REVIEW:
Weapons is a movie that is all about style. Specifically the style of the storytelling. This movie takes the creative approach of telling us a story from one characters point of view. And during that story, which is basically about a ten to fifteen segment, that character crosses paths with and gets into situations with other characters. And then, when we come to the end of that segment, we switch to the point of view of another character, see everything in that character’s life that led up to the meeting with the first character, and walk away from it seeing things from a totally different perspective. it’s incredibly cool and clever, and it really goes a long way.
The movie itself is about a town where at the same time one night, a whole bunch of children ran out of their houses, ran off into the darkness, and disappeared. Doorbell cameras show the children leaving, but nobody knows where they went. That situation is a great setup. Combine it with the different point of view storytelling, and you’ve got a pretty cool film. The way we follow each of these character in their stories is very much like a chapter book, (in fact, they even might be called chapters here, with title cards and everything,) like the way Game of Thrones used to do it, with each chapter being about a new character. But it’s even better here, because now we see the same story from a new angle, instead of just a new story with a new character.
The problem here is that the big reveal isn’t all that great. It’s fine, but it’s also just a little too simple. And that reveal doesn’t come at the very end of the movie, but more like at the start of the third act. In other words, two third of this movie are fantastic, but the last third is just okay. It might have been scarier and cooler to leave things open and leave us not knowing. Then again, that might also have been frustrating for the audience. What definitely works about this movie are the performances and the eclectic cast that got put together in this one. From Julia Garner (Ozark,) to Josh Brolin to Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange,) these actors all bring their A game to what turns out to be an overall treat horror film. Yes, it doesn’t deliver all the way to the end, but for two thirds of the movie, it’s pretty fantasist, and that definitely counts for something.