DIRECTOR Gore Verbinski (of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Ring, and Rango fame) returns from a nine year hiatus with Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. The film follows a mysterious man from the future (Sam Rockwell) as he returns to our current time to recruit a motley crew from the local diner (including Zazie Beetz, Michael Pena, Haley Lu Richardson, Juno Temple, Asim Chaudhry, and Georgia Goodman) to save the world from its soon to be AI overlord. If your Matrix senses are tingling you’re on the right track, but this is no simple rehash – Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is The Matrix made for the moment.
To get the basics out of the way, the directing, acting, and shot selection in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die all result in a generally well put together sci-fi adventure / satire. Some of the CGI in the third act doesn’t exactly dazzle, but it more than serves its purpose. From a technical perspective director Gore Verbinski does his part, and makes sure to add plenty of his signature off-kilter flair and humor. With that said, the screenplay is the real star of the show. Writer Matthew Robinson’s narrative and themes are what give the film its bite, and are what will stick with you long after the credits roll.
I honestly haven’t been this surprised by a film in a long time. The way Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die tackles contemporary themes of AI, screen addiction, harmful escapism, school shootings (!), and the subsequent preying on the grieving deeply resonates. This is a film that defiantly shouts into the void – shouting at all we’ve already resigned ourselves to. It’s a film where the lead explicitly spells out, multiple times, that we and he have already lost to the matrix. There’s already giant cat-centaurs lurking about. However, while we might already be past the point of no return, it insists the good fight is still worth fighting anyway, no matter how long or how many times it takes.
As Sam Rockwell and his jolly band of misfits traverse the neighborhood and an escalating series of confrontations, from run of the mill hitmen to AI-children demigods, they continuously confront these very issues. We watch as they grapple with the disconnect between their own lived experiences and truths, and what the rest of society is telling them is now table stakes.
It takes an outsider (Michael Pena) to recognize that the schoolchildren are not alright and that the teachers have already accepted defeat. It takes a newly grieving mother (Juno Temple) to (somewhat) realize how society has commoditized the pain from school shootings instead of trying to stem the violence itself. These characters live in an absurd world that’s absurdly not too different than our own. The only difference being, they have a schizophrenic looking Sam Rockwell forcing them, under threat of murder-suicide, into actual action (well that, and again, the giant cat-centaur).
While everyone else has already succumbed to indifference, accepting that society has slipped away, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die reassures you that you aren’t crazy for noticing how far gone we are. It reassures you that it’s okay to scream, that it’s okay to point out this isn’t normal, and that it’s essential to remember this isn’t inevitable.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is a film that forces you to confront your reality, even if on the surface it’s not saying anything too revolutionary and might appear overly preachy at first blush. The themes it confronts are incredibly pertinent to the moment, and the way it navigates these tough conversations with a mix of absurdism and dark humor is masterful. Not even a third act that comes dangerously close to grinding the whole thing to a halt can derail it. Director Gore Verbinski definitely returned with a vengeance, and is hoping you’ll join him.
