{"id":24605,"date":"2022-04-07T00:20:36","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T07:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=24605"},"modified":"2022-04-07T00:20:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T07:20:36","slug":"everything-everywhere-all-at-once-is-a-wild-and-crazy-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=24605","title":{"rendered":"EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE is a Wild and Crazy Ride"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This feature from A24 opens at movie theaters on April 8th<\/sup>,\n2022.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a movie critic, we\u2019re often harsh in our evaluations.\nAfter all, it is our job to take note of problems and assess what we see for\nreaders. We focus in on minute details and comment about pacing issues, tonal\ninconsistencies and a lack of clear focus. But sometimes, a film is just so\ndarn odd and eccentric that one can\u2019t help but give it a pass. Everything\nEverywhere All at Once<\/em> is a unique experience and one that jarringly throws\ntogether outrageous, off-color humor with earnest discourses about the\nimportance of family. It isn\u2019t always seamlessly delivered, but it is\nwell-intentioned and enough of a wild and crazy ride to make up for any\nshortcomings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) is a middle-aged laundromat\nowner both overwhelmed and disappointed with her life. Focused on her business,\nshe has little time for her genial husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan) and has a\ntense relationship with her gay daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu). In addition to the\nchaotic business, Evelyn is dealing with the arrival grouchy family patriarch\nGong Gong (James Hong) and a tax audit. After being called in to the IRS to deliver\npaperwork to Deirdre Beaubeirdra (Jamie Lee Curtis), the lead is approached by\na man claiming to be \u201cAlpha\u201d Waymond. He explains that he is a version of her\nhusband from an alternate timeline. It seems that someone has put the entire\nuniverse in danger and is also hunting down various Evelyns in parallel\nuniverses. He asks the skeptical protagonist to help him save the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a lot of amusing moments as various rules about\njumping through timelines are explained. It seems that Evelyn has led various\ndifferent lives in parallel universe, developing skills in almost every one of\nthem. When threats arise, she attempts to jump to another timeline and\ninstantly gain the abilities necessary to save her in the present world. And\nsome great humor arises from the fact that Waymond believes this Evelyn to be full\nof unexplored potential (and potentially a savior) because she is the worst and\nleast accomplished version of herself. The movie also benefits from a few\nalternate realities with unexpectedly surreal elements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie benefits from a strong cast. Michelle Yeoh is\nfamous for her work in Hong Kong action films alongside the likes of Jackie\nChan. But she is also a charismatic actress, creating and differentiating\ndifferent character personalities onscreen, in addition to displaying\nstupendous martial arts skills. The focus here seems to be on comedy even when\nthe star is doing battle, but there are plenty of impressive and elaborate leaps,\npunches and moves. Quan also makes a wonderful impression as Waymond. He\u2019s\noften belittled by those around for his sweet but simple personality and it\u2019s a\nreal contrast from the Alpha version and other Waymonds who appear over the\ncourse of the story. Additionally, his speech towards the close of the picture\nresonates and makes a strong impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie is frenetic, attempting to squeeze in exposition, jokes, action and a message at a hyperactive rate. It\u2019s hard to keep up with at times and the pacing becomes exhausting during certain sequences over the extended running time. There\u2019s so much going on that it even feels like the movie has a few endings as Evelyn resolves issues with family members. And the filmmakers also can\u2019t help but cut away from the central storyline to also provide closure for the exaggerated alternate worlds. Again, some tangents get a laugh, but others gags are a little juvenile and take away from the impact of the resolution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These issues may only be an initial response to being overloaded during the first viewing and perhaps the tonal shifts are much cleaner and clearer during second showings. Still, Everything Everywhere All at Once<\/em> is unlike anything you\u2019re likely to see at the movies this year. The characters are interesting and amidst all of the chaos, there are some great moments. If you\u2019re looking for something a little different at the cinema, this title will certainly fit the bill. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature from A24 opens at movie theaters on April 8th, 2022. As a movie critic, we\u2019re often harsh in our evaluations. After all, it is our job to take note of problems and assess what we see for readers. We focus in on minute details and comment about pacing issues, tonal inconsistencies and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[209,605,697,4983,7156,7157,7158,7159,7314,10235,10275,11531,13877,17776,19024],"class_list":["post-24605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-209","tag-a24","tag-action","tag-cult","tag-everything-everywhere-all-at-once","tag-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-film-review","tag-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-movie-review","tag-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-review","tag-fantasy","tag-james-hong","tag-jamie-lee-curtis","tag-ke-huy-quan","tag-michelle-yeoh","tag-science-fiction-2","tag-stephanie-hsu"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24605\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}