Cast: I'll start by saying it's clear which person in the cast has an Oscar. Charlize Theron was the only one who sank her teeth into her part. She committed to a pretty bland one dimensional role. And that is pretty much the problem every actor had in this. No one seemed all that layered. Chris Hensworth seemed pretty bored most of the time. Kristen Stewart, well, you know what to expect with her. I've heard some critics saying they see so much potential for her. Personally, I don't at all, but I could be wrong. Right now, she's kind of where Keira Knightley was in 2004: able to pick successful movies but still looking for that make or break showcase. As for the rest of the cast, they all looked pretty hand-picked from the BBC Historical Epics department.
Plot: Something didn't settle well with me. The whole time I watched the movie I could only think of the movies it was trying to be and that's really bothersome. The scope of the whole thing also was way too big. No character was serviced too well. I couldn't even tell you one of the dwarves' names. It tried so hard to have an epic feel and wanted so badly to create a world that felt as deep and fully formed as Middle Earth and came up so short. I was never surprised by the plot or impressed by the execution which is normally a bad sign. It was serviceably generic in the way something like Robin Hood was.
Elephant in the Room: Do we need to have everything in the Disney catalog remade in live action? No. Every couple of years someone thinks they can take a Disney animated classic and make an edgier PG13 version that treats the plot seriously and puts it in a real[er] world setting, and they have largely been duds. How many times has King Arthur been tried? Brandy, Hilary Duff, and Drew Barrymore have all taken stabs at Cinderella. There's Tim Burton's pseudo-sequel of Alice in Wonderland. Did it ever occur to anyone that the simplicity of these stories is precisely why they work so well.
WTF Moments:
-Snow White says the Our Father at some point. I never thought I'd say this, but you can't have Christianity and magic in a movie.
-Before they've even said a word, the sight of the 7 dwarves had most of my theater laughing, presumably, simply because they were short. Way to rise above, audience.
To Sum Things Up:
This is one of those movies I am certain other people will like a lot more than I did. Nagging feelings from beginning to end killed my buzz. It's the best thing to come out in nearly a month, so anyone tired of seeing The Avengers 2-10 times will find this to be the least step down of what's been offered.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
No comments:
Post a Comment