2019 Rental Roundup 2: Parasite, Reign of the Supermen

Parasite

The darling of the Oscars had a lot to live up to going into my viewing. When you win best director, best writing, best international film and best picture (and the first-ever non-English winner of best picture), you’re going to have some expectations.

It’s also been talked up as a super-woke social commentary. Though it didn’t strike me as such mostly because of how much off the rails the story goes. It instead feels like one of those sci-fi style cautionary tales, just without the sci-fi.

Parasite follows a very down-on-their-luck South Korean family whose fortunes take a huge turn when the son gets an unexpected in with one of the wealthiest families in the country. And that in is but the start.

Nobody comes out smelling like a bunch of roses in this story, but you also understand where everybody is coming from. They weren’t so much bad people as there were bad decisions that made bad situations worse. It’s a wild ride, and the movie takes the time to let you understand everyone’s motivations.

The whole team is reuniting to make an extended miniseries version for HBO once it’s safe to do production. Might be interesting if they use the time to see what happened to the side characters or perhaps see if the ending wasn’t all talk.

Verdict: Must-see (5/5). And don’t you go complaining about having to read subtitles like you all did when Pan’s Labyrinth came out.

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Reign of the Supermen

This is the inevitable follow-up to 2018’s amazing spectacular incredible fantastic great Death of Superman. While part 1 was noteworthy in just how close it managed to follow the original plot, the back half diverges rather significantly.

I suppose that’s to be expected, given “Death of Superman” was 7 issues and “Reign of the Supermen” was 21. Among the most prominent changes in the movie is a plot contrivance sidelining the Justice League. That being said, I like that it puts the stories of the replacement Supermen front and center, and provides an easy escalation from A World Without a Superman to A World Without a Justice League. You know, in case you thought the situation couldn’t get any worse. Luckily, the trims also spare us from starting the “Emerald Twilight” storyline as Mongol also doesn’t get to come play. Instead, Reign tacks hard into Darkseid & Friends for its villains.

What you will see is some quality time with Lois, Luthor, and all four of the brand-new Supermen, paying off the setups in Death. And that’s certainly enough to squeeze into a movie.

Death is a tough act to follow, and as such is the better of the two. That all being said, I like Reign, which is plenty good enough.

Verdict: Go for it (4/5).