Bad Times at the El Royale

Bad Times At The El Royale is creepy and mysterious in all the right ways. The tension builds as the non-sequential story allows the pieces to fall into place in mesmerizing fashion.

A beautifully staged film with everything in its place, this is both an affectionate homage and a timely commentary, falling only slightly short of its own ambition. Classy pulp fiction.

There is a staginess to the action that creates a certain distance between the film and viewers (an opening sequence almost feels like like you're watching a play). That's another Tarantino-style touch. However, you never feel too disconnected, thanks to the good work from the cast.

Goddard provides ample space for his star-studded cast to play, often to great effect, thanks mostly to lesser-known stars like Erivo and Pullman. The production design is similarly engrossing, with the El Royale's endless corridors and secrets making it as much a character in the movie as any of its human players.

Here’s the thing about Bad Times at the El Royale: When it’s good, it’s very, very good — and when it’s bad, this retro whatsit is a whole lot of awful.

Goddard’s film looks terrific and has all of the — as Hamm’s character would say with exaggerated Southern flare — “accoutrements” of an intoxicating slow-burn thriller, but none of the payoff.

Ponderously telling some parts of its sketch-of-a-story from multiple points of view, it’s an excruciating exercise in self-indulgence, packed with flashbacks and those big speeches/big scenes that draw names like Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, Dakota Johnson and Jon Hamm to its cast. It adds up to nothing more than two hours and 21 minutes of tedium, with the odd spasm of violence, back-story or musical interlude.

I really can't believe the score most review sites have given this film, it's worth so much more than a 7. This film is a masterpiece, it's so well put together and without a wasted word or scene. It's incredibly refreshing to see a film trying something new like this. Don't listen to negative reviews about this film - even if you don't like the genre, it's worth seeing just to see a great work of art.

Bad Times at the El Royale is a very messy, extremely overlong thriller that gets by with style and a really good ensemble cast. Even if it feels like it drags on forever, it's quite a bit of fun to watch these people act together.

Bad Times at the El Royale by the beginning raises high expectations. Looks at first glance the film as Identity only without the charm thriller and in the antourage of the 60s. The plot is as if served with cliffs, the characters do not have time to reveal, the ending is predictable and unambiguous. An absolutely grey film that tries to turn something interesting is Chris Hemsworth 's acting

This one gets you in with a nice Intro, look and feel...well, for about 30mins or so, but what follows just about defies description or deserves any credence. All the ingredients of today’s consumer moviemaking are there IE; add a pinch of Cohen Bros, large dollops of Tarantino, and Scorsese, stir and watch the money roll in – but guess what, it didn’t happen. Often when you see that a movie was produced, written and directed by the same person (Drew Goddard - with the family as associates) you would be right to feel uneasy – there have been the odd times when this can work well, but that’s all too often rare. I doubt this mess would exist if the maker hadn’t paid for it himself, still, he only stood to lose his own money (and did). Some good performances are wasted along with neat set decoration and stylish cinematography, while the viewer gets to be bludgeoned over the head with wall to wall sadistic violence, crude language, plus a ridiculous and rambling script (like 2hrs 21mins!). As for Aussie Chris Hemsworth, he gets to make a fool of himself with a hedonistic performance as a deranged Manson type killer in a loser of a movie (better think twice next time Chris) Those who enjoy seeing the same, now clichéd stories, and impossible characters rolled out in movie after movie, will find some sick enjoyment but most, as the box office returns show, will leave the room very disappointed.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]