Bowie! As Tesla!
In latex that hides his cheekbones and a mustache hiding his upper lip! It's criminal, I tell you!
is it reasonably entertaining but not amazing, or is it too busy being clever to even be entertaining?
It's reasonably entertaining, but it spends so much effort making sure you know that this is a movie structured like a magic trick and will have a twist turn and a reveal prestige JUST LIKE A MAGIC TRICK that, if you're paying any kind of attention at all, you'll be able to figure out both tricks pretty early on.
What's really well done is how intense the rivalry between Jackman and Bale's characters is -- when they don't back down, they really don't back down, and I appreciated how far the movie was willing to take it. Mostly, I wish less had been explained. The third act is painfully drawn out, and depends on the audience not having figured out either trick to be interesting.
I just read the book and didn't quite get a few things by the end, so if the movie manages to clue me in I'll be pleased. I've heard mixed reviews on it, but if it's anything like the book I can't help but think it will be better than a lot of the crap out there right now.
Hmmm.... I was hoping for jaw-droppingly awesome, too.
On the other hand, it's nice to know that Nolan is just a human and has a so-so movie or two in him.
It's also possible I'm being too hard on it. Frankly, the premise of "Ziggy Stardust helps Wolverine kick Batman's ass using THE AWESOME POWER OF ELECTRICITY" was never really going to live up to the version in my head.
Oh, also.....
Did anyone else know that
Hairspray,
the culty little John Waters movie that got turned into a hit Broadway musical is being turned into......
a movie? With John Travolta in a fat suit and dress, playing the Divine/Harvey Feirstein/Bruce Villanch role.
No, I'm really not kidding.
Oh great, now I have to block out that memory again. Thanks Sean!
Always glad to help, Jess. Besides, this memory is burning through everything I'm throwing at it, so if I have to remember, I want some company.
If they can make an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical out of
The Woman in White,
they can do anything.
The third act is painfully drawn out, and depends on the audience not having figured out either trick to be interesting.
So, the answer is, I should be about half-drunk when I walk into the movie, and I will enjoy it. (Movies where I figure out the ending too soon tend to annoy the crap out of me.) For
The Illusionist,
I figured it out pretty early on, but was half-convinced that the how of it wasn't the point, and anyway there was Edward Norton being mournful and Paul Giamatti being fussy and all manner of fin-de-siecle Viennese confusion and who doesn't like that??
Also, bowler hats.
The John Travolta bit sucks. Other than that, I have no problem with it - Hairspray is more likely to make a better second movie than The Producers did, anyway.
