artemis
Rockwell Knuckles
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I was supposed to go see the early screening of Hotel Artemis with fellow reviewers, at a theater in St. Louis. My delayed flight from Boston to STL thought otherwise, and I missed it. So, I had to see it on my own when it officially dropped. What a shock it was that when I got my ticket, went into the theater expecting to have to search for good seats, and no one was in the theater. Well, there was a group of four which made for six people total, at matinee hours.

A sci-fi crime film with Jody Foster and STL’s own Sterling K. Brown, and this is how St. Louis supports it?!? I was disgusted. Flabbergasted. Taken aback, if you will. We are talking about Sterling K. Brown. The ‘adopted son’ from This Us. Killmonger’s father from Black Panther. The overzealous love interest from Insecure. Hollywood’s new darling, Sterling K. Brown.

And when the man gets a good script and does a film about a futuristic hospital that looks like a lavish hotel, where you literally have to be a member to get in to save yourself after getting hurt doing crime comes out, and NO ONE shows up?!?

Everyone I’ve spoken to about this film has no idea what I’m talking about or are waiting for it to hit Netflix. Omg!! Wtf?!? Even the real buffs that I know who went to see it said they were damn near in the theater by themselves. This is a travesty, in this reviewer’s opinion. Not saying Hotel Artemis was the new Citizen Kane, but dammit it has promise.

Another fair-weather film watcher I know said “it looks like they ripped off the hotel on John Wick. To this I say, nope. In this film criminals with a membership to Hotel Artemis are not allowed to bring weapons into the facility. Literally the rules are no weapons and don’t kill your fellow patients. With heavy hitters like Charlie Day from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Dave Bautista from Guardians of the Galaxy, Jeff Goldblum, even Brian Tyree Henry of Atlanta fame graces the screen in this wild tale of an invalid and her holy crusade to help the wicked of society.

It’s fun.

It’s fast paced.

It’s definitely worth a watch. When I think of this film I think of films like Donnie Darko, Mallrats, Heathers, and Blade Runner—films that bombed at the box office but became classics once their audiences put the bongs down and find these movies, in time. Yep, I predict that this will the realm of cult classic. Maybe I’m prejudice. Maybe I really think the concept is dope and believe there could nine sequels, none connected to the other. Maybe I’m just rooting for Sterling K. Brown to win. Whatever it is, Hotel Artemis is worth a viewing.

Enjoy, Knuckleheads. Talk soon.

Rockwell Knuckles, Esq.

 

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