![\"\"](\"http:\/\/brotherhoodmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/unfriended-trailer-1.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI want to address some of the complaints I\u2019ve seen about the movie, and some that I anticipated. First: the characters are unlikable. Well, sure. Of course they are. Maybe there\u2019s some truly great version of \u201cUnfriended\u201d out there that manages to make the characters likable despite playing a hand in the suicide of a teenage girl, but no, this is very much the kind of horror movie where the characters being unlikable is the point. And I think that\u2019s the right call. This isn\u2019t the kind of story where you should be really deeply emotionally engaged in the inner moral struggles of the characters. This is the kind of movie where you should be having fun watching them die in horrifying ways, and \u201cUnfriended\u201d certainly provides that. Besides, there\u2019s a certain catharsis earned from watching these terrible people get killed. I mean, who doesn\u2019t<\/em> want to see some guy they hate shove his own arm in a blender, then use the blender blades to slice his own throat?<\/p>\n Another complaint: the movie isn\u2019t scary. This one is kind of subjective. I\u2019ve read a lot of reviews saying that the movie is genuinely scary, but a lot of people don\u2019t think it is. Personally, I wasn\u2019t really scared while watching it, but I hardly ever get scared watching horror movies, so that was to be expected. With most horror movies I\u2019m hoping to be horrified and shocked by what I\u2019m watching, not truly terrified to go to sleep afterward. So I didn\u2019t mind the lack of real scares.<\/p>\n But the biggest reason a lack of scares isn\u2019t a problem is that the whole movie is so compelling and exciting anyway! It uses the Skype format to brilliant effect, unfolding as if the whole movie is one long take in real time. It\u2019s such a unique and great idea, and I\u2019d call it borderline pioneering except Skype will probably be dated in a few years (unlike, for example, the legendary found footage influence of \u201cThe Blair Witch Project\u201d). Still, what does it matter if the movie dates itself? If you\u2019re watching it at this moment in time, the movie is frightening in the familiarity of its details. Skype\u2019s layout is well-known, but the movie also uses so many other subtle computer references smartly. I was particularly impressed with the movie\u2019s sly approach to doling out exposition: main character Blaire (Shelley Hennig) watches the video of Laura\u2019s suicide on LiveLeak, so we get to see it instead of the movie abruptly flashing back. Even cleverer is the instance when Blaire types out a message to her boyfriend Mitch (Moses Jacob Storm) and then backspaces, both mirroring her guilt and giving us the information we need to know. I also like the way the movie uses Chatroulette when Blaire is desperately trying to connect to someone who can alert the police. All this social media is so familiar to us that the movie feels extremely authentic, real, and smart, even when the characters are stupid and the threat is supernatural.<\/p>\n And those little smart touches don\u2019t stop coming, especially when it comes to Blaire\u2019s Spotify playlist serving as the movie\u2019s soundtrack. That produces some of the biggest laughs of the movie, like when Laura takes over Blaire\u2019s computer and plays \u201cHow You Lie, Lie, Lie\u201d while the characters are refusing to accept blame. There\u2019s also a great moment of comic relief\u2014a different kind of comedy than laughs earned from over-the-top violence\u2014when something starts beeping and Blaire is terrified until she realizes it\u2019s just her alarm clock, reminding her to rest up for her test in school tomorrow. She and Mitch both laugh at the ridiculousness of considering school in the midst of the mayhem and murder, and it\u2019s one of the few moments of the movie when the characters are self-aware.<\/p>\n Honestly, the only real flaw I can find in the movie is in the last ten seconds. The perfect ending was right there<\/em>: Laura reveals that she knows Blaire recorded the \u2018Leaky Laura\u2019 video, Blaire gets bombarded with hate mail, and Laura\u2019s spirit disappears, leaving Blaire alone and guilty\u2026then Blaire closes her laptop and, of her own volition, kills herself. Instead, Laura\u2019s spirit comes back and kills Blaire, cementing \u201cUnfriended\u201d as a great horror movie, but not one that can transcend its appearance and become truly meaningful or tragic.<\/p>\n Still, being a greatly entertaining and horrifying horror movie is at least worth a positive rating, at least a B+. So I\u2019m not quite sure why people have disliked \u201cUnfriended.\u201d Maybe the lack of scares seriously bothers people, though the whole movie is fast-paced and thrilling, so I can\u2019t imagine being super bored during it. Maybe the unlikable characters bother people, though that\u2019s inherent to the plot.