Sinners
[4K/digital code]
I can’t help but blame myself for watching these kinds of movies. And by “these movies” I mean movies that are highly acclaimed, and I don’t do my homework to figure out where my expectations should be. I’m so disappointed in this movie, but who I really should be disappointed in is myself. Do I even have the energy for a “long” review about Sinners? Let me start rambling and see where it takes me.
Sinners was the hottest movie of the year before the summer blockbusters came along. It has such a high Rotten Tomatoes score that it might still be the hottest movie by the end of the year. I had high expectations going, but I didn’t find out it was created and directed by a Marvel movie director. This means a lot. Maybe not the average movie-goer but it does to me. Mostly because Marvel movies are all hype and are followed by a fandom that, honestly, wouldn’t know a good movie if it stabbed them in the heart. Sinners is basically a Marvel movie in anything but name. And fans of Marvel movies are dumb.
First off, shame on the Doughboys for spoiling this movie. The reveal that it’s a vampire movie only comes halfway through and it’s a spoiler for someone not going in cold. But nevermind all that, my problem with Sinners is that it’s overstuffed with ideas that don’t serve the plot and even more overstuffed with one-dimensional characters. For god’s sake, the writer/director someone who thinks naming his main characters “Smoke” and “Stack” is somehow “cool.” You know how all Zach Snyder movies failed because he has bad taste in what’s “bad-ass”? That syndrome is all over this movie. Sinners is too concerned insisting it’s cool, and not doing anything actually cool. That kind of swagger, bravado and hubris is all over its characters too, who are basically cartoons, with no depth. It’s down-right cringe-worthy to watch.
Also, Sinners takes some heavy liberties with the Vampire trope: in this movie when one gets turned into a vampire, you also inherit their memories and practical skills, and this apparently applies to musical and instrument knowledge. They went full BORG with the vampire idea. That’s such a BIG move that isn’t really explored, because, again, it’s just “bad ass” to do that. It’s dumbfounding! That big scene where the music transcends time and culture does it in broad strokes and then doesn’t do anything else with that idea. It doesn’t really serve the plot in any way. And with a movie with such great production (everything looks nice), you’d think they could come up with a better sound effect than a water balloon bursting every time everyone gets bitten or stabbed. How distractingly cheap.
People who love Marvel movies will love Sinners. But if you love Marvel movies, then you have bigger problems. Especially when you can’t recognize a mess like this one.
