I am always excited to see what project Lee has gone for next. I really liked Sense And Sensibility, The Ice Storm, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain and Life Of Pi. I don't even mind Hulk, even though the majority did not like it at all.
He certainly does some different and at times ground-breaking stuff with how his films are shot.
So with that mind, the big ground-breaking moment with this particular feature is that it is being shot at 120 frames per second. I remember Peter Jackson doing it with the first Hobbit film. I saw bits of it, and it just felt strange. It was like watching B-roll footage.
Sadly, I still find that process alienating and distracting to watch. What's even worse, is that the film is also not that good.
While this particular story is a work of fiction. It definitely portrays a story that seems to have happened to many people in recent years. It gets off to a promising start. But I could already see the frame rate effecting me trying to enjoy the film. But as the performances slowly get down-graded and some scenes going into weird tangents, my eyes were rolling at certain moments and I felt really unsure with everything that was happening by the end of it.
The performances were a real mixed bag. Joe Alwyn plays the main character. Some bits were good, and the rest you can see the nervousness in his eyes. While Garrett Hedlund plays the stereotypical side of his character, he actually did a good job which was nice to see. Arturo Castro was probably the best of the supporting cast. It was nice to see Chris Tucker and Vin Diesel in this, and I thought they did surprisingly well. Possibly, the one that stole it for me was Kristen Stewart. It certainly felt the most believable performance out of everyone. However, Steve Martin did not feel right when on screen at all. As for Makenzie Leigh who plays a cheerleader in this, was pretty awkward to watch. She was ok at first, and by the end of it, there were some cringe-worthy moments of both acting and dialogue.
Despite all the criticism, I think the way it was shot effected my view on the acting on the whole. Like I said before, it was like watching rehearsals or the technology felt like you can see someone acting, and not a character.
While it is clear to see that the frame rate does not work. It only seemed to feel wrong with the internal moments. The external scenes actually worked really well, and they managed to be the only times where the film was at its strongest in every department. Those moments definitely give me hope for the technology. But for now, I'm not sure if this style of filming will ever fully work.
In conclusion, I would normally say that Ang Lee dropped the ball with this one. But I don't think it needed to be caught or even thrown in the first place. I did not see the point in this film being made. I can see what Lee was going for in his message. But the execution just felt strange. It goes into some weird tangents that just made me think, what was the point of that.
If I wanted to see something with this similar message, then I would watch Flags Of Our Fathers or Born On The Fourth Of July.
I think what this was in the end was an experimental work for the technology.
It probably won't happen, but I would like to see this at a regular frame rate to see if it might make a single bit of difference.
Rating: 6/10
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