Maxxxine is the final piece of Ti West's trilogy that began with the exceptional X and Pearl. And I gotta say, as entertaining as it is, it is by far the weakest of the trilogy. If it existed in a vacuum, I'd be singing its praises much higher, so it's clearly not a piece of crap. Even if the only reason was the fantastic performance put on by Mia Goth, reprising her role from X.
It seems Maxxxine has made it out of the quasi-Texas Chainsaw Massacre she encountered in X at the end of the 70's and is rumbling forward in the California adult film scene. However, she has caught the eyes of film producers and has latched onto a role in an upcoming sequel to a popular horror film. A legitimate non-adult industry release.
As one would recall from X, Maxxx would do anything to be famous, and she's only become more hardened and shall I say, vicious, in that direction. Her past appears to be sneaking up on her though. Is it directly linked to the events of X, or something much more attached to whatever in her past drives her forward so harshly? As those around her start to drop like flies, she flounders in struggles with law enforcement, who she just can't seem to trust, and a Kevin Bacon weirdo, threatening to blow up her past and ruin her forward momentum on behalf of someone else unknown.
Maxxxine takes place in the 80's and feels like an 80's film. It swings like a blending of the B-Movie classics Angel and Vice Squad. So with those pedigrees, it has a lot to offer. But even featuring slick casting, like that of the terrific Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan as detectives, it still doesn't reach the heights of the much lower budgeted predecessors in the series.
Unlike X, and to a lesser extent, Pearl, Maxxxine isn't really as much a horror film as it is an example of the sleazy crime dramas of the era it pays homage to.
But don't let that stop you.
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