Welcome back to the blog readers. As you know by now, I have a kind of love-hate relationship with thrillers because it is basically a gamble on whether the film will be good or not. We have already had this situation a few times in the last few years because the thrillers have not been that great. Look at last year's Retribution (2023) and this year's Trap (2024) as examples. I was hoping one that features Mister "bouttamakeanameformyselfrighthere" Channing Tatum would be good, but would it actually be? Stick around to find out.
Blink Twice was directed by Zoë Kravitz in her directorial debut from a script by her and E.T. Feigenbaum. The film stars Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, Geena Davis, and Alia Shawkat. In the film, two women are invited to a billionaire tech mogul's private island, only to realize the goings on at the island are not exactly what they seem as they must uncover the mystery behind the island.
As I said, I have been left to hope that this film would be somewhat decent, because I like a lot of the pieces involved. Kravitz is a great actor, but unproven in the director's chair as this is her first film. Tatum gave the performance of his life in Fly Me to the Moon (2024), and Adria Arjona was awesome in Andor (2022-). But unfortunately for them, this film confused me more than it did entertain me. There are elements of the film that I liked, like the performances and the message, but I feel it was not done as effectively as I would have liked.
One performance I do want to praise is that of Channing Tatum as the billionaire tech mogul Slater King. Tatum has evolved from being a not-so-great actor to one that has become a draw. Just look at his roles this year alone. The aforementioned Fly Me to the Moon, his role as Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) (yes, I spoiled it. It has been over a month now so if you have not seen the film yet, that is on you), this guy is on fire so far. And this role is no different. Finally, he has taken a role that he can really sink his teeth into and excel in. And I was completely enamored with this guy as he played someone who could switch it up on a dime. One minute he is this charming guy who seems like he genuinely cares about these people, and the next he is a conniving and menacing presence that you just want to push through a window. I hope that he continues to prove everyone wrong and get himself an Oscar one day.
The final performance I want to talk about is that of Naomi Ackie as our protagonist Frida. Even though I was just waxing poetic over Channing Tatum's performance, I believe Ackie was the true MVP of this film. Her physical acting may just be some of the best I have seen all year, and the emotions she is physically able to convey in her face were just mesmerizing. She does have some visceral acting chops with her role in I Wanna Dance With Somebody (2022), so I think her getting to further flex these acting muscles is good not only for her but for us, the audience, as well. You can believe her when she herself is switching up on a dime from happy-go-lucky, clearly in love with Slater to the visceral horror she feels when the other shoe drops and what the big plot twist is is revealed. Ackie will be a big star in this industry, and it is performances like this that will push her over the edge and turn her into that big star.
I do also want to talk about the story for a bit. I will not be spoiling the film here, but I want to give you a brief enough depiction of what happens so you guys can somewhat follow along with me. In the beginning of this film, nothing major happens in the story until our characters get to the island, and when we get there, nothing really happens until halfway through the film, when a major character goes through a major revelation. From there on, the weirdness crescendos until we finally get the shoe to drop and we find out the big secret of the film. And I am a fan of women standing up to their abusers and all, but I do think the story could have been handled differently at the end.
I do believe there were some major pacing issues in the film as well, and I intend this paragraph to be connected to the last paragraph about the story. Like I said in that paragraph, nothing major happens in the story until about halfway through, and I have to blame pacing for that. And because the story was not as effective as it could have been, it does not feel like it goes by fast. After some time, I actually found myself begging for the shoe to drop at some point, and the fact that it doesn't do that until the three-quarter mark of the film feels more like an insult than "abstract storytelling" to me. The film loses points in that regard, in my opinion.
To conclude my thoughts, Blink Twice is a confusing film that does not know how to properly tell its compelling, yet relevant, story but does feature stellar performances from Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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