Jeffrey Kubat

Bad Times was, at the very least, a good movie. Starting off with a rich aesthetic of its decade that paints the characters and the location, the movie had a lot of promise that went partially undelivered. First problem is that the film has few characters and it makes the film feel quickly absurd even though the characters do get some nice development scenes. The second problem is that the film starts off with some nice intrigues that go undelivered: from the first scene, it could be suggested that a crime syndicate could be involved in what happens but what actually happens is quite a small story: Dude steals money in a heist gone wrong, hides it, goes after it later and it gets tangled in a kidnapping gone wrong as well. The ending was the movie's weakest point where it ends in gunners coming in out of nowhere and totally hijack the movie in a sub-plot that only came into existence right at the end of the film. Ultimately, Bad Times is a film of lost potential: the people behind this film at least had some talent and budget to work with, some good dialogue writers and designers but ended up thinking too small and ended up writing a story about local crimes killing at most two people among the seven that stayed at the El Royale that night. It's good for a Netflix watch if you're looking for something different to see, but for any big occasion, steer clear and look for something that can think bigger.