This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Arthurian legend is no stranger to reinterpretation — nor should it be. In fact, some its most iconic characters were born out of retelling and adaptation throughout the ages. It’s a constantly evolving mythos, and with David Lowery’s The Green Knight, we have the latest of such.
Different as it may be, which is significantly so, Lowery never shies away from the narrative’s roots. Or at the very least, he acknowledges where his work stands relative to the original. The…
I’ve got mixed feelings about this — Gelsomina, with her child-like naïveté and wonder, is a character I find hard to believe exists outside a cipher for “innocence.”
But, at the same time, Masina is super expressive; it’s a real delight to watch her perform all the Chaplin-isms. And, without those elements, I don’t think the melodrama would be near as affecting.
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
At its best in the more subtle, restrained moments. The pie-eating scene, for example, beyond being a mature portrayal of grief, is such a confident and trusting piece of direction.
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
I love a lot of what's explored here: coming to terms with aging, death; toxic masculinity; motherhood; etc. The choice, for example, to position Barbieland as this matriarchal society (commenting both on gendered expectations and the capitalistic, masculine idea of women empowerment) was a neat touch.
However, I wish Barbie's existentialism had more staying power (and a better introduction). It feels all too sudden, then utilitarian, relegated to the inciting incident until we revisit it much later.
The film also…
This feels like a safe, generic exploration of the Nicolas Cage "phenomenon" at its most basic and surface level, nowhere near as biographical or bizarre as it needed to be. It's not hard to picture some other actor in this role — and that's the problem.