<\/p>\n But I think at least a portion of the audience (including critics) dismissed the movie off the bat. They dislike the movie because they feel like it\u2019s the kind of movie they should<\/em> dislike. After all, the trailer is pretty shitty, making it look like most other mainstream horror movies today, filled with two-dimensional unlikable characters, cheap jump scares, and unintentional hilarity. And for those people, watching the movie and seeing these stupid and cruel main characters (complete with frequently stilted dialogue, though that fits their personalities to a tee) only confirms their preconceived notions they got from the trailer.<\/p>\n Another movie that likely served only to confirm many preconceived notions this year was \u201cMagic Mike XXL.\u201d To many, the first movie, \u201cMagic Mike,\u201d was a surprise, a fairly serious \u201cBoogie Nights\u201d-esque drama that dealt with the corruption in the male entertainment industry. Protagonist Adam (Alex Pettyfer) may find the prospect of stripping both financially and sexually rewarding, but with those perks comes the potential for drug addiction, and Adam\u2019s new life of excess becomes sickening as the movie goes on. \u201cMagic Mike XXL,\u201d on the other hand, is exactly what \u201cMagic Mike\u201d isn\u2019t, undoing the expectation-subverting of the first movie and indulging audiences who wanted nothing more than an entertaining stripper comedy with writhing, toned male bodies.<\/p>\n To many people, the idea of this new movie, less daring and more focused on dumb, sexy fun, seemed like a big step back. AV Club commenter beema commented on the review, \u201cI heard an interview with Joe Magnelillioinienieoo where he basically said that this sequel was focused on the \u2018fun\u2019 aspects, because they got all the requisite serious\/emotional stuff out of the way in the first one in order to have it appeal to discerning critics and the indie scene. The implication was now they are unburdened from having to make a compelling movie and can just do a stupid summer male stripper movie. Which made me go \u2018oh, so this is just some boring schlock. Got it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Regardless of what Joe Manganiello may or may not have said in the interview, this comment essentially shows what audiences were expecting based on the trailer and based on the overall premise of the movie, with Mike joining back up with his stripper friends to go on one last road trip of debauchery. That\u2019s what I<\/em> figured the movie would be, especially when it got mixed reviews, and when I saw that Steven Soderbergh was only sticking on as cinematographer, not director. But this movie is so much more than that.<\/p>\n The argument can be made that \u201cMagic Mike XXL\u201d eschews the nuance, drama, and suspense of the first movie. I would agree that this one is much less suspenseful, as there really isn\u2019t any main conflict. It\u2019s very much a lazy road trip comedy, with occasional heart-to-hearts and summery lounging sessions between the dancing set pieces. The movie\u2019s unqualified praise of the male entertainment industry, the idea that it\u2019s a system that seriously improves the world, is slightly questionable after the last movie exposed all the horrors that can come with seemingly innocent fun and games. It\u2019s strange to think about these two movies as having the same characters occupying the same universe. In fact, I suspect that many critics who did dismiss \u201cMagic Mike XXL\u201d did it because they failed to grapple with that bizarre duality. This movie does seem reductive, in that sense, asking far fewer serious questions about the industry than its predecessor.<\/p>\n But \u201cMagic Mike XXL\u201d doesn\u2019t fail to find something to say. It replaces the industry corruption and exploration of addiction in the previous movie with a kind of feminist treatise, an ode to female desire and female self-respect. The lesson that women are worthy of respect, the lesson that men should ask for consent and ask women what they want, isn\u2019t inherently a complex one. But it\u2019s one that, sadly, so few men understand, even today. So in the scene when Mike and the boys convince Nancy (Andie MacDowell) and her friends that they\u2019re beautiful and deserve the best, I couldn\u2019t help but be surprised. I couldn\u2019t help but smile goofily as Ken (Matt Bomer) called Nancy\u2019s friend beautiful and advised her not to take herself for granted, to take a stand against her unappreciative husband.<\/p>\n As Film Crit Hulk said, about 96% of the tickets sold were to women, but men should really watch this movie. Of course, the feminist message is what men really need to hear, but it\u2019s also a really enjoyable movie for guys even outside of the message. After all, what is this movie if not a bro bonding sex comedy? There are so many scenes of guys just hanging out and shooting the shit and saying they love one another. I especially enjoy the scene with Ken and Andre (Donald Glover, who I wish had a bigger role beyond the scene of him singing to the girl) talking in the front of the car, discussing career prospects and why they enjoy being male entertainers. In a way, the scene is superfluous to the plot of the story, but it effectively works as a calm pause before the climax, a moment for the characters to reassess their priorities and passions.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n