"A movie about nerds who love 90's hip-hop showing up a gangster? Yes, please!" was my initial reaction to this movie when I saw it on Netflix. So, last night, I stayed up and watched the movie. And...? Well, I think there's plenty of enjoyable things in this movie, but there's also just some dumb stuff that I can't get past that make this movie a little odd to me.
First of all, I really like Malcolm. He is an enjoyable lead, relate-able and is well developed, not to mention that the actor gives a solid performance. It's easy to care about this character.
I also really liked the set-up of the movie. It had an interesting idea and seemed to have a good way of carrying it out.
Thirdly, I also loved the comedy. There are some legitimately funny moments in this movie.
But...... Let's get into the bad.
This is a bland looking movie. The cinematography is pretty standard, the set design in lack luster, and, outside of Malcolm's clothing, nothing really draws your eye to the screen. Just blah.
The side characters. I have no connections to these side characters. Dicky I only remember because she was a lesbian. That's her only character trait. The other friend is also bland. He's so bland, I don't even remember his name. But the WORST was Malcolm's love interest. I don't remember her name, either. She just seems so self- centered, and all we know is that she dated this one guy and wants to go to Six Flags. Not enough to make me invested in her.
Lastly, the film doesn't know when to end. Seriously. It has, like, 4 different endings. I thought it was over when Malcolm revealed his plan to a man that screwed him over. The music swelled, and the line was given a lot of emphasis. But, NOPE! There's another ending where Malcolm gives a big speech, the music swells, and then there's a line with a lot of focus on it. Is it over? Nope! Chuck Testa! Then there's a boring third ending with the a fore mentioned love interest that we don't care about. There was a fourth ending, and that one is the best. It just ends with a sort of cliff hanger, and I appreciated that ending. The first ending and last ending are just fine. But, they just had too much to cram in and it became too crowded.
So, this film is pretty funny and mostly enjoyable, but I don't think I'm going to watch it again any time soon.
