Keanu:
Key and Peele is a hilarious sketch-comedy show, with a ton a brilliant, witty, and insightful humor. Yet writing effective 3-5 minutes sketches is a very different experience from writing an effective 90-minute feature film, as Keanu (written and directed by Key and Peele’s makers) unfortunately showcases. The film as a whole falls flat with done-to-death ideas, incessant focus on a trite, one-note joke, and two-dimensional characters who would have worked better in comedy-sketches. Keanu’s best parts is when it deviates from the main plot to focus on (you guessed it) brief, entertaining subplots (such as when the cousins are kidnapped by the Allentown Boys). As a 3-5 minute sketch, Keanu would have worked, but as a feature-length film it’s wholly underwhelming and, worst of all for a comedy, surprisingly dull.
Storks:
Storks is an odd conundrum. The story follows Looney Tunes levels of nonsensical, reality-breaking zaniness, yet also takes itself surprisingly serious when the moment calls for it. One would expect such contradicting elements to end disastrously, yet Storks somehow finds the right blend to make it work just enough to overcome its occasional missteps (such as its “made to be humorously obnoxious, but is actually straight-up obnoxious” pigeon character). Doesn’t hurt for Storks to also have a pleasant-looking animation style and two very likable leads (with enjoyably witty chemistry). Storks is—for the most part—funny, sweet, and at times, even emotionally touching.
Allied:
Allied’s problem is that its selling point—a WWII Ally officer investigating whether his wife’s a possible German spy—is surrounded by generic romance and action. The film spends its first hour using standard “undercover agent” romantic tropes to develop a relationship that could’ve effectively been done in half the time. The action sequences are bland and often feel forced in to engage action junkies and/or “amplify” the film’s thriller elements. If the latter aspect is true, then it was unnecessary, seeing how Allied’s calm, yet thrilling scenes are far more engaging than its flashy shootouts. The scenes that work for Allied work well—including an emotionally bittersweet ending—yet the film could have worked a lot more effectively had a good third been cut from it.
