By Courtney Roethle
INITIAL THOUGHTS
This is everything and anything I wanted it to be. I wanted to be kept guessing, I wanted answers, without knowing entirely what all the questions were yet. And Zach Cregger delivered! The packed theatre never had a full reaction to the film, whether it was the parts that scared you, made you laugh, or made you nervously react because you weren’t sure what was coming next. That’s what Weapons gives us and between this and Barbarian, Zach Cregger has imprinted his style on audiences where we now know to come into his films expecting the unexpected, in a good way. Weapons takes us for a ride no one could have expected. The chapter breakout by character I usually am not a fan of but this one worked, it developed each character while also bringing the stories of each character together while still advancing the overall plot without lingering too much on what had already happened in the film. The characters were also perfectly casted. I know they had other actors casted but I am thankful the strike resulted in the cast we got. I mean how could you drop out of a film that goes from missing child mystery horror to witch craft horror comedy with an ending that landed perfectly in my opinion. Which is hard to do these days after a movie is so good throughout like Weapons is!
THE CAST THAT BOUGHT INTO THIS MADNESS
This felt like the perfect cast. Why they had Pedro Pascal planned for this is beyond me, outside just the popularity he has among directors which I’m starting to not understand. Josh Brolin brings a seriousness and intensity to this role Pedro couldn’t have. Julia Garner is on the rise and played the innocent teacher to perfection. Alden Ehrenreich can elevate a film with 10 minutes of screen time, so giving him this role was one of the best choices Zach could have made. Then there is Benedict Wong where between the at home violent scene with Aunt Gladys and the chase scene I really don’t think anyone could have done that better. Last but not least I’ll highlight Austin Abram’s as James, who was apparently the only one that didn’t have to be recast or drop out. And it paid off, what a great character just infused into this universe, even fitting in perfectly in the climax. Brought some great humor to this film too that dropped in legitimately laugh out loud humor throughout. His efforts are going to pay off since he will be a big part of the Resident Evil movie Zach is going to direct.
Then we get into some fun, like how incredible Amy Madigan was as Aunt Gladys in the film. I know they already are thinking of a prequel to explore her character and the lore more, but I’m okay with everything they gave us. They gave us her in phases of energy which I thought was cool, and plenty of scares and unnerving moments, with a hint of comedy with her character. She knocked this character out the park and I never suspected she would be the witch driving the children from their home to stay alive. Just an incredibly unique premise and character that was written up with Aunt Gladys.
THE CHAPTER THAT DEFINED THE FILM
I mentioned it earlier but this film found a great way to integrate the different chapters they were telling by character. However, my favorite chapters were easily James running around looking for money for drugs and unveiling the location of the kids, mixing with his adventures with Paul that brings us to the climax of the film and our location of the final act at Alex’s house. It had a lot of fun moments and dialogue throughout but what’s so impressive is it’s so focused just on him alone and it was one of the most entertaining sequences of the movie as well as advanced the plot tremendously adding the key details we needed. This feels like Zach Cregger was rewarding his character here because Austin Abrams stuck with him through the dropouts during the strike. Just like how he will reward him with Resident Evil. The guy can act and can surely carry a story on his own as we saw with his self defined chapter.
Now the most important chapter, was surely Alex’s segment. It was the longest if I recall correctly and rightfully so. It peels back the final layers of the onion, puts everything out there, and finishes the puzzle that is the plot of Weapons and its antagonist Aunt Gladys. It’s heartbreaking seeing that the kid is just as much of a victim as he is having to fend for himself, feed him comatose parents, and coexist with the scary Aunt Gladys. It’s truly saddening to watch this unfold and figure out what’s been going on in the newspaper blocked windowed house. This chapter also is most important as this is when we get the other chapters to come together within the house where Paul and James are control by the witch also fighting against Justine and Archer in an extended brutal fight sequence that resulted in some fun throws of James that were apparently not a stunt double, and Justine blowing Paul’s brains out while facing death by choking. All this going on downstairs while Alex is trying to run from his parents and then gets a hold of the witchcraft branches to turn the tides on Aunt Gladys.
The sequence at the end was both horrifying and hilarious. When the kids start chasing her you’re tense but laughing, being scared by the braking of glass and abrupt sounds but also cackling as you watch her running through backyards from a neighbor’s view during yardwork. Just brilliant use of the final sequence and sticking the landing as the end follows suit with the consistent tone shifting between horror and comedy throughout. Then we get the final moments of us seeing Gladys ripped apart and finding out some kids started acting normal again, while some others didn’t. And Alex never got his parents back to normal.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is a brilliant, scary, fun, humorous film that hits the nail on the head in every member of the cast, as well as the flow of the story and writing. Never did there feel like a dull moment, the story always was moving forward and we got to experience a true unfolding of a story we couldn’t have guessed in a million years in a run time of a little over two hours. Like I said before, Zach is a force in the horror genre now. Even just after two films. Julia Garner is becoming well established as well. I couldn’t be happier for her opportunities that will come after this. This film was an EXPERIENCE. One that I cannot wait to watch again.
The Cinema Speakeasy Theatre Room 
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