I'm fairly disappointed with this movie. For one, this movie was trying so hard to be artsy that it would make the guy who made The Cell look modest. Obviously that's a hyperbole, but I still think Oliver Stone was trying too hard to push boundaries. The quick cuts, titled angles and random imagery weren't unsettling, they were unnecessary (save for the Indian part, that worked well). The different sort of bits and pieces he threw into the movie like cartoons, showing the public through old TV (and in the actual news being interviewed by whoever, but that was done briefly and it was only furthering Stone's purpose), and the splashes of color tend to not mix so well at times.
The world they live in is odd, not in the sense that the over-glorification of mass murderers is taken to be very far-fetched (you make certain aspects exaggerated in a film to create a point), but how characters are being portrayed in the film and how they react. While Mickey's reason to going cuckoo is there, it's just scratched upon. There's no further going into Mickey's psyche to explain why he does his actions. Mallory hooking up with this random guy (Mickey) that seems to be easy on the eyes and giving her sweet talk is shaky to say the least, knowing how she's been treated by her father. Although you could reason that she's looking for any way to escape the family's clutches. Both of them seem to have little to no reason to go killing everybody else in the film, and while that's okay for any other movie, this movie is supposed to be a greater dissection of pyschopaths and how the media portrays them.
Scagnetti being a scumbag seems reasonable as it's good seeing that balance of the corrupt cop trying to act like he's the poster-child for justice. I think the point should have been hit harder with him being twisted rather than just killing one random hooker and immediately being the man fighting his own reflection. The warden seems to be portrayed alongside Scagnetti as a demon, but that doesn't make sense. Yes, he's harsh, but his prison is filled with the worst of the worst. There's great incentive for the warden to do terrible acts to the criminals and to want Mickey and Mallory killed. Wayne Gale's reason to go along with the killing spree, while it seems like it's out of nowhere, makes sense. He's filled with stress and tries to keep his composure but when the riot breaks out and he's strung with the killers, he has no choice but to go with the flow to save his ass. Once he does snap, he feels alive and musters up the courage to do more impulsive actions.
Oliver Stone portrays that the "media overglorifies crime and killers" so much that it feels like the common sense from the common man is gone from the world. Some people out there are equally sickened with such a phenomenon and while everyone's got some sin in them, they try to become better people and fight it off while also trying to destroy those who have the sin shrouding them. It felt very one-sided, and for a movie that deals with a topic such as this, that doesn't necessarily work to it's favor. The actors were okay for what the script offered, with the only exception being Robert Downey Jr. simply because he was wonderful with his overacting. I'd say Tommy Lee Jones was also fun overacting but that's really how I'd see a warden reacting to all of the shit hitting the fan.
The only part that I truly loved, and ironically I'd hail as one of the best scenes in a movie is the "I Love Mallory" scene simply for the juxtaposition of the sitcom setting with the dark dialogue. That and Rodney Dangerfield was the perfect man to be cast as Mallory's father. Other than that, the film looks pretty, but it tries too hard to be artsy and botches it's own message.
5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment