Hotel Artemis - Movie Review

I wasn't expecting much from Hotel Artemis, and that's exactly what I got. Not much. Drew Pearce wrote and directed this film set in 2028 Los Angeles. To add insult to injury, my Moviepass misfired, meaning I had to purchase the ticket with my own money. The sting of paying for my movie would have been lessened had it been a good film. This one was average at best. Not the type I would recommend to a friend while it is in theaters.

Hotel Artemis is a hospital for the underworld. Serious criminals only. High rollers. You have to have a subscription to use the hospital, paid in advance. There are background checks that need to be done. The hospital runs on rules. No weapons. No fighting. No cops. The Nurse (Jodie Foster) runs a tight ship. She enforces the rules with her massive orderly, Everest (Dave Bautista). Water riots have spread throughout the city. The hotel is occupied by an arms dealer (Acapulco/Charlie Day), an assassin (Nice/Sophia Boutella) and two brothers (Waikiki/Sterling K. Brown and Honolulu/Brian Tyree Henry) who attempted a bank heist using the riots as a distraction.

Los Angeles is run by Niagara (Jeff Goldblum) who shows up at the hospital for treatement. His not-too-bright son, Crosby (Zachary Quinto) is already at the hotel, although it is unclear whether his arrival was prompted by the theft of rare diamonds during the bank heist. As riots rage outside, blackouts and grid disruptions affect hospital operations and turmoil between guests increase, things are bound to reach a tipping point. How long can rules hold out when chaos continually interferes with order?

Hotel Artemis does not start out with a strong plot. It is an honor among thieves premise that really doesn't hold up. The film didn't seem to have a clear objective. It felt more like a weakly vetted concept that might have had value with a bit more emphasis on continuity and credibility. The characters seem uneven, the plot lines incredible and the underlying concept a bit of a stretch. This is a film that may have been better had the tension been built in more effectively. The film careens forward, attempting a pulsating plot to cover for the otherwise tepid concept. The action was decent and the idea had some value. But it was poorly executed. The tight editing and pacing helped a bit. But I was disappointed with the end product.

Jodie Foster is a veteran. She added a subtle quirkiness to her character that added value. The Nurse was better than she should have been. That was all Jodie Foster. She helped me like this movie more than I should have. Goldblum was solid in a small role. Boutella was attractive, but more importantly, delivered (along with her stunt double) some amazing action sequences. She was fun to watch. Brown and Henry were solid. Not exceptional, but not bad. I like Quinto, generally speaking. I didn't love him in this role. He was okay. Bautista could just be a big body. But his line delivery actually had a charm to it. This was a good role for him. He nailed it.

Hotel Artemis received an R rating from the MPAA. The film is pretty violent and includes some graphic surgery. I don't mind F-bombs, but I am not particularly keen on the use of g-dammit. It was used too much in this film. There were some drug references, drug use, sexual references and strong language. The film is a dystopian criminal action film. It is bound to have lots of violence and foul language. I expected that going in. There was no sex or nudity, so that was nice. It would have been gratuitous and not added anything to the story. All things considered, teen audiences or better should be able to handle this film without a problem. The film has a reasonable 93 minute run time.

Hotel Artemis had an interesting premise. Interesting enough that I paid for a ticket when my Moviepass failed at the movie counter. I wasn't expecting much, but I liked the overall concept. The story itself was a bit disjointed and shoddy. The characters could have been better, but they weren't terrible. The acting was strong, which helped. That along with good editing to create strong pacing made this film tolerable. It's not one I would recommend anyone to go see at the theater. Wait for it on video. If you are bored on a rainy day, this might be a good time-waster.

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