Cough smoking causes review: a cure for predictable superhero movies

Only a few minutes to Quentin Dupieux’s Smoking causes cough, there’s clearly something wrong with its fake Power Rangers team. The five-man superhero team, known as the Tobacco Force, destroys a giant rubber turtle monster by shooting it with a dense plume of tobacco smoke, causing the monster to develop cancer so horrendous that it exploded in a prolonged spreading bloodstain. Bathed in the blood and slime of kaiju, Tobacco Force celebrates another victory. It seems like just another day at the office – in this case, an empty quarry, the ideal filming location for t-shirt explosions and kung-fu antics.

The five members of the Tobacco Force, all named after the components of tobacco smoke – Benzene, Nicotine, Ammonia, Mercury and Methanol – quickly reported back to their boss, Sheriff Didier. He turned out to be a rat-like puppet that looked like an uncontrolled cigarette and burned to ashes, and he was constantly drooling green on his body. It was suddenly horribly clear that Dupieux had dressed up as an absurd comedy in the costume of a tokusatsu superhero series. Emphasizing that absurdity: One member of the Tobacco Force had a painful, one-sided crush on this promiscuous, drooling, red-eyed rat.

It just got weirder from there.

Image: Release the magnet

Smoking causes cough covered up like a superhero show like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers And kamen knight, with a monster villain of the week and an intergalactic threat lurking. But the heroes of the Tobacco Force are given an atypical assignment: When Mercury feels performance anxiety and can’t produce the required smoke, Sheriff Didier asks the team for a cooldown. dress. A forced happy retreat was needed, said the team leader, to address their confused group cohesion in the face of a potentially catastrophic event.

Dupieux set up amazing micro and exotic world builder for their retreat. Upon arriving at their home away from home, an underground bunker, the group members expressed their joy at seeing a lake, something so rare in this world that they had to comment on it. They marvel at amenities like seawater showers, hard titanium beds, and refrigerators that are just one door away from a well-stocked grocery store, served by a friendly woman who willingly brings give the group whatever they need. They slept and went swimming in full Tobacco Force uniforms.

What happens next, when Tobacco Force members grapple with personal issues and try to connect by telling each other strange stories, it’s better to leave it alone. . But Dupieux filled the quick 80-minute film with frantic diversions. It is impossible to predict what will happen next in Smoking causes coughbecause Dupieux rejects superhero storytelling patterns in favor of sensational story choices.

The stories that Dupieux tells through his characters are humorous, absurd, and violent. Writer and director — best known for the 2010 film Rubber, about a murderous rubber car tire possessed by a demon — delivering some shocking violence and gore, but in the most comforting and soothing way. One of the film’s most gruesome, hard-to-watch moments is delivered with such astonishing indifference that it makes the entire Smoking causes cough worth seeing.

In the film’s production notes, Dupieux said that his superhero film “never imposed any grand speech, and there was no moral in the story,” claiming that it simply “an unflinching source of mediocre entertainment”. That’s certainly true — it’s a low-key hangout with a substantial minimum bet and no big resolution. (Holding to the post-credits scene for one final joke only underscores Dupieux’s dedication to not wrapping up a story.)

Simultaneously, Smoking causes coughIts lightness and unethical nature are difficult to balance with themes of environmental collapse, pollution, and social disconnect. But perhaps all those ideas are just more misdirection from Dupieux. Sure, his movie looks like a nostalgic superhero farce at first. Then it started to look like a joke to the audience. But that feels less true as you dive into it.

At one point, Dupieux flirted with a moral message, as the Benzene Tobacco Force leader told a keen-eyed fan of the team that smoking was an unhealthy habit that would destroy his body. and doesn’t make him look cooler. But in the face of impending destruction, our heroes nervously smoke cigarettes, while contemplating the absurdity and missed opportunities in their lives. If there is one thing to draw from Smoking causes coughit could be: Life is short and illogical, and it often feels like a big joke just a short beat away.

Smoking causes cough currently playing in limited releaseand available to rent or buy on Amazon, vuduand other digital platforms.