Anna Daniels
Radcliffe, with his “cartoon fox Robin Hood voice,” fits right into the colorful realm; so much so that one can easily picture him having been part of it prior to this project. Unafraid of odd parts, the actor milks Frederick for all his man-boy quirks. It’s his arrested development from a dysfunctional childhood that links him so strongly to Kimmy, a pivotal touch for us to instantly believe they are meant for each other.
Consistent with the series, the absurd and the topical converge throughout the new bonus chapter for a magic trick of tone. Claire Scanlon, an established TV director who commanded a handful of “Unbreakable” episodes across multiple seasons, leans into her familiarity to nail the quick-paced humor with the extra complication of having to block and execute scenes according to their function in relation to the plot variants. Candy-colored sets and bright costumes remain unchanged staples.
Once you’ve seen it on multiple occasions the subtleties of the puzzle-like framework reveal it to be a wacky feat. In this multi-verse movie designed for at least two viewings, decisions range from a grave moral crucible to deceivingly mundane possibilities, with a few extra tidbits to be discovered when revisited again to go into roads untaken.
Such a playful, game-like format testing the consequences of alternative destinies feels delightfully appropriate for these exuberant characters, conscious that the person they’ve become is an amalgamation of all they’ve endured. It’s reminiscent of the show’s “Sliding Van Doors” episode, an ingenious parody of 1998’s fantastical rom-com “Sliding Doors,” where Kimmy and Titus experience opposite versions of themselves as result of a significant changes to their origin myths.
Select between a fun and a formal wedding dress before Jan S. Port, Kimmy’s adorable backpack—a puppet that’s the embodiment of her limitless imagination—unpacks an old paperback book titled “The Mystery of the Mysterious Spy,” which doesn’t belong to her. Whether she reads it or not, this artifact guides her back to her now imprisoned victimizer, Richard Wayne Gary Wayne (Jon Hamm), for a journey through Red America to find the tome’s owner. Hamm, in his most memorable post-“Mad Men” performance, continues to play the despicable antagonist with admirable silliness, yet a much needed moment of seriousness comes when the monster is finally confronted with one of his victims without charades.
— 2019 Hollywood Movie Review
