The biggest appeal for me was the cast, having enjoyed the work of Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett and Mark Rylance elsewhere. Another big selling point was Adam McKay as director, having liked enormously 'Vice' and especially 'The Big Short'. The subject matter left me a bit mixed, it was intriguing and part of me admired it satirising relevant serious themes, but part of me was also worrying how they would be executed.
'Don't Look Up' was a bit of a mixed bag and not an easy film to rate and review, certainly liked it more than my parents did while being after viewing very unsure as to what my overall feelings were. There is quite a lot to enjoy, most of the performances are fine and really did appreciate what it tried to do. But at the same time the execution of many of its elements was very uneven (with nothing being disastrous) and it would have benefitted from trying to do less. Can totally understand the mixed reviews and the reasons on both sides.
By all means, a lot is done well. Lawrence and DiCaprio are very engaging in the lead roles and have the most interesting and well-rounded characters (with DiCaprio having the toughest role). The supporting cast on the whole are enormous fun, Streep, Blanchett and Jonah Hill enjoy themselves enormously and are all very amusing. McKay directs assuredly on the whole.
It looks great and very polished, especially the editing which has a nice amount of flash while not being too much. The music has a good deal of character and energy and fits with the broad tone. There are a lot of very amusing moments and sharp, cutting dialogue and while the themes and issues here are executed in a way that is not very insightful and reinforces what most know already what is said is suitably uncomfortable in how relevant and truthful everything said is.
Having said all of that, Don't Look Up' is easy to criticise. To me, the story is over-stuffed and does too little with too many subplots, a couple like Mindy's family subplot adding nothing. The film could have been tighter in pace, with it taking a while to get going and the final act especially suffering from the bloated feel.
Some of the satire doesn't quite come off, with a lot of what is satirised being executed very heavy handedly and smugly as well as too surface level. It also works much better when it's straightforward and not broad, all the amusing moments are when the former approach is taken while the heavy handedness and exaggeration come from when the film goes the broad route. There is a casting disappointment and that is Rylance, absolutely love him as an actor but here his performance is just bizarre and actually rather annoying. Bizarre is a word to describe the very end too and saw absolutely no point to it.
Overall, interesting but an odd mixed bag that is going to divide opinions and has done. 6/10.
'Don't Look Up' was a bit of a mixed bag and not an easy film to rate and review, certainly liked it more than my parents did while being after viewing very unsure as to what my overall feelings were. There is quite a lot to enjoy, most of the performances are fine and really did appreciate what it tried to do. But at the same time the execution of many of its elements was very uneven (with nothing being disastrous) and it would have benefitted from trying to do less. Can totally understand the mixed reviews and the reasons on both sides.
By all means, a lot is done well. Lawrence and DiCaprio are very engaging in the lead roles and have the most interesting and well-rounded characters (with DiCaprio having the toughest role). The supporting cast on the whole are enormous fun, Streep, Blanchett and Jonah Hill enjoy themselves enormously and are all very amusing. McKay directs assuredly on the whole.
It looks great and very polished, especially the editing which has a nice amount of flash while not being too much. The music has a good deal of character and energy and fits with the broad tone. There are a lot of very amusing moments and sharp, cutting dialogue and while the themes and issues here are executed in a way that is not very insightful and reinforces what most know already what is said is suitably uncomfortable in how relevant and truthful everything said is.
Having said all of that, Don't Look Up' is easy to criticise. To me, the story is over-stuffed and does too little with too many subplots, a couple like Mindy's family subplot adding nothing. The film could have been tighter in pace, with it taking a while to get going and the final act especially suffering from the bloated feel.
Some of the satire doesn't quite come off, with a lot of what is satirised being executed very heavy handedly and smugly as well as too surface level. It also works much better when it's straightforward and not broad, all the amusing moments are when the former approach is taken while the heavy handedness and exaggeration come from when the film goes the broad route. There is a casting disappointment and that is Rylance, absolutely love him as an actor but here his performance is just bizarre and actually rather annoying. Bizarre is a word to describe the very end too and saw absolutely no point to it.
Overall, interesting but an odd mixed bag that is going to divide opinions and has done. 6/10.