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I liked it--quite a lot actually. I have seen some people criticize the film for the bad science with respect to "wormholes/black holes," but that didn't detract from the film for me. I thought the way it used the so-called "Grandfather paradox" (which is not really a paradox) made up for other defects. A few more thoughts and spoilers below.
I think some people did not like the film because of what they took to be the humanist message it suggests towards the end, with humans fulfilling the "miraculous" roles often attributed to supernatural entities such as angels, ghosts, and gods; moreover (on this view), the message is that humans will naturally evolve into more godlike creatures. On this reading, the film is pushing a thoroughgoing naturalism. I guess I'm not sure if the film was pushing that message or not. It could be that the basic message is just that the universe is much more mysterious than we normally think, perhaps immortality is possible, and so forth. At any rate, the plot was interesting with some nice twists and turns, the acting was quite good, some of the human relationships were moving (e.g. the father-daughter relationship), and the film entertained me from start to finish. If there is indeed a naturalist agenda being pushed, it's swamped by the entertaining plot.
I disagree...pretty much all the way around. [Though whether it's naturalistic or not is neither here nor there for me.]
ReplyDeleteThe relationships were by and large terrible. Anne Hathaway's character was ridiculous, wooden, and without any life or vitality.
The dialogue on the whole was atrocious. Think about Hathaway's little monologue on why they should go to her fiance's planet (or whatever it was). Dumb.
There was one - and only one - good scene in the movie, and that concerned going to the planet where time traveled so quickly for everyone not on the planet. Excellent scene, and great acting by the black dude whenever they came back to him.
In a wormhole, people float around a library huh? Dumb.
Matt Damon (AND his character)? Dumb.
Look, the movie wasn't terrible. But it was far from great. And I was ready to go to sleep by the fourth act, sorry.
SPOILERS:
ReplyDeleteMy wife liked Anne Hathaway's character and acting, as did I. Some people ARE wooden, Monash; and given her screwed up dad, that makes perfect sense.
The dialogue was OK. I can forgive a movie for (e.g.) painfully explaining to the audience certain scientific theses which anyone with a college degree should know.
There were MANY good scenes in the movie. How did YOU (Matt Damon hater) not like pushing Matt Damon off a cliff???
The movie was far from terrible. It was good, quite good. But given all the ABSOLUTELY STUPID AND TERRIBLE movies that you enjoy, I can see how your twisted mind was disappointed.
Her Daddy wasn't THAT screwed up. And no, it makes no sense of the fact that her character is so wooden. She had no emotion whatsoever, and when she did, it didn't even make much sense. How - aside from bear sexual attraction - would anyone choose to risk their life to find her in another world? Dumb. Look, it is supposed to be a movie about emotional connection (parenting being key). But Anne Hathaway delivers what is supposed to be some sort of heartfelt monologue about love with all of the emotional attachment of a barbie doll. And it's not even how she said it but what she said that was dumb.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was painful to hear them endlessly explain stupid scientific theories. But even the regular dialogue was bad.
No, there weren't other really good scenes. At all.
This dude spent virtually forever trying to get back to his daughter...he gets there, says hello, and then leaves immediately to find Anne Hathaway? Gimme a break. Dumb.And again, when one gets into a wormhole and finds a virtual library of nonsense, I just...geez...Okay, get your last word in and we'll be done with it (unless you say something stupid, in which case I'll respond again!).
"Her Daddy wasn't THAT screwed up."
ReplyDeleteHe lied to the crew, including his daughter about something of GRAVE importance that he should have told them about. He treated them as means, not ends. But, OK, I suppose he wasn't that screwed up.
"She had no emotion whatsoever."
Some people aren't emotional. And she was a hard-core scientist.
"How - aside from bear sexual attraction."
I can imagine worse fates that could befall a single guy than having to repoulate the earth with Anne Hathaway. It made sense to me. :)
"But even the regular dialogue was bad."
I'd need to rewatch it for particular examples.
"No, there weren't other really good scenes. At all."
I thought the ghost episodes at the beginning were mysterious and interesting. The title wave was good fun. And so forth.
"This dude spent virtually forever trying to get back to his daughter...he gets there, says hello, and then leaves immediately to find Anne Hathaway?"
I agree with you there. It would have been better to have had him stay with his daughter and to have alluded to his leaving at a future time or have her die and then have him go. That was dumb. But I was forgiving at that point because the film was 3 hrs. long at that point and it needed to end.
"And again, when one gets into a wormhole and finds a virtual library of nonsense, I just...geez..."
It's science-FICTION!
Point: I mentioned THAT (i.e., the TIDAL wave and not the title wave) as being the most exciting part of the film. Ergo, NOT a counterexample.
ReplyDeleteWithin the confines of the film, he was not a bad dude. He made a bad decision, but that tells us nothing about his fathering capabilities. From all reports he was an excellent father. And so, no, it makes no sense to say that she was screwed up for that reason.
If she wasn't EMOTIONAL, then why in God's sweet name give her character the role of providing perhaps the MOST emotional monologue of the film, wherein she sounded like she was Hannibal Lecter reading a part...?
Repopulating a planet with Anne Hathaway? I...okay, okay, you got me there...