Film Reviews: Michael, The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Project Hail Mary

Over the past fortnight or so, I watched three new films that could not have been more different—Michael, The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Project Hail Mary—and yet each was entertaining and thought-provoking in its own way, with Michael and Project Hail Mary being visually stunning as well. They were the kind of films that stay with you long after you leave the theatre. In my experience, the best films—including the lesser-known but equally good ones—always offer something to think about and talk about.

 

Michael

 

Michael Jackson (to himself): You're confident. You're strong. You're beautiful. You're the greatest of all time.

 

Michael turned out to be quite different from what I expected. I thought it would be all about Michael Jackson’s popular music and dance. Instead, it begins with his early childhood and traces the rise of the Jackson 5, his difficult relationship with his father, and his eventual journey to stardom. Of course, the film also touches upon Michael’s lifelong dream of walking the musical path on his own terms—writing and composing his own songs, and living his gifted, though often complicated, life the way he wanted to.

 

Personally, the highlight of the film was not so much Michael’s biographical journey, much of which I'd already read about, but the way his nephew Jaafar Jackson portrayed him in his debut film. Jaafar did not disappoint: he brought both emotion and intensity to the character, right down to perfecting the King of Pop’s iconic Thriller zombie dance and signature Moonwalk amid crowds of fainting and hysterical fans. I’m already looking forward to the sequel (apparently in the works) and seeing how the story takes off from Michael Jackson's late-eighties Bad tour, where this film ends.

 

The Devil Wears Prada 2

 

Miranda Priestly (to Andy Sachs): Pull yourself together, we have work to do. And by 'we,' I mean you.

 

What stood out for me in The Devil Wears Prada 2 was the change in Meryl Streep’s character—from queen of fashion and tyrannical editor of Runway magazine to someone who, while still feared and admired, has mellowed considerably, thanks in part to warnings from human resource and in part to her fashion world coming under threat. Miranda still runs the show, only she seems more human than we knew her two decades ago. The film is about ambition and survival, changing priorities and second chances, and not just about glittering fashion shows and walking the ramp, all of which bring Miranda and Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) together again to save Runway. In that sense, the film feels less about glamour and more about everyday choices people have to make.

 

Overall, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a light-hearted sequel with plenty of witty dialogue, which is what made the film enjoyable for me.

 

Project Hail Mary

 

Rocky (alien): How do you know when the hug is done?

Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling): You just feel it.

Rocky: Oh, are you feeling it now?

Ryland Grace: Nope.

 

Halfway through Project Hail Mary I thought of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which I remember enjoying in my teens. Thematically, both films are very different, but at heart their stories revolve around the unlikely friendship between a human and an alien. In E.T., a young boy helps a friendly alien return to his home planet, while in Project Hail Mary, Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a brilliant science teacher aboard a spaceship light-years from Earth, strikes up a friendship with a rock-like, spider-shaped alien to save both their worlds.

 

What’s interesting is that the human-alien friendship in both survival-driven films grows out of trust, empathy and companionship, even though the circumstances are different. But beyond all the science fiction, space adventure and breathtaking spacewalks, the film raises a larger question: If we humans were ever to encounter an alien race, would we respond with fear and hostility or with understanding and friendship? In many ways, that felt like the underlying message of Project Hail Mary, much as it was in E.T. more than four decades ago.

 

If you’ve seen these films, what did you think of them?

 

© Prashant C. Trikannad