I am a cinephile through and through. I’m also a massive comic and pop culture nerd. Much like what Damian says in Mean Girls, “It’s so weird to see teachers out of their habitats, it’s like seeing a dog walk on its’ hind legs.” That’s often how I find myself seeing an actor out of a familiar to me setting. A small portion of my fandom these past few years has been reserved for CW’s Arrowverse. I have absolutely adored watching the growth of certain characters over the years. Though, it’s the face on Nyssa Al Ghul actress, Katrina Law, that I have never seen outside of Nanda Parbat. Outside of her role as the assassin daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul, she played Mira in Spartacus but mostly her roles have been here and there. Roles that, if I’m honest, I haven’t seen. Am I the only one who associates an actor’s face or name with one property? However, I always love to challenge my notions and see them tackle new roles. For her role in the comedy, Zeroes¸ Law tackles a role as far from Nyssa as you can get: domesticated housewife and news anchor.
While Law is good within the confides of Zeroes, she’s not even close to the number of things within the film that make it great. Zeroes centers around Kenneth (Ryan Farrell) and Ray (John McKeever) who accidentally fall into the superhero life after a drunken act of heroism gets them famous. We live in a modern age of constant superheroes in various media. After films like Infinity War, Endgame, Batman v Superman and more – dealing with heavier subjects, it’s refreshing to experience something like Zeroes. Which operates right next to that fandom while also forging its’ own voice and twisted sense of humor. That’s one of the strongest legs that this film has to stand on, the unexpected nature of the comedy. It’s fearless in its’ delivery and nothing solidifies that more than Gary, played by Ely Henry.
For the first bit of the film, Gary feels like a throw away character. There is little to no attachment to him until a pivotal sequence within the movie. After that, Henry brilliantly plays off Farrell and McKeever so incredibly well. This film is absolutely hilarious from start to finish. I honestly thought that my intestines were gonna spill out from all the laughing I was doing. I can’t remember the last time that I laughed this hard at a movie. The comedy perfectly partners with the fearless tone of the film. There are several times where comedy shouldn’t even exist because of the sequence in question – yet, there it is showing up in the most intelligent fashion possible. A big part of that goes to the chemistry of the film in Farrell and McKeever. The chemistry between the two is electric and when Henry is mixed into the equation – expect a power outage. The three actors play so incredibly well off one another.
The arcs of the three leads only adds to the intelligence of the film. The way in which they are interwoven into the story of narrative is a sheer thing of beauty. With its’ genius sense of humor, the movie moves at a fast paced but never feels like it. The unfolding of every character and every joke feels natural to the viewer. Only solidifying its’ genius. However, it’s not without its’ super weaknesses as well. Throughout the duration of the film, we embark on a hero’s journey that seems to get lost some times within the jokes and punches. Upon its’ bedrock, Zeroes introduces audiences to a neighborhood strangler. They do a really good job at building him up as the film’s big bad. Only to have the ultimate reveal fall massively short. Making the big climax of Zeroes one of its’ only biggest disappointments. The handling of the character isn’t always the strongest suit of the film. The film reaches a point where the strangler is white noise and absent from the story until a mention in the tail end of the second act.
Overall, Zeroes, is a refreshingly honest and hilarious approach to the superhero genre. The film will be sure to have viewers grasping from air from all the laughing the film causes. It will no doubt go down as one of the most random and intelligent comedies of the decade. When its’ coupled together with the phenomenal chemistry between leads in Ryan Farrell and John McKeever, Zeroes only solidifies its intelligence and originality. Adding in Ely Henry and Katrina Law only add to the flavor of the film. Though, the buildup and ultimate reveal of the film’s antagonist is extraordinarily anticlimactic. The film even gets to a point where viewers will forget him because it actually stops addressing him at one point. Though, even with its’ minor flaws, Zeroes is an absolute delight and treasure.
RORSCHACH RATING:
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Credits: Zeroes is property of Zeroes. We do not own nor claim any rights. This is an official selection of Genre Blast Film Festival 2019.