Remakes are odious, but Speak No Evil, while thoroughly unneeded and unasked for, is an Americanized remake of a 2022 thriller from Denmark that services its original material well, thanks mostly to a sprawling, contradictory and totally galvanizing centerpiece performance by James McAvoy. He’s the fine Scottish actor best known for his outstanding work in The Last King of Scotland and Atonement, not to mention his memorable Cyrano de Bergerac on the New York stage. In Speak No Evil, McAvoy plays the villain, over the top and all over the place, and he has such a blast doing it that you can’t take your eyes off him for a minute.

Despite some updates by writer-director James Watkins and a lot of savage violence to make it more palatable for an American movie audience, the plot begins in basically the same way as it did two years ago: Louise and Ben Dalton (Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy) are an American couple living in London with their daughter, Agnes (Alix West Lefler), who meet a friendly British family during a getaway in Italy. Paddy (McAvoy), his wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) and their mute son Ant (terrific young newcomer Dan Hough) are all so charming that the Daltons accept an invitation to visit them for a weekend at their rambling farm in the British countryside. Things begin oddly.

Louise and Ben can’t hide their marital problems. Their daughter Agnes is almost 13 but still emotionally attached to a stuffed rabbit. Ben is an unemployed lawyer who feels emasculated by his inability to get a job in England. Paddy knows Ciara is a vegetarian but insists on feeding her a goose for dinner. Ciara pretends to perform oral sex on Paddy under the table. Louise is at first aghast by their role-playing, then annoyed when they lecture Agnes on how to behave publicly. Tensions turn to horror when Agnes and Ant, forced to share a bedroom, become intimate friends and the little boy confides in the little girl that the Daltons are not his parents at all, but two fiends who killed his real family, kidnapped him and cut out his tongue with a pair of scissors so he could never tell anyone the truth.

Why don’t they just leave? They try. Horrified, the Americans plan to escape in the middle of the night and save Ant in the process, but somebody always does something stupid in horror flicks like this, so they all foolishly return to fetch Agnes’ stuffed rabbit. From here on, Speak No Evil loses its claim to reality and goes berserk in an assault on the senses that defies credibility and collapses in carnage. It’s all rather far-fetched and silly. The thrills are contrived but effective enough to make your hair stand on end. I had a good time watching it, against my better judgment. And I especially applaud the relentless one-man show that is James McAvoy, from start to finish. He’s mesmerizing.

What were my expectations going into Transformers: One? Whatever they were, it doesn’t really matter, because the movie blew away any and all ideas of what I thought it would be. This is a return to Transformers, thousands of years before we meet Optimus Prime on Earth. This time, most of the Autobots and Decepticons don’t even know each other yet. Optimus is Orion Pax, Megatron is D-16, Bumblebee is B-127. Enemies are still friends, the world hasn’t changed from constant war. Transformers One stars different voice actors than the normal Transformers films as well, Chris Hemsworth voices Optimus, Brian Tyree Henry voices Megatron, Scarlett Johansson voices Elita, Keegan-Michael Key voices Bee, Jon Hamm voices Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne voices Alpha Trion.

This is the first animated Transformers movie to hit theaters in 38 years since the original 1986 Transformers: The Movie. It’s really a tale of two excellent halves though. The first half shows the budding friendship between Orion and D-16. They’re trying to rise up the ranks of life on Cybertron, including entering a race that’s only for bots with a spark. They hold their own, but just miss out, enraging their superior officer in the process. This sends them down to the lowest levels of Cybertron where they meet Bee. As they hatch a plan to escape, they meet up with Elita, and unravel a conspiracy from the very top of society. It’s quite the stark difference from the sort of happy-go-lucky beginnings of the film. From there, the shape of both Optimus Prime and Megatron as characters forms into who we know today.

As it goes on, Transformers One shows itself to be a much more adult, thought-provoking film than it lets on. There are issues of class disparities, who should be leaders, how people are affected by stress, and how friendships can change over time. Combine that with the fact that it’s just a great movie for kids to watch, the screening I saw, the kids in the audience were going nuts for every moment. We don’t get enough great kids content these days, but Transformers One will satisfy the youngest and the oldest of fans.

