Hotel Artemis: Film Review
Hotel Artemis came out quite a while ago in America and it received mixed reviews, so I foolishly went in not expecting much from it and came away pleasantly surprised – it is intriguing and very entertaining.
Jodie Foster is back on our screens for the first time since 2013’s Elysium as The Nurse who runs the hotel, which serves as a medical facility for criminals who have paid their membership. The hotel is run with strict rules and occupants are given codenames according to their assigned room, such as arms dealer Acapulco (Charlie Day) and assassin Nice (Sofia Boutella). They are later joined by Nice’s former lover Waikiki (Sterling K Brown) and his brother Honolulu (Brian Tyree Henry) after a failed bank robbery, and all hell breaks loose after the owner, The Wolf King (Jeff Goldblum), and his son Crosby Franklin (Zachary Quinto) show up.
The ensemble cast for this is absolutely insane. Stars at every turn, which is rare for an original idea. My favourite was Foster, of course, it was so good to see her back onscreen. Her character runs the show; fixing criminals and keeping the hotel going, but she also has the most emotional weight, with sad revelations about her past. She is witty and her deadpan delivery was perfect. I love her!
Given the number of characters, it’s no surprise the others are more thinly drawn. Brown gets a lot to do and we get an idea of the person, not the criminal, Boutella gets a few glimpses of character but she’s mainly there to look sexy and kick ass (which she does in a jaw-dropping sequence) and Jenny Slate gets some lovely emotional scenes with Foster as a cop she knew from before.
Other than that, we have Goldblum as is his usual Jeff Goldblum self. Dave Bautista plays a similar character to what he plays in Guardians of the Galaxy – big and muscly yet sweet and funny – but he does it so well. Day was whiny and annoying and Quinto just went way over the top with his hammy bad-guy persona.
Writer/director Drew Pearce has come up with a really interesting concept that I hadn’t seen before. I was engrossed by how the hotel was run and all the futuristic technology ideas (it’s set in 2028) and enjoyed watching Foster and Bautista operate the place. The ending doesn’t quite live up to its premise; it is fine but didn’t turn out how I thought at all, but it’s still a solid movie that gives fans a bit of the crime/gangster genre, a bit of action, some thrills, some bloody violence and some heartfelt emotional moments. Highly recommend.
In cinemas Friday 20th July