jbencker

The film had a lot of potential: it has an interesting premise and setting as well as a great cast. However, this isn't enough to make this mess of a film work.

Though things are set up to build suspense, the film completely fails at the execution. There is no suspense at all, instead the film meanders along. Things just.....happen. If there were at least any interesting characters to make up for this, but no. It really isn't that hard to make the audience root for or care for flat characters, action movies have done this forever, but somehow Hotel Artemis failed to make me care what happens to any character in this film. Everyone but Jodie Foster's character is a walking clique, the worst of all Sofia Boutella's character (a hot, deadly assassin who seems cold but has feelings for a hot guy she shares a past with - seriously?) and Charlie Day's and Jeff Goldblum's talents are completely wasted.

Hotel Artemis wasn't ever going to be a profound film with complex storytelling and characters, but rather a fun piece of entertainment. It is fine to be mindless entertainment, sometimes you just want to turn your brain off and watch a fun movie. But this is not what Hotel Artemis is, because that would imply the film was in any way entertaining.

This is one of the shows where your enjoyment depends on your suspension of disbelief. Is the premise ludicrous? Yes. Of course law enforcement would not recruit convicts for a fugitive task force and let them run around without even an electronic tag. And, yes, there are some more plotholes. But if you're willing to just go with it, you will be entertained. Fortunately, the show doesn't take itself too seriously. In one episode there is a storyline threatening the positions of the cons, who then argue about how easily replaceable each of them is - clearly the writers know this is not a serious drama and are willing to make a bit fun of themselves.

There is a lot of action, comedic elements, and it's interesting to see all the different prison breaks - which are sometimes more, sometimes less plausible. What makes the show interesting, though, is the tension between the crew. Working as a team requires trust, but of course there's a lot of mistrust between the convicts and the marshals. Moreover, the cons have to keep check on each other as well, since they all pay if one of them tries to flee.

This is all in all pretty entertaining, nut nothing special. What really makes the show worth watching is Jimmi Simpson. While the whole cast does a great job, Jimmi Simpson carries the show, and his portrayal easily makes his character the most compelling. The writers seem to have realized this, focusing on his character in season 2.

Sadly the show was cancelled after season 2, leaving off with a cliffhanger, but if you want to watch an entertaining, suspenseful show with interesting characters without having to think much, I'd suggest you give this show a shot.