With new voice actors taking over classic roles, the question comes up of how they stack up to previous voice actors. The most important is Chris Hemsworth. He already has an immediately recognizable voice. However, as the movie goes on, he resembles Peter Cullen’s timeless performance as Optimus. There are small changes throughout, but by the end, I was in awe. Same thing with Bryan Tyree Henry and Megatron. He’s sparky, upbeat, and somewhat higher pitched at the start of the film. By the end of it, it’s gravely, deeper, and just all around more menacing.

Those two combined with Keegan-Michael Key and Scarlett Johansson are excellent. Bee is the throughline for most of the comedy in the film and it just works hearing Keegan-Michael Key as Bee. He’s hilarious and upbeat, even when the film gets to its darkest moments. Fishburne might not be in the film for very long, but his performance is absolutely must-watch.

Advertisement

The third act of Transformers One is one of the most technically beautiful and thrilling animated sequences in recent memory. From when they return to Cybertron from the outskirts to the end of the film is a thrill ride. It might be presented as a bit of a kids movie, but make no mistake, Transformers One is just as entertaining for adults. The humor, the action, the animation, it all adds up to one of, if not, the best Transformers movies ever. You get interesting looks at how the characters we know and love became who they are. Seeing Optimus and Megatron as friends and then turning into enemies is heartbreaking. Watching Orion Pax turn into one of the cinema’s greatest heroes is a sight to behold.

Transformers One is a spectacular showcase for animation. It’s stunning in technical aspects, but also provides an excellent Transformers story.

Transformers One releases in theaters on September 20th.

For more Reviews, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.

Keep Reading:

Commentator, comedian, podcaster and author Kat Timpf isn’t here for your preconceived notions. Whether she’s bringing her vibrant personality to a stage or sharing her libertarian perspectives on “Gutfeld!” via Fox News, one can always count on her to make light of heavy topics with a witty and unapologetic approach.

Originally from Detroit but launching her comedy career in Los Angeles, Timpf graduated magna cum laude from Hillsdale College. Over the years, she has remained incredibly active, seamlessly balancing her comedy career with her influence in the political space. She recently announced her first pregnancy, and her second book, “I Used to Like You Until… (How Binary Thinking Divides Us),” was published Sept. 10 by Simon & Schuster and follows up her New York Times bestseller, “You Can’t Joke About That: Why Everything Is Funny, Nothing Is Sacred, and We’re All in This Together.”

Crediting humor for helping her navigate both the highs and lows, Kat Timpf’s popularity comes from a relatable blend of hard laughs and genuine emotion, with context playing a crucial role. On Sept. 14, Timpf is bringing all of that (plus cool merch) to Thousand Oaks on her “I Used to Like You Tour” at the Scherr Forum Theatre, where she’ll be showing off her comedy chops, all while inadvertently squashing those “you can’t have it all” naysayers.

It’s so crazy how well “Gutfeld!” is doing. I mean, not crazy, I was a huge “Red Eye” fan. I always found it random that it was on Fox News. It was interesting trying to tell certain people why the show was so great.

Kat Timpf: Yeah, I was a huge fan of “Red Eye” before I ever was on it. I didn’t tell Greg that until a year after I got hired, though. And I still have to explain to people about Fox because people have ideas about it, that everybody there is about the same thing, and it’s just not accurate. It’s totally possible to have a friendship with people that you don’t agree with on political issues, which is beyond frustrating to the point of me having to write this book.

Choosing sides seems to be the thing people demand, but it’s rarely black-and-white.

Right, and people will say that you’re a “fence sitter” because you don’t firmly sit on one side or the other because you have different independent views. I’m not sitting on a fence, I’m actually very firm in my own views. It actually would be a lot easier for me to go all in on one side or the other because then I’d have this whole team of people backing me up, no matter what I said or did. It’s easier to have a team of allies.

I have to imagine that people you know, and don’t know, also have been free and loose with the baby advice?

