penandpaper52
Joined May 2005
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Reviews15
penandpaper52's rating
The movie was entertaining at times, though the story was below average. In other words, if your girlfriend wants to see it, well, it's tolerable.
What jumps out at you is that this isn't really a love story. There's no love in it. There's a bit of like. No love, really. The movie is actually about loss and coping with the death of a loved one. The "love story" is less than secondary, and is practically incidental. If you get through the first 3/4 of the film, the part that is at least worthy of an average grade, you'll be upset by the end. It's largely tacked on and includes scenes that you figure were written in for the sake of having random Hollywood moments. The one I have in mind is where the character (and no this is far from a key plot point) releases a parrot "back into the wild." As an audience, we are evidently supposed to ignore the fact that a domesticated parrot is being released into the wild of Seattle. There are sooo many things wrong with that notion.
What jumps out at you is that this isn't really a love story. There's no love in it. There's a bit of like. No love, really. The movie is actually about loss and coping with the death of a loved one. The "love story" is less than secondary, and is practically incidental. If you get through the first 3/4 of the film, the part that is at least worthy of an average grade, you'll be upset by the end. It's largely tacked on and includes scenes that you figure were written in for the sake of having random Hollywood moments. The one I have in mind is where the character (and no this is far from a key plot point) releases a parrot "back into the wild." As an audience, we are evidently supposed to ignore the fact that a domesticated parrot is being released into the wild of Seattle. There are sooo many things wrong with that notion.
Helpful•11
This is no doubt a great piece of cinema. The visuals are gorgeous and the effects are incredible and on a whole, this is by far worth the admission price.
That being said, the plot is thin and the characters are thinner. The foreshadowing is often shoved in your face and there is little exploration into what could have been wonderfully unique characters. Essentially, the plot is the Last Samurai on a distant planet. The characters are stuck somewhere between honoring Native American culture and insulting it.
If this were just some run of the mill Hollywood flick, those things would be easy to overlook--or at least forgivable. In a movie that was over a decade in the making, costing more than almost any other film, and introducing such glorious cinema, it's just a real shame that everything to do with the script was so carelessly put together.
Again, see it. If these things don't bother you, you are very lucky and will end up having one of the best cinematic experiences of your life. If they do bother you, you'll nonetheless love the ride. But don't believe the reviews that don't see past the imagery. There's more to film than that.
That being said, the plot is thin and the characters are thinner. The foreshadowing is often shoved in your face and there is little exploration into what could have been wonderfully unique characters. Essentially, the plot is the Last Samurai on a distant planet. The characters are stuck somewhere between honoring Native American culture and insulting it.
If this were just some run of the mill Hollywood flick, those things would be easy to overlook--or at least forgivable. In a movie that was over a decade in the making, costing more than almost any other film, and introducing such glorious cinema, it's just a real shame that everything to do with the script was so carelessly put together.
Again, see it. If these things don't bother you, you are very lucky and will end up having one of the best cinematic experiences of your life. If they do bother you, you'll nonetheless love the ride. But don't believe the reviews that don't see past the imagery. There's more to film than that.
Helpful•2522
Firstly, let me just say that the TIFF audience did seem to like it and they responded well to it. There were quite a few moments of light humour that were enjoyed and the Q&A session revealed that a lot of people truly were touched by the movie.
Next, let me say that the story was quite powerful. The character played by Farrel was developed and real. It would be hard not to be emotionally effected by this film, and it would be hard not to leave with something to think about.
Unfortunately, a great story and a great character don't make for a great movie. While many of the scenes were spectacular and a lot of the dialogue worked quite well, on a whole the film didn't do its story justice. It actually felt, much of the time, as if I were watching the subplot of another film. In fact, if you've watched enough war films you'll probably find that this movie WAS the subplot to many of those films. That alone doesn't equal a bad film, but it does make it more challenging for the film to hold its own. That didn't happen. Farrel's character--due to his acting as well as the writer/director's desire to explore that type of character--was fine through and through, but the characters around him all tended to speak their lines solely for the purposes of advancing Farrel's character, or to push out a philosophy of war. To illustrate this, just pay attention to the scene in which we're introduced to the grandfather, Christopher Lee's character. That scene introduces a whole back story and turbulent relationship that has nothing to do with anything... it was just pinned on the story awkwardly so as to justify a powerful speech in which he defended his questionable actions in a long-ago war. Well, that's pretty much what the rest of the story felt like. And the payoff wasn't great. It ended mostly how you expect it will end, and gives a message we've heard from a thousand other films.
So, again, if I had the option, I'd give this story a 9/10. The execution of the story remains a 6.
Next, let me say that the story was quite powerful. The character played by Farrel was developed and real. It would be hard not to be emotionally effected by this film, and it would be hard not to leave with something to think about.
Unfortunately, a great story and a great character don't make for a great movie. While many of the scenes were spectacular and a lot of the dialogue worked quite well, on a whole the film didn't do its story justice. It actually felt, much of the time, as if I were watching the subplot of another film. In fact, if you've watched enough war films you'll probably find that this movie WAS the subplot to many of those films. That alone doesn't equal a bad film, but it does make it more challenging for the film to hold its own. That didn't happen. Farrel's character--due to his acting as well as the writer/director's desire to explore that type of character--was fine through and through, but the characters around him all tended to speak their lines solely for the purposes of advancing Farrel's character, or to push out a philosophy of war. To illustrate this, just pay attention to the scene in which we're introduced to the grandfather, Christopher Lee's character. That scene introduces a whole back story and turbulent relationship that has nothing to do with anything... it was just pinned on the story awkwardly so as to justify a powerful speech in which he defended his questionable actions in a long-ago war. Well, that's pretty much what the rest of the story felt like. And the payoff wasn't great. It ended mostly how you expect it will end, and gives a message we've heard from a thousand other films.
So, again, if I had the option, I'd give this story a 9/10. The execution of the story remains a 6.
Helpful•7656