From The Verge · Andrew Webster · · 2m
TIFF day 3: Blade's loss is our gain
Mahershala Ali and Bassam Tariq skipped the superhero reboot and made a hitman thriller that hits harder.
In brief
Mahershala Ali and Bassam Tariq skipped the superhero reboot and made a hitman thriller that hits harder. The Blade collapse freed Ali and Tariq to make a stranger, better film, and TIFF day 3 proved film still has new ideas in it. Originally reported by The Verge.
Blade's collapse, reconsidered
Marvel had Mahershala Ali as the vampire hunter and Bassam Tariq directing, then lost both. The reboot's death now looks like a lucky break.
“Marvel's mishandling of its Blade reboot will likely go down as one of the studio's biggest mistakes.”
What they made instead
Tariq and Ali reunited on Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, a hitman thriller with more on its mind than any superhero reboot was going to have.
Five films, one day
Andrew Webster packed five wildly different movies into day 3 at TIFF, from drifting cars to a Japanese ghost story. The whiplash was the point.
“there are still plenty of new ideas left in the world of film”
A hitman with rules
Latif is a devout Muslim and a loving father who kills for a living, under a code: only bad guys, never a gun. Both halves of him get tested.
Grief blows it open
His wife dies and he's suddenly raising three kids alone, newborn included, just as his old life comes looking for him.
Less action, more weight
Set against John Wick and Furious, this one holds back. The violence is rare, which is exactly why it lands, and the solemn story still gets big laughs.
“a powerful character study, one where the action is comparatively fleeting”
John Cho steals scenes
Ali is excellent as the righteous killer, but Cho's charismatic, unhinged leader of a right-wing church group is the surprise of the film.
In Alaska: wanted by mistake
A suicidal teen accidentally wrecks an oil pipeline and lands on the FBI's list. One veteran agent, played by Noomi Rapace, knows it wasn't eco-terrorists.
“What starts out bleak ends on a much more hopeful note.”
A ghost story in England
Anna Biller moves Yotsuya Kaidan to 14th century England and shoots it like a Technicolor horror classic. Campy, theatrical, with make-up work you won't shake.
Babies: the question that won't quit
Anna Kendrick and Seth Rogen play the last childless couple in their friend group. A houseguest with a young daughter forces the issue.
Drifter runs on fumes
Sung Kang's racetrack underdog story hits every beat you expect, with flat side characters and a crime plot that never fits. The driving itself looks gorgeous.
“some beautiful sequences that make drifting a car feel like an artform”
What to remember
The Blade collapse freed Ali and Tariq to make a stranger, better film, and TIFF day 3 proved film still has new ideas in it.
