'Y2K' review: A nostalgic, chaos-fueled ride that never quite finds its spark
Courtesy of A24
Video stores, Limp Bizkit, and AOL Instant Messaging are on full display in “Saturday Night Live” alum Kyle Mooney’s directorial debut “Y2K.” The film explores the premise: What if, on New Year’s Eve 1999, all the worst fears about the turn of the millennium actually came true? The result plays more like a live-action version of “The Mitchells vs. The Machines,” where computers, boomboxes, and video cameras turn into hellish Transformers and wreak havoc on a small Midwestern town, all while setting their sights on global domination.
The set-up is solid, and in the right hands, it could have blended early-2000s nostalgia with a more compelling story. But as it stands, “Y2K” revels in its own tongue-in-cheek humor, bombarding viewers with an endless stream of references to Tae Bo, Yamaguchi’s, the Taco Bell chihuahua, and ripping mixed CDs. In doing so, it forgets the most crucial element: crafting an engaging story with characters worth rooting for.
After a long expositional stretch that sorts characters into high school cliques (the skaters, the popular kids, the science nerds), we get the usual setup of who’s interested in whom. But as soon as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve 1999, things take a turn: blenders, garbage disposals, and ceiling fans suddenly develop minds of their own, forcing a group of unlikely teens to flee for their lives as their classmates are obliterated. The idea of machines gaining sentience was a real fear in 1999, but, of course, it never came to fruition, and we quickly moved on.
The film follows high school junior Eli (Jaeden Martell, from the “It” movies), a socially awkward outcast, and his best friend Danny (Julian Dennison, in the budding Jonah Hill role as the comic relief), who decide to crash a cool kid's party in hopes of impressing girls. Eli’s crush, Laura (Rachel Zegler, the star of the upcoming “Snow White” remake), is of course there, and she’s depicted as a blend of popular girl and tech-savvy wizard. At one point, someone refers to her as "Binary Code Barbie."
As chaos ensues, an assortment of teens manages to escape the house, evading chainsaw-wielding microwaves and killer computers. They find shelter in various places across town, including a video store, where the best surprise of the movie awaits: Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. But while Durst’s presence adds a certain grounding to the film, he alone can’t salvage the lack of chemistry between the characters Mooney focuses on—particularly Martell and Zegler, who share no spark or chemistry. In fact, their “peak” romantic moment takes place inside a porta-potty careening downhill.
Ultimately, “Y2K” is little more than an assortment of nostalgic visual gags, needle drops, and disposable characters—except for Durst, who provides some semblance of realism by playing a calmer version of himself. Cinematographer Bill Pope (known for “The Matrix” films) lends the film a sleek, polished look that compensates for Mooney’s lack of psychological depth in the screenplay. While a movie like this doesn’t necessarily need deep characters or intricate themes, it still needs something to make up for those shortcomings, such as better pacing or rhythm.
I guess it’s just one of those days.
Grade: C
Y2K is now playing in theaters.
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