Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Apparently the IMDb plot synopsis before this movie's trailer came out was "a woman tries to do her taxes," and really, the plot's so creative and goes to so many unpredictable places that I don't think you should know much more than that going in. It is about a woman doing her taxes, technically, but branches off in a variety of ways that make this an action/adventure/absurdist comedy/fantasy/science-fiction/family drama all in one.

All the tones and all the genres are balanced perfectly. It's masterfully written and overflowing with creativity. The editing is unbelievable and all the elements work together so well. It has some of the funniest and silliest scenes I've seen in ages that mesh perfectly well with some genuinely touching dramatic moments, and it has characters you really come to care for.

The action delivers, too, and there's just the right amount of it. I love how thrillingly strange the film is for a while, then you begin to make sense of it, and then it just keeps expertly piling more and more layers on, and does so over a fast-paced 139 minutes in a way where it never actually falls apart. Also: it has some of the best film references/parodies I've ever seen, for sure.

All the acting is fantastic, too, and everyone understood the insane vision the directors were trying to achieve, and played their parts perfectly. Michelle Yeoh is maybe the best she's ever been here, and Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis are all great too.

Maybe original ideas are becoming harder and harder to come by, but for as long as movies like Everything Everywhere All At Once are coming out, the medium of film will never be truly artistically bankrupt. There have been movies that have tackled some of the ideas here before, but never in a way that's this creative, this funny, and this exciting, and the way it takes its outlandish premise and ties it to real life + real world + relatable emotions is so incredibly clever.

I haven't seen every movie of the 2020s of course, but as of writing this, this is my favourite movie of the 2020s so far. I hope it performs extremely well at the box office and gets awards recognition, because it deserves it.

Believe the hype.

Go in knowing as little as possible.

See this movie.

Fmovies: Michelle Yeoh headlines this head trip into the multi-verse. The first part is slow going as this reality is not suggested in the previews and thus somewhat lulls the audience into expecting something different. But what makes this movie really work is its underlying storyline even as reading subtitles and trying to understand what is going on during the first half of the movie takes a bit of mental endurance. Allowing for that though, this movie bursts at the seams in being everything all at once, sequentially that is, in two-dimensions trying to project a four-dimensional reality and a multitude of parallel universes that all include Michelle Yeoh in some form or fashion. This movie definitely breaks through to a new level of sci fi visual delight and sophistication along with a strong storyline. Like Inception (2010), this is a breakthrough movie setting a higher bar of sci fi movies in the future.

This film almost unanimously received praise from both critics and audience alike. People even exaggeratedly rank it as one of the greatest films ever or the best they've ever seen. Going into this movie, my expectations were really high And I really wanted to be part of the majority who loves this movie. But unfortunately the opposite happened and I didnt like it. While I appreciate that this movie was made on a relatively small budget and managed to get some things right as it had so much potential with its strong female lead, philosophical component and some good action to move it along. But it fell really short. It is long and meandering. Visually confusing, thematically unoriginal. The first half was repetitive, boring and also quite silly. Half of the time I don't know what are they fighting for or what the heck is going on. And what was supposed to be the multiverse just felt like the characters were wearing silly different costumes. It is not until the last act that things of relevance happened. The performance from the cast was great though.

Everything Everywhere All at Once fmovies. Rarely does a movie hit me hard and I go along for the ride. Every moment has a spectacle to it. Even the simplicity of having your taxes done. Often silly, mostly confusing but entirely entertaining. It was great to see Short Round back on the big screen with a very glamoured down Michelle Yeoh as a married couple on the brink of fracturing a family unit.

The story is of, Evelyn, a woman who has never really committed to much in life. She has many interest but many where she isn't fully invested in. In this case, her family lives above the laundromat that is failing. They are being audited, but yet she has big dreams to expand her enterprise. Her husband (the fore mentioned Ke Huy Quan) Waymond, is a kindly follower and believer of his wife who seems to focus more on the bad than the good. Pessimist, if we are to be formal. It is the Chinese New Year, and many people are invited to celebrate with this family, including a Grand-Father who is labeled as a man set in his ways and wouldn't understand the same-sex relationship of his grandaughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu). What follows is a grand adventure, first at the IRS building (of all places) and eventually to distant alternate universes to which shows her the way her life may have gone had certain things didn't take place. I absolutely loved the fact that Jamie Lee Curtis plays the uptight auditor, who seems perfectly fine in the core universe to which all revolve around. Evelyn, on the other hand, taps into her other universes to gather the skills needed to fight a fracture in the timelines that sneak into her mundane life.

