Awake not Woke!

Funny

Alright, I had some hopes for this one and honestly, it didn’t disappoint. I had my doubts because it’s hard to get excited about any new release these days with all the overhyped promos, but based on the trailer, the final product felt pretty on point. It’s a comedy that doesn’t take itself seriously and just aims to entertain with a heavily overdone topic, but the ridiculous approach actually makes it funnier and more enjoyable. ℹ LIGHT SPOILERS I do wish it had leaned more into the sci-fi/fantasy elements (especially when it comes to weapons and other gadgets), but it looks like the budget mostly went to paying the main cast and, to be fair, that actually helped carry the movie since the plot isn’t always the strong point: Sometimes it's is and others not. Entertaining, simple, and totally predictable and thankfully, there’s no “woke” stuff. A good popcorn flick to kill some time, built around a topic that’s everywhere these days. Enjoy it!

It’s not woke. That’s clearly one of the main reasons it didn’t win any Oscars, even though it was nominated for several. Not that those awards really matter, but given how Hollywood is these days, it’s worth pointing out. As for whether it’s actually good or not, that really comes down to personal taste. It’s about an arrogant, compulsive liar with zero empathy (at least toward 99% of the people and animals in the movie) chasing a sports dream. But to get there, he pulls every dirty trick in the book, fraud, lies, dumb arguments, and some pretty ridiculous shady deals.

An ok is uneeded update/remake of bewitched. The acting is ok and Ferrel is his usual self but a bit miscast in the role. A different actor could of elevated this up a notch. There are some decent jokes but it's not really laugh out loud at any point and all a bit too silly in my opinion. I don't know if I would really say it's woke. I guess Ferrell's character could be seen as the beta emasculated male depending on how you look at it. He's more of a loser self centered douche who's manipulated by witchcraft. Both female and male characters are shown to be wrong in how they treat each other and what they think they want though. I think this is kind of in how the viewer would perceive it. I will give it a mild woke just because it's kind of in how you see it.

Almost

Applies to both Hurley and Fraser. Great sense of comedy. Average acting chops. Works great in a less serious movie. Also, Hurley is unbearably hot. Fraser probably is too. The skits are good, decently executed, though hobbled by a disappointing production value. Looks unpolished. And a somewhat predictable overall arc. To be fair, I find Ramis (Spengler from Ghostbusters) as a director to be hit or miss, and this one definitely is not on par with Groundhog Day. The sex relationship angle would just not fly in today's Hollywood. Which is a good thing. For the movie, not for Hollywood, let'em crash. So, basically negative on the woke scale, only mildly funny, but utterly likable leads.