Whatever you want to say about one of the very worst decades in film history from an artform standpoint, the ’80s, it was filled with films that practically gave birth to genuine albeit over the top heart and sentimentality. Almost every classic film from that period felt like a warm hug and compliment from your grandmother after she just stuffed a fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookie down your throat. And therein lies the problem with remakes of classic ’80s films, like Little: when you get down to it, the recipe for success will never produce the same result if you don’t use the same key ingredient: Heart.
Little is a remake or retooling or a reimagining or whatever word you want to use to placate a poor remake for the sake of making a few bucks of the classic Tom Hanks comedy Big. This time around, with a script for the film’s director, Tina Gordon Chism, and writer Tracy Oliver, the grown adult (Support the Girl’s Regina Hall) is shrunk her down to a child (played with her usual verve by Black-ish actress Marsai Martin). There is also the over-cliched under-appreciated assistant (The Hate U Give’s Issa Rae), who displays an inordinate lack of common sense by believing her boss is trapped in a child’s body or has reverted back to her child form — I’m not sure honestly. Why she goes along with the idea her boss is now too small to ride a roller coaster and not call a licensed social worker is beyond comprehension.
Of course, this is a comedy fantasy, and all would be forgiven if the film was funny. It’s not, it’s crass, it’s weird, and having a child actor hit on adult male characters is just gross and uncomfortable. What made Big work was putting on an adult male body could act like a “beard” and get through everyday work life and let the fun ensue. Going the other way takes away the childlike innocence that makes a film like this work; adding cynicism to a child’s point of view has its limitations.
The film tries too hard with gross-out humor or gags that simply don’t work cohesively within the film’s story. You need the binding agent in a film like this or the age of the joke becomes accelerated and even the more novice film fans will grow tired of it. For me, Little was tedious from the get-up. There is no heart here, no emotional connection, no one character to care about. You then combine that with off-putting jokes that don’t bring the funny, you should have very little patience as a consumer or a fan of movies in general for your hard earned money.
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This review of Ultraviolet Season 2 (Netflix) is spoiler-free. You can check out our thoughts on the first season by clicking these words.
I managed to annoy a surprising number of people by slagging off the first season of Netflix’s Ultraviolet, a show with a history more interesting than its cases. Created by Wendy West and originally intended as a show for Fox in the U.S., it moved to Polish network AXN with a game cast of local actors and then whipped up a whirlwind after being picked up by the streaming giant. The premise of internet-savvy amateur sleuths doing the police’s job for them obviously appealed to binge-watchers — not exactly a mystery, I suppose — and thus, we have a 12-episode follow-up in Ultraviolet Season 2.
It wasn’t promising to learn that the second season enjoyed a sharp decline in ratings in its native country, and it wasn’t surprising to learn why: This sophomore outing is notably a step down from its predecessor, with a casting switcheroo sapping some engaging chemistry from the lead lineup and an obviously deteriorating sense of energy and imagination. It will still have enough leftover charm to satisfy the most ardent supporters of the first season, and it retains the themes of law enforcement incompetence and the inherent dangers of being related in any way to heroine Ola (Marta Nieradkiewicz).
Ultraviolet Season 2 moves away from Ola somewhat with a broader focus that achieves mixed results; on the one hand fleshing out supporting characters and their attendant stories but on the other reminding everyone that Nieradkiewicz is easily the best thing about this show. It isn’t awful but, like the first season, even though I was seemingly the only person to think so, it doesn’t manage to capitalize on a decent premise — especially now that premise isn’t as fresh-feeling as it once was.
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