Box Office Battlefield: Pan, Victoria, and The Final Girls

Every week, movie studios select candidates to enter the glorious battlefield for your hard-earned dollars. The weekend warriors of October 9, 2015 includes Pan, Victoria, The Final Girls, and Knock Knock. Box Office Battlefield is here to help you decide which movie(s) will take priority over the others and determine who will be victorious. Should you see ’em, skip ’em, or rent ’em? Find out below!

Last weekend, Maaaattt Daamon took audiences on a wild ride of survival on the lonely red planet. With no real competition, The Martian moon-walked away with $54.3 million domestically, leaving everything in its red dust. This weekend sees the retelling of the origins of Peter Pan along with the expansion of The Walk into theaters. There are also a handful of limited releases that have been on my radar. Who will reign supreme and who will be the codfish? This is the Box Office Battlefield:

Pan (Joe Wright) Rated PG [111 min] – 12-year-old orphan Peter is spirited away to the magical world of Neverland, where he finds both fun and dangers, and ultimately discovers his destiny — to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan Starring Levi Miller, Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, and Rooney Mara [Watch the Trailer]

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 24% • Audience – 52%

My review:

Never have I giggled in delight so much for one of the most mind-boggling entrances to a villain I’ve ever seen. Hugh Jackman’s Blackbeard is so deliciously wrong for this Peter Pan origin story, but you can’t look away. For the rest of the cast, I though Levi Miller does a thorough enough job as the young Peter, however everyone else feels wildly miscast. I’m not sure what Garrett Hedlund’s accent for Hook is, but it’s atrocious. And of course Tiger Lily is played by the incredibly talented and white-skinned Rooney Mara. Pan is pure lunacy that is too caught up trying to make the origin story of Peter Pan work. The nods to the character are eye-rolling, Neverland is unimaginative, and the final action scene is awfully silly. This makes Hook look like an Oscar contender. WAIT FOR IT ON NETFLIX SO YOU CAN HAVE A GOOD LAUGH!!!

Victoria (Sebastian Schipper) [Limited] Unrated [138 min] – While on holiday in Berlin, a young woman finds her flirtation with a local guy turn potentially deadly as their night out with his friends reveals its secret: the four men owe someone a dangerous favor that requires repaying that evening. Starring Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski, and Burak Yigit [Watch the Trailer]

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 77% • Audience – 86%

My review:

Long takes are not for the faint of heart. They take a lot of patience and planning to ensure every detail is nailed down. Birdman was shot over the course of 30 days or so and pieces of film were edited together to give the illusion of one long take. Victoria, however, was shot in one long take – they got it in their third attempt. And not only was it shot in one take, but it’s also over two hours long and takes place over multiple locations throughout Berlin. It’s quite impressive and highly commendable, but that doesn’t exactly mean it is without flaws. Edited films have the benefit of trimming down fat and making sure pacing is right for the story.

As much as I enjoyed marveling in awe at how Victoria was made, there are a handful of times where the movie could have been cut down. On the other side of the coin, the single take transports you alongside the characters as if you’re right there in the nitty-gritty of the action. The movie feels personable with our two leads where where the camera lingers long enough without movement that the experience feels very intimate. Sadly the rest of the cast isn’t fleshed out enough to be developed because we cannot cut to what they’re doing. But overall, Victoria is a feat to behold. MATINEE IT!

The Final Girls (Todd Strauss-Schulson) [Limited] Rated PG-13 [88 min] – A young woman grieving the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen from the 1980s, finds herself pulled into the world of her mom’s most famous movie. Reunited, the women must fight off the film’s maniacal killer. Starring Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Adam DeVine, and Thomas Middleditch [Watch the Trailer]

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 72% • Audience – 77%

Their reviews:

“There’s plenty to like in Todd Strauss-Schulson’s THE FINAL GIRLS, a perky meta homage to slashers of the ’70s and ’80s.” – Meredith Borders (Birth.Movies.Death.)

“A funny, creative, fast-paced, and well-shot horror satire. They do exist.” – Scott Weinberg (TheHorrorShow)

My take:

Ever since Scream, meta horror has become quite the unsung hero of horror. When things start to turn stale we have the likes of Cabin in the Woods, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, and even Scary Movie to thank for shedding some light on tropes horror fans are getting tired of. Unlike You’re Next, that twists the final girl stereotype into a new age, The Final Girls is far more aware of itself as a horror movie because its characters get sucked into one. It looks like a lot of fun and the cast is pretty solid. I look forward to this when it hits theaters near me. MATINEE IT!

Knock Knock (Eli Roth) Rated R [99 min] – When a devoted husband and father is left home alone for the weekend, two stranded young women unexpectedly knock on his door for help. What starts out as a kind gesture results in a dangerous seduction and a deadly game of cat and mouse. Starring Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, and Ana de Armas [Watch the Trailer]

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 33% • Audience – 29%

Their reviews:

“Maybe Knock Knock is just one long, sick joke, skillfully told by a filmmaker who’s always spiked his horror with black humor, just never this effectively.” – A..A Dowd (The AV Club)

“Takes a titillating setup and turns it into hot, wet garbage that doesn’t even work as exploitation, much less as psychological horror or social commentary. ” – Eric D. Snider (GeekNation)

My take:

I want to believe that Knock Knock isn’t as bad as the critics are slamming it for because I think the premise is cleverly unusual. So I remain cautiously optimistic, hoping that Eli Roth can dish something out more energetic and vibrant like Cabin Fever and Hostel rather than The Green Inferno. RENT IT!

No one asked for a Peter Pan origin story, and the marketing is so terrible that I think it’s going to turn away parents. The Walk is getting a wide release in 2D, but last weekend it didn’t fair that well in IMAX 3D to begin with. I don’t think there’s enough enthusiasm for a man that people have hardly heard about. Which is unfortunate because The Walk has a lot to offer. The rest of this weeks releases are all limited and hardly have enough screens to compete with the wide releases. All that’s left is the tremendous love for The Martian. Suffice it to say, Matt Damon still has the charisma that people love and the story is too captivating not to enjoy. So as it stands, I believe the victor for this weekend will be: