“Just another Wednesday.” —The Nurse
Today’s quick review: Hotel Artemis. After a bank job goes wrong, a robber (Sterling K. Brown) takes his injured brother to the Hotel Artemis, a hospital and safehouse for criminals, where the Nurse (Jodie Foster) tries to patch them up. But with a riot raging outside, a VIP patient on the way, and the power on the fritz, the Hotel Artemis may not be safe for long. The brothers must decide whether to ride out the storm inside or head for greener pastures.
Hotel Artemis is a crime thriller with sci-fi elements. Set in a near-future Los Angeles torn by water shortages and riots, Hotel Artemis injects a dash of futuristic technology into the crime genre. The film makes a lot out of a simple premise. Intriguing plot hooks, dynamic characters, a compelling setting, and a cast of familiar faces make Hotel Artemis a solid watch. However, failure to capitalize on its strengths keeps it from going further.
The allure of Hotel Artemis begins with its setting. The Hotel Artemis oozes with flavor, a decrepit ruin of a hotel converted into a high-tech hospital and a sturdy safehouse. The Nurse and her orderly (Dave Bautista) are the only ones keeping the place running, and the Hotel manages to be both an impregnable fortress and an aging institution on the verge of collapse. Just being set in the Hotel gives the movie a great sense of atmosphere.
But what makes the setting come alive is its characters. The standout performance is from Jodie Foster, an affable, tough-as-nails nurse who has spent over two decades patching up criminals at the Hotel. Her character is sharp, nuanced, instantly likable, and given depth by her agoraphobia. The other lead role belongs to Sterling K. Brown, who plays a savvy criminal constantly dragged into bad situations by his irresponsible brother.
Hotel Artemis also has a talented supporting cast. Dave Bautista plays the tough, loyal, and impossibly large orderly. Sofia Boutella and Charlie Day are the hotel’s other guests, an assassin laying low and a sleazy businessman, respectively. Jeff Goldblum and Zachary Quinto round out the main cast as an injured crime boss and his weakling son. They are not the deepest or most original characters, but all of them have their moments.
The movie’s chief failing is that it doesn’t go far enough. Within the first half-hour, Hotel Artemis sets up half a dozen tantalizing plot threads, any one of which could drive the rest of the movie on its own. The only problem is that the film loses confidence in what it has. Rather than weave the threads together in a spectacular tapestry of conflict, coincidence, and cross purposes, it lets each one play out linearly and more or less separately.
The result is a good movie with glimmers of greatness. Hotel Artemis could have easily been as complex as Lucky Number Slevin or Smokin’ Aces, as stylish as John Wick or Atomic Blonde, or as moving as the various character-focused crime dramas. But instead it shows glimpses of potential. Its style, its plot, and its characters are all competently handled, but a few changes could have really made them shine.
Give Hotel Artemis a shot if you’re a fan of stylized crime movies with novel premises. Though it falls short of its potential, what’s there is decent at worst and often quite enjoyable. But those looking for flawless storytelling should look elsewhere. For a crime movie with a similar atmosphere and lots more action, try John Wick and its sequel. For a stylized action movie with a similar atmosphere and more intrigue, check out Atomic Blonde.
6.3 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for a clever premise, an interesting world, and an engaging plot, held back by the inability to put all its pieces together.