Bad Times at the El Royale - Drew Goddard Writes and Directs

[KaijuDude1992]

This should have been two hours tops, but man is it engaging. I was honestly never bored and the mystery aspect is great. I really wanted to know what was going on, and how everything was going to come together in the end which ended up being pretty damn satisfying. That third act was something else and the performances all around are very solid with two of the best being Jeff Bridges and Cynthia Erivo. I also thought Chris Hemsworth really shined in his villainous, cult leader role as well and I wouldn't mind seeing the dude play more roles like this.

8/10

 

[Dr.]

I just caught this. I thought the intro/setup was very engaging and the first half generally good. But the wheels kinda fell off in the last half.

A common complaint is that the runtime was a tad excessive and that trimming some of the backstory flashbacks might have help with pacing. But I’m starting to wonder whether deleting all of the flashbacks would have materially affected the main narrative. It seems that most of the info in those scenes could be assumed or was already covered by exposition.

 

[MovieSlave]

I just caught this. I thought the intro/setup was very engaging and the first half generally good. But the wheels kinda fell off in the last half.

A common complaint is that the runtime was a tad excessive and that trimming some of the backstory flashbacks might have help with pacing. But I’m starting to wonder whether deleting all of the flashbacks would have materially affected the main narrative. It seems that most of the info in those scenes could be assumed or was already covered by exposition.

I finally caught this a few months back and loved it. I do agree that it was a tad long but when it comes to flashbacks I think the bellhop's flashback of him

Spoiler

in Vietnam

was needed for what he does in the end.

 

[Dr.]

...when it comes to flashbacks I think the bellhop's flashback of him

Spoiler

in Vietnam

was needed for what he does in the end.

The thing with that particular flashback is that it occurs very late into the movie. Indeed, it happens during the climax and, arguably, represents a digression and distraction. Ostensibly, however, this flashback provides necessary information that explains the bellhop’s subsequent actions and skills. But was it really necessary? We already knew that the bellhop had a dark and twisted history (“I’ve done very bad things.”) So the sudden display of those skills could easily be connected to his enigmatic past. IOW, in terms of narrative value, I’m not sure that the audience gets all that much from knowing the specifics of the bellhop’s backstory. And if it’s a choice between adding character embellishments and maintaining pace and flow, the latter should prevail.

 

[Schlosser85]

I'm conflicted about the last flashback. On the one hand, I thought it was a sort of moving revelation that made him more sympathetic when you find he was a vet, not some serial killer. On the other hand, it really jarringly interrupts the pace right as climactic **** is going down.