Unfortunately, this will be very near the bottom of Bong Joon Ho's filmography in my personal rankings. This movie came off as more than a bit messy. It felt messy in its plot construction, tone, and character building. The unwieldy nature of this sci-fi satire feels just too big to hit its satirical messaging with that much rational and emotional weight.
I found the scope of the film, in terms of the size of the ensemble, to be too massive…
It was a really enjoyable experience catching up on this gem of a movie from Bong Joon-Ho. With a deft touch, he has crafted a satisfying monster movie with effective horror thrills and social commentary. I appreciate the way Bong Joon-Ho blends genre really well. As with other movies in his filmography, he uses thriller/horror tropes to really tell human stories grounded in truth usually around societal inequality and abuses of power. That is the case in this movie.
The…
I may be more generous to this movie because it does take narrative and visual swings. What can't be denied, I'm certain is that Francis Coppola has convictions about the medium of film. He believes wholeheartedly in the power of dazzling images. The problem is of course that he lays it all on SOOO heavy in a million different directions with a barely coherent narrative throughline holding it together. This is the ultimate visual collage, or more appropriately styled Rorschach…
A movie that impressively succeeds in delivering an epic with huge scope, complicated themes, and interesting characters. The movie is so immersive on the big screen. I felt enveloped by the worlds created on screen. I felt enmeshed in the desert sands of Arrakis right along with the characters. I felt enveloped by the cacophonous sounds throughout the movie.
Denis Villenueve talks about landscapes in his movies as having kinds of personalities themselves. They are meant to communicate the personalities…
