HOTEL ARTEMIS

Film Review by FIORE

The HOTEL ARTEMIS is a make shift hospital for criminals.  It occupies four of the upper floors of a hotel building. It was established by the criminal kingpin in a futuristic Los Angeles.  The movie deals with one particularly bad night, which is a Wednesday by the way, where Murphy’s Law rules.  This sets the stage for one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.  HOTEL ARTEMIS is fashioned in the mien of early John Carpenter works, like ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.  It’s B-schlock, done with flair, augmented by a stellar cast.   Even the film’s score captures the familiar aura of those works.

I can’t say enough about how much fun I had watching this film, other than go see it on the big screen.  While enveloped around a simple pretext, it has enough undercurrent in subplots to allow it to work on multiple levels.

Jodie Foster is The Nurse.  She runs HOTEL ARTEMIS with an iron-fist, backed up by Everest (Dave Bautista) who is the hospital’s muscle and orderly.   Foster is great in this role, and with a bit of makeup, almost unfamiliar.  She knows she doesn’t have an Oscar type character, yet she delivers in Oscar worthy fashion.  Bautista is a health professional, who can “heal you to death” in a brutal manner, but who has a soft concern for The Nurse.

Sterling K. Brown, as Waikiki, his codename given in the hospital, and his band of rogues attempt a bank robbery on a night when the city is torn by riots over the rights to water.  The robbery goes terribly wrong, leaving his crew shot and beaten.  Luckily, Waikiki has a prepaid membership to HOTEL ARTEMIS, and he seeks medical help and sanctuary there.  Problems develop when part of his crew are not members, and cannot be admitted.  Next, a series of events occurs which will see the normally stoic Nurse bend, or break all of the establishment’s rules.

HOTEL ARTEMIS also boasts a pair of Pittsburgh boys in Jeff Goldblum and Zachary Quinto.  Goldblum’s appearance, though a mere cameo, is priceless.  Sofia Boutella is one of the hospital’s patients, as is Charlie Day.  Sofia’s career is mind-boggling; she manages to capture some of the most erotic roles available, and certainly does not disappoint here.

This movie was entertaining from start to finish.  Wade Brown orchestrates some nifty fight scenes, especially for Bautista and Sofia.  Chung-Hoon Chung captures the early Carpenter look through the lens and Editors Gardner Gould and  Paul Zucker pace the film evenly to a perfect length. 

HOTEL ARTEMIS is worth multiple viewings and will serve well as an  addition to your home video collection.  It is the first film this year to capture the coveted FIST OF FIORE AWARD, signifying excellence in film entertainment.  Action, thrills, comedy and drama, are all rolled into one smooth (real smooth) presentation, under the guidance and tutelage of Director and Writer, Drew Pearce.

I had a blast with this movie; I think you will, too.