Malos tiempos en el Royale

Es un poco Tarantino, un poco Ciudad de Dios, un poco de algo que conocemos y no podemos nombrar y que en conjunto funciona y se mantiene unido. Tengo que ser tradicionalmente crítico con el metraje: si no fuera por la larga introducción, la película tendría mucho más impacto y dinámica. Los personajes están bien interpretados, disfruté las historias según las habitaciones, así como Chris Hemsworth, quizás por primera vez en un papel negativo de un típico imbécil. Al fin y al cabo, hay muy pocos personajes positivos en esta película. (05.11.2023)

Una película al estilo de Tarantino, pero sin Tarantino. En la anterior La cabaña en el bosque, Drew Goddard hizo malabarismos de manera única con los clichés del género de terror, pero aquí solo intenta torpemente cocinar con los ingredientes de gánsteres femeninos y una variedad de personajes, puestos en una situación precaria. Sin embargo, el problema ya está en ellos. La definición de ambos personajes negativos (chicas) es pobre, y su colisión accidental con la trama principal (Jeff Bridges buscando algo) suena cursi. Y con ellos está relacionado el personaje menos funcional, interpretado por Chris Hemsworth, siendo al mismo tiempo la peor elección de toda la película, que en realidad debería haber llevado su final a un punto mucho más alto. La película tampoco utiliza adecuadamente el potencial del tema "lugar equivocado en el momento equivocado". La mezcla temporal no tiene buenos puntos finales y el ritmo es innecesariamente lento en algunas partes lugares, apoyándose en diálogos que carecen de refinamiento. Pero Jeff Bridges se las arregla como un verdadero hombre, a Dakota le queda mejor el papel de la cabrona que el de la señorita de las Cincuenta sombras de Grey, y al final, el que más sentido resulta tener de todos ellos es el joven Lewis Pullman en su papel secundario. (05.12.2022)

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)

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)

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)