{"id":44528,"date":"2024-07-15T00:02:58","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T04:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=44528"},"modified":"2024-07-14T14:58:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-14T18:58:08","slug":"challengers-2024-blu-ray-digital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/15\/challengers-2024-blu-ray-digital\/","title":{"rendered":"Challengers (2024) [Blu-Ray\/Digital]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Now Available from Warner Home Entertainment.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Luca Guadagnino is a talented filmmaker, one that knows how to handle genre films well, but so far he feels so out of his element with \u201cChallengers.\u201d For all intents and purposes, \u201cChallengers\u201d is a very good movie, it\u2019s just so ill fitted for Guadagnino\u2019s abilities as he struggles between directing a film that bounces back and forth between dark suspense and darkly comedic drama. \u201cChallengers\u201d is a lot of ways about the passion of sports and the lengths we\u2019re willing to go through to remain married to it, even when our prime has passed. \u201cChallengers\u201d isn\u2019t so much a love triangle, as it is a dark drama about three people willing to be as cut throat as possible to remain in the game.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Guadagnino tries his damndest to veer in to a taut character study, and most respects it works. The writers can never seem to put their finger on any of the characters, especially Zendaya\u2019s character Tashi. As Tashi she\u2019s a gorgeous beaming and relentless tennis player who is about to hit a high in tennis. When she\u2019s taken out from a terrible injury, her life revolves around calculating her every move to orchestrate a riff between two best friends Patrick and Art. Both men are on the cusp of becoming pros in Tennis, and the script chronicles the bizarre dynamic between the trio, and the Tashi tends to play events in her favor.<\/p>\n

The film unfolds over the course of thirteen years (2006-2019), as writer Justin Kuritzkes\u2019 drives us through a very non-linear narrative. We bounce back and forth between Tashi, Art, and Patrick in the present and past, centering on their budding careers and inevitable dead ends. Tashi in particular is someone so desperate to remain in her sport that she\u2019ll sacrifice all means of personal happiness to live through her husband Art. Although Art has convinced himself he\u2019s in love with Tashi, Tashi treats their interplay merely as a client and manager working to see what his next move can be to keep climbing the ranks in his sport.<\/p>\n

As he begins to age and finds himself being outmatched by more and more up and comers, Tashi is pushed in to a corner. This becomes especially true when Patrick re-emerges after many years, still as hungry to win as ever. \u201cChallengers\u201d squeezes by thanks to the solid performances by its respective choices hinder \u201cChallengers\u201d though with a script that is never quite as complex as it thinks it is, as well as a narrative that seems absolutely hesitant to submit to its darker undertones. Instead, it relies a lot on tedious ambiguity as well as an overwrought injection of style.<\/p>\n

The almost obnoxious artificial tension where there is none can be suffocating. Especially as Guadagnino opts to include the weird fast paced techno score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross over almost every scene. Even the quieter moments where characters are merely sitting down and trading dialogue feature Reznor and Ross\u2019s loud, thumping, dance music; it\u2019s a baffling thematic choice. I wasn\u2019t sure if they were going for a Tangerine Dream effect, but it was so often overbearing that it took away from the momentum of the narrative than added to it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cChallengers\u201d received a ton of hype upon its release for the implied menage a trois scene mid-way, but like film itself it\u2019s much ado about nothing. I\u2019d recommend \u201cChallengers\u201d mainly because Zendaya is a strong performer on-screen, but it never rises to the occasion to anything more than a sports film.<\/p>\n

The new release offers zero in features. Goose egg. There isn\u2019t anything remotely resembling a Behind the Scenes segment, or EPK. There isn\u2019t even the original trailer for \u201cChallengers\u201d included. I don\u2019t see why such a movie based around sound and editing didn\u2019t have at least four features discussing the score, the sound design, and the art of making tennis look interesting on film. I would have loved to know how Zendaya prepared for this film. Alas, this is mainly for folks that want to see the movie and be on their way. There\u2019s at least a Digital copy for folks that still prefer digital over physical media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now Available from Warner Home Entertainment. Luca Guadagnino is a talented filmmaker, one that knows how to handle genre films well, but so far he feels so out of his element with \u201cChallengers.\u201d For all intents and purposes, \u201cChallengers\u201d is a very good movie, it\u2019s just so ill fitted for Guadagnino\u2019s abilities as he struggles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,12],"tags":[302,1401,2123,874,974,1013],"class_list":["post-44528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collectors-den","category-movie-reviews","tag-drama","tag-lgbt","tag-lgbtq","tag-romance","tag-sports","tag-suspense"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44528"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44531,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44528\/revisions\/44531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}