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The Overview: A collection of shorter reviews of books and movies.
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Malignant (2021) *** out of *****: It can’t be stressed enough how weird a movie Malignant is, and not in a good way. Directed and co-written by James Wan, the man who basically re-invigorated the horror genre in 2010 with his stylish and brilliantly inventive Insidious, Malignant is a movie that could only have been made by someone like Wan. Wan, thanks to his numerous billions-grossing blockbusters like Furious 7, The Conjuring series, and Aquaman, has the cache to arm-twist studios into giving him a few million dollars to make whatever he wants. Malignant is the result. It’s a fun movie, but it’s also self-indulgent to the point of silliness, and the climax is nothing short of ludicrous. The fault lies with the messy script - there’s almost zero characterization - and Wan’s operatic approach, an homage to the Giallo genre, which is gratingly flamboyant. A spectacular misfire.
