The Wasteland Reviewer

Y2K (2024) Written Review

Where were you when the whole Y2K fiasco was spreading like wildfire? If you were old enough around the turn of the 21^st century, you heard about the virus that would take down all the computers in the world just in time for the new century. It was quite a time to be alive. The 90s were a vibe for sure and that continued into the early 20s as well. It certainly would be fun to bottle up all the nostalgia and make a film out of it. Kyle Mooney thought so as well…so he did! Except he did it with a whole machine rising horror comedy. 

How does Mooney deliver behind the camera with his directorial debut? To be honest, this is quite the rocky and clunky debut. First off, the action is shot terribly with awkward close-ups trying to hide all the stunts with the machines. The practical effects for those machines are fun and campy as hell (which is greatly appreciated) but the direction hides them too much when in action. The pacing is off as scenes abruptly shift to the next quite often and there are sequences that feel anticlimactic as they are blocked and staged poorly. The hardest pill to swallow is the awkward tone. This is overall a silly and campy flick (which works for the premise) but when it tries to hit you with some emotion, it never feels as impactful as it is trying to be. 

What is the cardinal sin of Y2K? It is not as funny and fun as it promises to be. The nostalgia can only go so far. There are some awesome needle drops in the film that certainly hit the spot for all the late 90s nostalgia. The first act of the film really nails all those aspects from the computers to the mixed CDs to the video rental stores. But after a while…nostalgia is only enough for fun and not substance. Then you have the awkward stoner humor of Mooney’s that makes up too much of it. Too many jokes are just dumb or awkward. There are also plenty of cringey jokes including feces filled porta-potty rides down a hill. You might hope for some irreverent humor or something clever with this premise, but it is just not either of those things. There are some sight gags based around some silly visual callbacks to 90s shows and movies, but they are still surface level elements. The film just keeps getting more ridiculous as it goes along with weak motivation for the machines and a weak plan. There is even a big arrival of an iconic music artist from that era which is weird and only slightly amusing. 

How is the cast though? Jaeden Martell works well as our nerdy protagonist Eli who rents movies and makes action figures with his best friend. Julian Dennison is Eli’s best friend Danny who is one of the most amusing parts of the film (he gets a great standout moment at the party where all things break loose). Unfortunately, he is not in it nearly as much as you would hope. Rachel Zegler is charismatic as always, but her character feels too perfect and just serves a tired stereotype in the narrative. Daniel Zolghadri and Lachlan Watson get some semi-big spotlights on them in the film with Watson as a nice standout even if each of their characters are underdeveloped. Mooney himself is amusing as much as you can take his stoner stereotype of a character. There are a few other noticeable names, but they are all under-utilized. The film is rushing through so much throughout its runtime that you never feel like you get real depth along the way. 

Is Y2k worth your time? This is a 90-minute campy and silly romp with blood action and gore for sure. If you are okay with flat characters and clunky direction, you can certainly enjoy the charismatic cast and wild campy and nostalgia. But that is all surface level entertainment, and it only delivers a fraction of the laughs you might hope for. This was such a wild and crazy fun concept with big potential that is mostly wasted.