Okay, here’s my review. Good or bad, this episode delivered
exactly what I was expecting given the lineup. It started off pretty slow but
picked up some steam after Update. Franco gelled well with this cast and seems
to have improved somewhat form his last two hosting stints (at least in terms
of not squinting and spitting as much). Even the well placed Nicki Minaj sketch
cameos worked (well, they better than her performances anyway) and I honestly
enjoyed this episode more than the Diaz one two weeks ago even though they were
both on the same level of inconsistency. Anyway, here we go.
Politics Nation - This isn't even a good cold open let alone
a good way for SNL to address the Eric Garner story. Bobby was all right, but
not even he could save it. D-
Monologue - I'd say it wasn't as good as his '08 college
monologue w/Sudekis but better than his '09 Christmas monologue. Addressing the
Sony hack was clever at least. The Rogen cameo was totally expected as was his
using his physique to get laughs, but he breathed some life into this
monologue. C-
Peter Pan Live - This parody worked on the whole. I never
expected them to make Aidy's "Tonkerbell" recurring but using her to
comment on the Peter Pan performance was clever on the writers' part. She and
Cecily were the strongest parts of this sketch. Franco's Walken was pretty weak
but I do appreciate his effort. Still, I would've preferred Kilam or another
cast member doing their take on Walken and this sketch was much better than the
Sound Of Music parody from the Paul Rudd episode last year. C+
Star Wars Trailer – This trailer was pretty weak. Taran,
Leslie and Bobby were okay in it but the "elderly heroes returning for a
sequel" comedy trope is beyond tired by now and wasn't even that relevant
to the trailer it was supposedly parodying. D+
MTV’s Jingle Ballerz - The Hip-hop nativity was pretty
inconsistent, but one of the more entertaining live pieces of the night. Pete
was funny and seeing Taran's Eminem, Kate's Beiber and Jay's Kanye again was
nice. Sasheer's Rhianna was way off and Franco's Riff Raff added nothing.
Kenan's Rick Ross was okay. Nicki Minaj actually did a passable Beyonce. Her singing
was off but she got Beyonce’s general speaking voice down. At least it was nice
to see a different portrayal of Beyonce than Maya Rudolph's. C+
Mike O'Brien: Grow-A-Guy - This film was one of the stronger
pieces of the night. It was great to see that level of surreal humor on SNL again.
Mike, Beck, James and Pete turned in fine performances here. B-
Magic Bridge - This was pretty awkward. It was another
showcase for Cecily to do an odd accent. In fact, her character sounded just
like a cross between Molly Shannon and Amy Poehler's character from the
Appalachain Emergency room sketches. Kyle and Aidy were just kinda there. D-
Update was pretty strong tonight. Che delivered some fine
joke and even Jost is starting to show some personality. It seems like the only
thing that didn't land with the audience was the opening grand jury
commentaries. While they may not have gotten enough laughs, they were
thoughtful commentaries and I did like how they broke up the usual Update
format. Seeing Leslie Jones again was great but again, her previous
commentaries were better. This one was allright, but seemed a little awkward.
The only thing that felt out of place was bringing Anthony Crispino out of
mothballs. I thought it would be worth seeing how Che would react to him but he
just kind of phoned it in there. I did like the Drew Carey/Bing Crosby jokes
though. Nicki Minaj pretty much just played Kim Kardashian as herself but the
bit about the nude photos being placed against different backgrounds was clever
enough. B-
Brain Space - This sketch worked pretty well. Franco didn't
really need to shout all his lines, though. Having Nicki do the first two
verses of Anaconda was a clever way to sneak that song onto the show without
having to devote an entire MG slot to that ridiculous song (although her actual
second performance still came off pretty awkward, though). All the brief walk
ons by the cast were good, too. I especially liked Beck and Bobby in this. B+
Kid Mayor – This sketch was pretty funny in its mild
immaturity. Even though Franco could have dialed it back, this was the one
sketch where his shouting all his lines actually worked. B-
Sunseeker Yachts - I have to hand it to SNL for holding off
on bringing back the former porn models until this point in the season. I did
like Rogen and Franco's performances in this as well as the sit/stand on it and
pull out lines. C+
Here are my updated rankings for this season…
1. Woody Harrelson/Kendrick Lamar
2. Jim Carrey/Iggy Azalea
3. Bill Hader/Hozier
4. James Franco/Nicki Minaj
5. Cameron Diaz/Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars
6. Chris Pratt/Ariana Grande
7. Sarah Silverman/Maroon 5
8. Chris Rock/Prince
Next week, Martin Freeman hosts with musical guest Charli
XCX. Anyway you look at it, this has to be the most promising SNL lineup this
month. See you then!
No comments:
Post a Comment