Do you know that meme of the drawing of a horse, and the first part of the horse looks much better than the last part? That is basically how 'Maxxxine' was. Let's dive into it.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
What I Did Like:
In true TI West fashion, this movie's cinematography and direction had some phenomenal parts. Similar to how 'Pearl' made the viewer feel that they were truly watching a movie that came out in the early 1900s, 'Maxxxine' really gave the viewer a true 80's movie feel. The soundtrack to this movie accompanied its scenes very well.
Many of the actors gave great performances, those which stood out to me the most were Kevin Bacon and Giancarlo Esposito. Giancarlo is such a badass and his character was one of my favorites. Kevin Bacon's character was so silly and entertaining.
I also loved many of the callbacks to the previous movies, such as Maxine using a ceramic goose to store her cocaine in, a callback to "Mr. Goose" from 'Pearl.'
The gore was also exceptional in this film as well. I love a good blood-and-guts-filled scene, and this movie did deliver that aspect in many ball-busting ways.
What I Didn't Like:
The first part of the movie was pretty good, but it fell off in the third act, and the ending was honestly quite disappointing. TI West had a great start to this franchise with 'X' and 'Pearl,' but this film fell phenomenally short in comparison.
I expected a "slasher who-dun-it," but it turned out to be more predictable than that. The movie seemed to be building up to something big, but it never quite delivered. While the themes of sexuality, religion, and morality from the previous films were still present, I felt that Maxine's story was not handled well. Her character's motivations to succeed were reduced to underlying daddy issues, which felt unoriginal and unsatisfying, especially since the big villain turned out to be her father.
I love Mia Goth and will watch anything with her in it. She had some exceptional scenes in this film, such as her audition in the beginning, but this was not her best work. It was fun, and she was still good, but she has done far better in the past.
Conclusion
While I was disappointed by this film, it wasn't bad enough to ruin the franchise for me. Some things just don't work out the way we expect, and that is okay. Do I still think Mia Goth is one of the best horror actors right now? For sure. Did this make me think less of TI West as the up-and-coming horror mastermind he was projected to be? Absolutely.
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