeves's Cloverfield (2008), Marc Foster's World War Z (2013), and Ridley Scott's The Martian (2015), as well as TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1996-2003), Angel (1999-2004), Alias (2001-2006), and Lost (2004-2010). In short, he has an impressive résumé. As it stands in relation to Cabin, Bad Times is a similarly stylised cine-literate genre mash-up. However, whereas in Cabin, the twist upon twist upon twist had a cumulative effect, with the story getting better the longer it went on and the weirder things got, in Bad Times it's a case of ever diminishing returns. By the time we reach the end of the lengthy 141-minute runtime (more on that later), with everything and everyone shoehorned into neatly explained niches, the film has been shorn of its vitality, leaving one with an overriding impression of "meh". If Cabin was a genuinely new spin on a clichéd old story, playing with and subverting genre at every turn, Bad Times_ is singularly unable to free itself from the most oppressively derivative of its generic constraints.

Set in 1969, the film takes place almost entirely in the titular El Royale Hotel (actually a motel, and obviously inspired by the Cal Neva Lodge & Casino), a once popular but now fading novelty spot situa

Although the first half presents a smart and mysterious blend of, say, ‘The Hateful Eight’ and ‘Identity’, the plot lacks the puzzle pieces to grow towards a grand solution in it's ending.

7/10

Ok, Wow, I don't think I've seen a movie like that since the 90s. Some have gotten close, but this one absolutely stinks of clever 90s independent film...

...at least in that era where studios were putting serious bank behind indie films in an effort to score awards and produce something new that audiences would eat up.

The wow sort of starts with the soundtrack, which is brilliant found music that not only fits the era, but fits the film like a globe.

The casting is perfect, with a special shout out to Cynthia Erivo who sold her role as an R&B singer as if, well, she is one, but the delivery was absolutely brilliant on her end, despite the fact that she is one in real life. I guess it's where basically playing yourself pays off in spades.

She was brilliant, but then, so was absolutely everyone else.

And this is all put together with a plot that twists and turns and situations that just move from bad to worse in the best possible Hollywood way.

It's a movie you have to see.

Tarantino-esque flick about one rainy night at a dubious motel in Northern California

In 1969, four strangers spend the night at the El Royale hotel on the border of California & Nevada, near Lake Tahoe. These visitors consist of a priest (Jeff Bridges), a singer (Cynthia Erivo), a vacuum cleaner salesman (Jon Hamm) and an edgy young woman (Dakota Johnson). They’re going to have an unforgettable night. Lewis Pullman plays the meek manager of the motel that used to be a bustling business while Chris Hemsworth and Cailee Spaeny have key roles.

“Bad Times at the El Royale” (2018) is a crime thriller that takes the milieu of the “Psycho” flicks and combines it with the dialogue-driven style of Tarantino. The later “The Virtuoso” (2021) is comparable, although this is more colorful, not to mention half an hour longer. Not only is it superior to that film, it’s also superior to the movie the writer/director is most known for, “The Cabin in the Woods” (2012).

To appreciate “El Royale” you have to be prepared for a flick that has the confidence to take its time as the characters are fleshed out and their secrets revealed. Some don’t like how things pan out in the last act revolving around Hemsworth’s character, but it worked for me and fit the times in which the story is set. Meanwhile Dakota Johnson looks great in jeans.

Fans of “Pulp Fiction,” “Jackie Brown,” “Inglourious Basterds” and “The Hateful Eight” should eat this up.

The film runs 2 hours, 21 minutes, and was shot in areas east of Vancouver, British Columbia, including Pioneer Avenue in Agassiz and Mammoth Studios in Burnaby. Additional bits were done in California.

GRADE: B+/A-

Lewis Pullman is the best actor in this movie. In every single scene in this movie, he shines. He has very expressive eyes. His acting is the best part of this movie. There are moments in this movie where it looks like it's a good movie but the exact moment Chris Hemsworth`s character shows up at EL Royale the movie goes to shit!! Every scene of Chris Hemsworth`s in this movie is a cringe. he was the worst part of the movie. I was massively disappointed with Jon Hamm`s character. What a waste of such a good actor! Cynthia Erivo singing was beautiful. she was the second-best actor in this movie.