Hotel Artemis is a cyberpunk crime thriller film set in 2028 Los
Angeles, in which water is privatized.
When the company that owns it cuts the supply off, a violent, widespread
riot erupts around the city. Exploiting
the bedlam all around, brothers Sherman (Sterling K. Brown) and Lev (Brian
Tyree Henry) decide to rob a bank. But
the heist goes sideways, leading to Lev getting critically wounded. To save his life, Sherman has to bring him to
Hotel Artemis, a secret hospital for criminals operated by the Nurse (Jodie
Foster) and her aide, Everest (Dave Bautista).
The night further spirals into chaos as Hotel Artemis also has to deal
with a French femme fatale assassin (Sofia Boutella), an arrogant arms dealer
(Charlie Day), a wounded cop (Jenny Slate), a try-hard mob boss’ son (Zachary
Quinto), and the city’s kingpin, “The Wolf King” (Jeff Goldblum).
This movie gained buzz because of
the similar feel of the eponymous Hotel Artemis to John Wick’s The Continental.
And indeed, there are parallels. Both
serve as haven for criminals, and maintain a set of rules that clients have to
strictly adhere to – or else. It’s easy to
imagine the world of Hotel Artemis as
what the future world of John Wick
would look like. Basically, Hotel
Artemis is a more technologically advanced but more rundown version of The
Continental, and that it’s more focused on treating injured criminals.
The most fascinating aspect of
this movie is easily the worldbuilding of its titular setting. I really enjoyed when details about the place
are revealed through dialogue or visuals.
And I especially found the 3D printer for organs to be pretty cool.
Meanwhile, though the colorful characters
lack substantial sophistication, they nonetheless prove to be fun to watch.
Unfortunately, it’s unsuccessful in
building a completely engaging narrative out of these aforementioned elements. It has a tad too many plot threads, and it’s unable
to weave them into a truly cohesive, satisfactory whole. The narrative doesn’t get too cluttered, but
it can get noticeably over the place and directionless at times. Nevertheless, it’s mostly entertaining. It delivers an ample share of badass and even funny moments.
My most favorite scene is
probably (SPOILERS) when the femme fatale proceeds to assassinate the Wolf
King. When the latter realizes that he’s
about to be killed by the former, he tries to bargain for his life in
desperation. However, the former shushes
him and replies, “They bought your death.
Don’t give them your dignity for free.”
Quickly realizing the harsh wisdom of the statement, he calmly accepts
his fate, muttering, “So, this is how it happens. Wow.
All right, baby. Send me down the
river.” Awesome!
Overall, Hotel Artemis is not quite a terrific standout. But it often intrigues with its
serviceable quality.
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