Review: Hotel Artemis

In a near-future L.A. where society has gone to shit and riots are commonplace, disgraced medical professional Jodie Foster (with haggard, aged makeup) runs a top-secret medical facility called Hotel Artemis. It’s a safe sanctuary and patch-up place for criminals and undesirables (for a price, of course). Dave Bautista plays her chief security man, and there are strict rules to adhere by including no weapons on the premises, no cops allowed, and only members allowed admittance. Arriving at The Artemis this evening is bank robber Sterling K. Brown, whose accomplice (Brian Tyree Henry) is severely wounded and in need of medical care. Professional assassin Sofia Boutella and all-round arsehole arms dealer Charlie Day are also staying at the hotel. Things get complicated when Foster breaks her own rules and allows wounded cop Jenny Slate (!) to come in, which won’t please the other guests should they find out. Meanwhile, powerful gangster (and financial backer of The Hotel Artemis) Jeff Goldblum is brought in by his dipshit, hothead son Zachary Quinto, as he is also in need of urgent care. It’s gonna be a busy and eventful night at The Artemis, with riots outside providing an extra looming threat.

 

Although it didn’t seem to do much for critics and flopped at the box-office, this 2018 flick from writer-director Drew Pearce (co-writer of the solid “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation”) is actually worth a look in my opinion. It’s a bit too slow and probably could’ve been better than it is, but I liked enough of it to give it a favourable rating. Occasionally sporting some quite oddball casting choices, the performances are the chief asset here, with particularly fine work by Sterling K. Brown and Sofia Boutella. Brown shows here that he can do a whole heck of a lot more than play Randall on “This is Us”. I didn’t think he was the right person to replace the late John Spencer on the reunion episode of “The West Wing”, but he’s a good and charismatic actor. Boutella meanwhile is immediately terrific and steals her every scene. An intimidating Jeff Goldblum and an initially very intimidating Zachary Quinto (sporting a neck tattoo) make for a fun father-and-son criminal pairing. Goldblum is one of those actors who can add a little something to the script by sheer force of quirky, idiosyncratic personality. His casting might seem slightly atypical, but anyone who has seen “Deep Cover” knows Goldblum has the range to play a bad guy. His entrance is pretty hilarious, but even funnier is his complete and total lack of respect or paternal love for his snivelling prick son (whose aggression and bravado are little more than a front that quickly fades in his father’s presence). Jodie Foster gives a fun, if slightly mannered performance. I’m surprised she chose something like this, but she’s enjoyable in the role nonetheless, and looks to be having fun. Charlie Day meanwhile, is perfect casting as the token angry arsehole, and Jenny Slate is surprisingly decent if very weirdly cast as a cop. Dave Bautista is no Alec Guinness but shows here that he’s effective in certain roles and can play opposite Jodie Foster without seeming out of place. In fact, the only actor to not make much impression here is Brian Tyree Henry, who simply doesn’t get anywhere near enough to do.

 

A little bit of a post-apocalyptic “Smokin’ Aces” with less action, the film will likely also earn comparisons to the work of Howard Hawks (“Rio Bravo”) and John Carpenter (“Assault on Precinct 13”). Aside from not very attractive cinematography, the only drawback for me here was pacing. The film takes far too long to set its plot and characters into motion for my liking. 42 minutes is far too long for a less than 90 minute film to be still setting everything up. However, none of it was boring so ultimately it’s not a huge issue. It just makes what could’ve been a really enjoyable film, a mildly enjoyable film instead.

 

Very watchable, interestingly cast genre film certainly isn’t a classic, but I think it deserved a few more eyes on it at least. A bit slow, but the good outweighs the bad for me here. I certainly hope financial performance doesn’t hamper Pearce’s directorial career after this, his debut behind the camera. Give it a go.

 

Rating: B-