{"id":25126,"date":"2024-12-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=25126"},"modified":"2024-12-04T17:38:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T01:38:54","slug":"review-y2k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/review-y2k\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Y2K<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kyle Mooney\u2019s Y2K<\/em> begins on a computer screen, filled with watermarks of its December 31, 1999 setting: a flying toaster screensaver, a mix CD burning, an AOL sign-on, and the web service\u2019s home screen, complete with RealPlayer video of President Clinton assuring the public that the Y2K computer bug has been handled and life will carry on as normal when the clock strikes midnight. It\u2019s the desktop of Eku (Jaeden Martell), a high school junior contemplating how to spend his New Year\u2019s Eve. Ostensibly, that\u2019s the subject of Y2K<\/em>, but it\u2019s really a film about nostalgia \u2014 about how you can throw a bunch of turn-of-the-millennium pop-culture artifacts at the lens, and Gen-Xers will whoop with recognition. (Alicia Silverstone is cast as his mom, a nice touch.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mooney and Evan Winters\u2019s screenplay starts as a fairly standard one-crazy-night teen comedy, riffing on Superbad, Can\u2019t Hardly Wait<\/em>, and the like. Eli and his best friend Danny (Julian Dennison, of Hunt for the Wilderpeople<\/em>) are high school losers, equipment managers for the girls\u2019 basketball team who spend most of their time playing video games and fantasizing about which classmate they\u2019d like to lose their virginity to. For Eli, the answer, unhesitatingly, is Laura (Rachel Zegler), the popular girl of his dreams. She\u2019ll be at a big house party, as will much of their class, and if there\u2019s ever a time to make a move, it\u2019s midnight on New Years\u2019 Eve. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s the booze talking,\u201d he announces, after approximately one swig out of his parents\u2019 liquor cabinet, \u201cbut fuck it, let\u2019s do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these early scenes, the central relationship and the mission they take on makes Y2K <\/em>impossible not to compare to Superbad<\/em> (and it comes up considerably short). The main point of departure, and the main problem with Y2K <\/em>in general, is that the bullies are right about our protagonist; he actually is <\/em>a dud, a whiny and unappealing sort, and there\u2019s no real reason to root for him beyond the fact that he\u2019s the main character, which isn\u2019t reason enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Luckily for the picture, midnight arrives, and takes the picture into darker, more surreal territory. We\u2019re treated to a dramatization of a worst-case scenario, and then beyond, as the machines of the world join forces and fight back, with unexpectedly grisly results. An alarming percentage of the junior class is hacked, drilled, and microwaved to death in fairly quick order, leaving our small group of survivors to try to figure out what\u2019s happening, and how to stop it. But the primary problem persists \u2014 an absolute dullard of a protagonist \u2014 augmented by the script\u2019s weird and sudden investment in previously barely-developed side characters. And a little of Mooney\u2019s broad caricature of a dread-locked stoner video store guy goes a very<\/em> long way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s just kinda not much to Y2K<\/em>, and the lightness of the enterprise wouldn\u2019t matter all that much if it were funnier. But once the main joke is told, it doesn\u2019t have anywhere to go comedically (aside from a novelty appearance by Fred Durst, which gets old fast). As a fan of the era\u2019s tackier cinema, I appreciate that the AI cybervillain looks like the Lawnmower Man, and the film does confirm, if we needed further confirmation (we didn\u2019t) that Rachel Zegler has got the movie-star goods. She\u2019s selling even the hackiest beats, but the downside of her exuberant work is that it makes Martell\u2019s wet rag of a performance all the more banal. He\u2019s an absolute charisma void, resulting in one of the most unbalanced central relationships of the movie year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had occasion to rewatch American Graffiti <\/em>recently, which anyone making a nostalgia piece set in the recent past should be legally obligated to view. (I\u2019m not kidding; let\u2019s put it on the books.) What\u2019s most striking about the picture is how Lucas refuses to spend his time putting his elbow in your ribs; there\u2019s none of the winking \u201cHEY HEY REMEMBER THIS GOOFY SHIT?!\u201d that pervades pictures like Y2K<\/em> or Take Me Home Tonight<\/em>. (I like The Wedding Singer<\/em> just fine, but it\u2019s to blame for a lot of this.) The impulse to set a coming-of-age tale when you, a filmmmaker or screenwriter, came of age is understandably irresistible. But pop culture shout-outs and dril-style<\/a> \u201cthinking about shit that i Recognize and smiling\u201d is a poor substitute for character development and rooting-interest relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C-<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“Y2K” is in theaters this weekend.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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