re: Challengers 2024 film

Wasn’t sure why it was in Imax when I saw it but then it made sense with the Reznor score, which was definitely the best part of the movie

Surprisingly good tennis movie with some really fun scenes and kept me intrigued the whole way. Didn’t really know how it was going to end and enjoyed some of the ways they decided to give background and tell the story

On that same point tho, I get they were doing the whole structure to feel like a tennis match with the back and forth story telling and shifting quicker cuts to match how the the big tennis matches go (very rapid at the end)- but it got a little exhausting when they kept cutting back and forth so late into the film. Just total whiplash at some point, I would’ve took a few of those out. Think I let out an audible “again??” When they did the one back to Atlanta, and there was still like 2-4 after that

Also the random decision at the end to go full POV/shakey came with the tennis ball was a big swing and a miss for me. Just felt disorienting and random and didn’t really have a cool visual effect like you’d think.


Zendayas character might be one of the straight up evil characters of all time

Then again all the characters in this are really awful people driven by selfish desires, she just really takes that to a new level. You end up rooting for the poor tennis player despite him also making pretty much every off putting decision you could and being an overall terrible person himself. But it weirdly makes the move work and interesting

3.5/5 for me