Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)

I think it's a hard line to walk, making a biopic about a genuine real-world serial killer and his wife, having said serial killer take up a pretty massive chunk of that biopic's screentime, and still not have it look as if you're trying to paint said serial killer as sympathetic - when you're a main character, when it's your story, you **are** the protagonist, and when the protagonist is a monster, that's... Yeah, that's a hard line to walk. And I think it's walked here falteringly. There's some very powerful moments, and it is absolutely an intriguing experiment in cinema, but I don't think it made all the best choices. I mean it's not a twist that Ted Bundy did it, 'cause all the world already knows... Well I mean, he's Ted Bundy. He's literally famous for one single thing, and it's bei...

**_An interesting approach to the story, but the tone is poorly managed. Worth seeing for Efron's performance, though_**

>_I get very, very angry and indignant. I don't like being locked up for something I didn't do, and I don't like my liberty taken away, and I don't like being treated like an animal, and I don't like people walking around and ogling me like I'm some sort of weirdo, because I'm not._

- Ted Bundy; Interview in Garfield County Jail, Colorado (May 15, 1977)

> _Those of us who are, who have been so much influenced by violence in the media, in particular pornographic viol__ence, are not some kinds of inherent monsters. We are your sons and we are your husbands. And we grew up in regular families._

- Ted Bundy; Interview with James Dobson in Florida State Prison (Ja...

It's safe to say that Zac Effron wasn't cast to play Ted Bundy for the same reasons that landed Charlize Theron the role of Aileen Wournos. He can't act, but then he doesn't need to; he looks the part even if he can’t be the part — and he needn’t be it, either; unlike Monster, this movie makes no attempt to probe into Bundy's psyche. If one is looking for any motive, reason, or explanation for his crimes, one will not find them here.

Who or what exactly is supposed to be "wicked" and "vile"? The judge (John Malkovich) who sentences Bundy uses those words to describe his crimes. Effron replies: “I do not accept the sentence because it is not mine. It is a sentence from someone else who is not here today.”

Director Joe Berlinger seems to agree with that statement. That is, he...

I mean, I know Ted Bundy was the protagonist... but I got the strong feeling he was the good guy in this. Honestly, as in, that wasn't a sarcastic bit, they try and make him heroic.

And yeah, the title suggests something: "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile" but it doesn't achieve what it suggests, this is a Ted Bundy story if it was made by pre-woke Disney, and he was the charming prince.

The Serial Killer part is muted to the point where the viewer you think the writer actually thought he was innocent.

And it's a movie about a Serial Killer and rapist that tries to not offend. That doesn't work, Serial Killers and rapists are very offensive people, so offensive we lock them up for life or execute them... unless you are in California, Washington, Oregon, DC, Chicago, ...