Yes, there is a message here. And...to be honest, it nearly derails the film itself. But it was required to tie in the meaning of everything that is going on. That we are made of experiences of every universe that exists out there (if you believe in metaphysics) and that they road you didn't take, through gained experiences, with some that even was more enticing then the present one, means we would never have known our other lives. Children wouldn't be born, love would be lost, relationships move on. It is the grand question of whether or not if we got a glimpse of that road we didn't take, would it all mean anything. In this case, I say it almost derails because the universes effect one another. And in this story, it even bridges them. Which to some, may feel like a cheat. However, the fact that I even ask this question makes it a vastly interesting story. That is for you to decide.

The movie is exciting, vibrant, energetic and feels absolutely unique. It allows the viewer to slowly tie the ends together, and perhaps sometimes gets too far ahead. But doesn't let you lose yourself too much. What it isn't is boring. It is captivating and fresh. And, look, who can hate a scene of people being beaten with rubber phalluses?

That said, it is one of the most interesting movies of 2022 and hopefully stays in the minds of awards in the future. Because it deserves a bigger audience. These are the types of fun, philosophical questions buoyed by comedy that we need.

I go back to Ke Huy Quan. This guy can do funny and also bring a tug to your heart so easily. It's so hard to imagine him as the little boy from "Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom" because, here he shows so much range. His natural charm is shown through his love for Evelyn. He seems to be suffering through a fracture himself. He plays many roles here as well. Because, in many universes in life, the theory here may be that w

If you take drugs for the first time and imagined Jackie Chan was a female Dr. Strange in another universe this would be it. And the synopsis is basically an Asian woman trying to do her taxes. I thought the third act of the movie felt a little stretched out but otherwise I think it's the best movie I've seen all year because I haven't laughed this much in any recent one. From the short time I spent in China, it's also an accurate and hilarious view of Chinese parents 'cause they really do be like that. I can't recommend it enough, it's so chaotic and in the middle of all that managed to be heartfelt too. I thought it was gonna be a Dr Strange wannabe but it's unique on it's own and I'm glad it was released earlier so that people don't compare them. It was just four people (strangers) in the cinema, we were laughing our asses off and it made me sad because everyone deserves to see this. At a time when remakes and reboots are common place it's nice to have something like this, a breath of fresh air.

It was everything everywhere all at once. Sometimes too many things, too many places at once and you can get lost, but it helps to focus on things.

Obviously, the amazing Michelle Yeoh is one thing to focus on. The whole reason I myself came to see this flick in the first place. Much as this movie gives you to absorb it was easy to keep my eyes on the beautiful Yeoh.

Oh, and the kid from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is in this flick. He's older odiously but he still sounds like the kid form The Goonies. How lucky he was he got to play Yeoh's baby daddy in this joint.

Last and definitely not least it was good to see James Wong in this film. You could tell they most likely made some filming adjustments to assure the 90 something year old actor can do the role but that's what you do when you have legends do your flick.

Speaking of legends, almost forgot about Jamie lee Curtis who seem like she was having fun in her role.

The fact that this movie is about a multiverse I low key was expecting a multiverse connection between who Yeoh plays in this movie, and her character in Shang shi. That would have been cool.

It's interesting that this like the third movie that came out in March that's about the mommy daughter relationship between Asian women. What's even more interesting is how they go in order. Turning Red is about a 13-year-old and Her mom, Umma is about an 18-year-old and her mom and the girl playing Yeoh's daughter looks like she's possibly in her early 20s. Don't know when this became a hot plot in movies, but I will admit I prefer how the story lays out here (but only because I relate more to an Asian woman in her 20s over a middle schooler)

The music in this film is great. The movie was filmed in the context that the story is about a laundromat owner in her mid-life dealing with where she came from and where she's going, but the music actually fits perfectly into the ideal of this woman being the key to saving the multiverse and it made for a lot of the entertainment. Just these big orchestra cues that make it sound like I'm watching Dune contradicting, the image of Yeoh being a worn-out blue-collar mom. Spectacular!

I say it's good. It's all over the place and it can be a handle to process, but it has a good cast to concentrate on.