There's no doubt that Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers is a wild ride; former Disney darlings dancing around in skimpy bikinis, with copious amounts of boob, ass and drug use shots. Spring Break is an American rite of excess passage but the problem with this movie is that it's just too try-hard - it's desperate to be a cult classic but sacrificing substance for style and 'edgy' content. Ultimately, it's completely vacuous.
Four very naughty college girls - Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine (wife of Harmony) - want to go on Spring Break but don't have the cash. Three of them rob a restaurant to get instant $$$. Hooray, they CAN go to Florida on Spring Break! They rave. They wear tiny shorts, cut-out swimsuits and bikinis. Then - thankfully - they meet James Franco.
Even though James Franco's Alien is a drug-dealing gangster, he's the saviour of the film. Instantly captivating and mysteriously charismatic despite his dodgy grills, hair and swag, Alien bonds with the girls and offers them a real glimpse into the 'dangerous' they are craving. Franco brings some dark comedy to Spring Breakers, as he shows them his 'shittttttttt' in his actually-quite-lovely seafront house. There's a very odd moment where he plays piano whilst singing 'Everytime' by Britney Spears; it's thoroughly bizarre, but is supposed to show some kind of endearing quality to Alien, whilst later cutting to see the group robbing houses and messing people up. These are truly Girls (and boy) Gone Wild.
It turns out - sad face - that Alien is having a stand-off with his former friend, now rival, Big Arch (Gucci Mane) and it's dog eat dog, kill or be killed. Things get proper nasty.
How the girls transform from just wanting a bit of danger to becoming full-blown gangsters is not thought out. We see Hudgens and Benson from the beginning as the characters who have the most chance of being caught up in criminal activity, but there's no intelligence behind what happens. Stylish films are GREAT, but there's not enough within Spring Breakers' to make it stand the test of time. Every character, apart from Franco's Alien, is disposable. You just don't care.
Spring Breakers' definitely has the vibe of an EDM, contemporary Kids - the film Korine wrote in 1995 - and craves to be just as notorious.'American parents be worried, this is what your daughters could be up to at Spring Break', etc...! And DON'T believe the hype, this film isn't feminist despite what's been said about the infamous Hudgens/Benson/Franco giving two guns a blow job scene. The girls may run around in balaclavas, but they're wearing tiny bikinis. The camera is firmly fixed on their bodies. Pussy Riot, they are not.
2/5 'look at my shit!'
There's no doubt that Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers is a wild ride; former Disney darlings dancing around in skimpy bikinis, with copious amounts of boob, ass and drug use shots. Spring Break is an American rite of excess passage but the problem with this movie is that it's just too try-hard - it's desperate to be a cult classic but sacrificing substance for style and 'edgy' content. Ultimately, it's completely vacuous.
Four very naughty college girls - Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine (wife of Harmony) - want to go on Spring Break but don't have the cash. Three of them rob a restaurant to get instant $$$. Hooray, they CAN go to Florida on Spring Break! They rave. They wear tiny shorts, cut-out swimsuits and bikinis. Then - thankfully - they meet James Franco.
Even though James Franco's Alien is a drug-dealing gangster, he's the saviour of the film. Instantly captivating and mysteriously charismatic despite his dodgy grills, hair and swag, Alien bonds with the girls and offers them a real glimpse into the 'dangerous' they are craving. Franco brings some dark comedy to Spring Breakers, as he shows them his 'shittttttttt' in his actually-quite-lovely seafront house. There's a very odd moment where he plays piano whilst singing 'Everytime' by Britney Spears; it's thoroughly bizarre, but is supposed to show some kind of endearing quality to Alien, whilst later cutting to see the group robbing houses and messing people up. These are truly Girls (and boy) Gone Wild.
It turns out - sad face - that Alien is having a stand-off with his former friend, now rival, Big Arch (Gucci Mane) and it's dog eat dog, kill or be killed. Things get proper nasty.
How the girls transform from just wanting a bit of danger to becoming full-blown gangsters is not thought out. We see Hudgens and Benson from the beginning as the characters who have the most chance of being caught up in criminal activity, but there's no intelligence behind what happens. Stylish films are GREAT, but there's not enough within Spring Breakers' to make it stand the test of time. Every character, apart from Franco's Alien, is disposable. You just don't care.
Spring Breakers' definitely has the vibe of an EDM, contemporary Kids - the film Korine wrote in 1995 - and craves to be just as notorious.'American parents be worried, this is what your daughters could be up to at Spring Break', etc...! And DON'T believe the hype, this film isn't feminist despite what's been said about the infamous Hudgens/Benson/Franco giving two guns a blow job scene. The girls may run around in balaclavas, but they're wearing tiny bikinis. The camera is firmly fixed on their bodies. Pussy Riot, they are not.
2/5 'look at my shit!'
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