I have no idea what to expect, obviously, and I’ve definitely been given advice from people online, which bothers me less than people just being so mean and hateful. I’m 35, so they call it a “geriatric pregnancy.” So, for years I was getting these hate comments like, “You don’t understand anything about the world because you don’t have any kids. Your eggs are scrambled and drying up, and you’ll regret this soon. You’re so selfish.” Then I got pregnant, and you would have thought that this is what these people wanted, right? I mean, I didn’t do it for them, but now people are saying, “Can you just shut up about being pregnant already?” Some of them are the same people! Some people are just gonna be haters no matter what. I just hate the whole, “Oh, you’re not the first person in the world to be pregnant.” I know that! But it’s the first time I’ve been pregnant! Life can be so monotonous and there are so few things that inspire a sense of genuine wonderment and amazement about life and being alive. I’ve been so dead inside that sometimes I’m just like, let me have this! You’re mad that I’m happy and excited about having a baby? So, if people want to give me actual useful advice because you mean well, I’m good with you.

The most bizarre thing about social media is that you’ll never make a stranger happy. And truly, why is it even important?

Right? I’ve never seen someone else being excited about something in their life, whether it’s them getting married, having a baby, getting a new job or coming out with a book, and just being like, urghhh no thanks. Life can be really depressing, and life can be really boring, so if you’re excited and happy about something, that’s amazing and I’m happy for you.

I do love that you clap back when needed. And not to be cheesy, but you do bare it all in your new book. I found it strong and vulnerable.

I’ve definitely always been like this, but I’m a sensitive person too. I write a lot about that in the new book. There have been times where people have said mean things to me and I’ve direct messaged them and said something like, “That really hurt my feelings.” Nine times out of 10 the person will say, “I’m sorry.” Now, one time out of 10 they’ll be even more mean, and that makes me feel really bad. That’s actually the concept of the cover of the book — I’m naked and I’m covered in hate mail. It’s just vulnerability in the face of overwhelming hatred. And I think that being vulnerable about your own stuff in your life can help people when they now see that you’re human. For me, it also goes back to intention, and you have to be able to stand up for yourself when people are coming for you with bad intentions. If we could just all see each other as humans rather than this team or that team, we could find a lot more to agree on than we think.

It really is wild that people will see you for your job but not as the human working a job to pay for your life. It’s like, we are not them.

That’s what it is, and this book is for anyone who has ever felt like someone’s written them off for just one single aspect of themselves. A single difference in viewpoint, or association, or an assumption should not be enough to write off another person entirely. We lose so much when we do that. And I know this book is coming out during a very contentious and very polarized time, and I didn’t write this book because of that, I wrote it in spite of that. I really think this is an important book, and it’s also a fun book to read.

“This book is for anyone who has ever felt like someone’s written them off for just one single aspect of themselves,” Timpf says of her new book “I Used to Like You Until.”

(Melinda DiMauro)

Do you ever trip out thinking about what life was like when you came out to L.A. versus you coming to L.A. now?

Yes! I wrote about being in L.A. a little in my first book, but when I came to Los Angeles out of college, I was struggling. I worked at Boston Market waiting tables and I lived in a really crappy apartment, and then I couldn’t afford that apartment, so I had to move in with this bartender I was kind of sort of seeing. I was really struggling trying to do what I am doing now. I had done stand-up one time before, so I started doing comedy in L.A. because I was going through so much rough stuff. I found that it was really helpful to get onstage and make fun of the things making me feel powerless. It gave me a sense of power over it. I kept doing it when I moved to D.C. for a job, and then I quit three times, but then I got back onstage and it’s like, I love this!

I’m sure Scherr Forum Theatre in Thousand Oaks adding a second show because you sold out the first one feels pretty great too?

It really does! I’m very, very excited. Those shows are the opening two shows for the tour, so I’m very grateful. There is no place for me quite like the Los Angeles area because of the effect that it has on me. Thinking about how much I struggled here, hoping for that sliver of a chance that I’d be able to do what I’m doing now — it’s so awesome. I have a lot of new material, and I could not be more excited about it. I’ve never played this venue either, and honestly, it’s still overwhelming to me that I get to do this. I’m just very grateful for every single person that comes out. I think that opening this tour in this area is the best way to do it. Every time I get out of the airport and I’m driving through L.A., I still get emotional. I’m very grateful and I hope I never stop being astounded by all of this.

Comedy is such a complex thing because you’re watching a somewhat insecure mind that absolutely shines in a spotlight.

I have a whole line of “Are You Mad at Me?” merch so, spot on. I’m insufferable, really, but at least I’m self-aware!