whiskey tango foxtrot
Nov. 18th, 2006 01:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thehefnerI've come to feel that my enjoyment of something cannot be killed by it being over-hyped. Or sure, that's the common feeling, "it was so hyped up, it was a letdown," I know that. And yet, I believe that if something is really, truly of quality, even if I don't want to like it, the excellence of the work will shine through and I will admit, however grudgingly if I were resistant, that "god damn it, it's good."
Then there are times that there's something I want to see, but others see it before me and hype it up like mad. Then I want to see it more than ever, even if I am cautious as, like, virtually everybody is praising the hell out of it. That's a good deal of pressure and hype to live up to.
But then, there are times when the movie isn't just a letdown. No, it's worse than mere disappointment. It's... how to describe this... it's... bafflement. Bafflement at a movie that astounded and thrilled pretty much everyone I know who has seen it, and yet has left me totally, completely cold.
Such a film is THE PRESTIGE.
And I wanted to like it, God I did. But I just... didn't... care. At no point in this movie did I care about ANY of these cold, selfish people. I swear, the only character for whom I had any sympathy and emotional investment was Andy Serkis' cat. That's it. And I kept hoping, "See where it's going, get to the end, to the big reveal," because I had just a few days ago finished ENDER'S GAME, a book I really, really didn't care for until the very end, an end which salvaged the whole thing for me and made it excellent, so I was still in that mindset. Nope. Not so.
***
SPOILERS
***
Ok, we're a jaded modern audience, everyone knew SOMETHING was up with the beared silent guy in the glasses, right? I couldn't have been the only one. Did anyone NOT know it was someone in disguise? Did anyone NOT figure out who it was? Halfway through, by process of elimination, I'd already figured out that is was Christian Bale too. I figured he got a double too, that would have been acceptable.
But folks, did I miss a mention of a brother somewhere? Did anyone bring that up? Because a surprise brother completely out of left fucking field is one thing, but a god damn TWIN brother?! Oh, come on! Once you start throwing twins in the plot, it becomes DAVID BLANE'S GENERAL HOSPITAL.
And y'know, I was prepared for the leap into "real" magic. But... a cloning/teleportation device? What? Bizarrely enough for me, I could have accepted real magic, but pseudo-science felt... really weird and out-of-place. Unless we're to believe that Tesla actually was a Wizard, an actual mage, but no, he was meant to be in the realm of science, yes? Well, at that point the movie slipped into the realm of fantasy, a fantasy that just didn't fit in the realism of everything else. It just felt random.
But that's just one element. My problem is the whole movie, which felt like a cycle of "Magician A does a trick, Magician B sabotages it, Magician B does even better version of the same trick, Magician A sabotages it, Magician A does the best version yet, Magician B sabotages it, etc." I don't CARE about you selfish, unlikable, unsympathetic men. The movie would have satisfied me more if they had ended up killing one another. Seriously, it would have.
***
END SPOILERS
***
The worst part is how damn frustrated I am right now. I don't get it! I'm baffled. How could this movie so deeply connect with so many people when it left me totally, completely cold? Cold, cold is the word! There was nothing warm, nothing for me to hold on to or care about in this whole damn movie. And I hate this feeling, I really do.
This is worse than mere disappointment. Because I feel like the only person in the world who just... doesn't... get it.
Then there are times that there's something I want to see, but others see it before me and hype it up like mad. Then I want to see it more than ever, even if I am cautious as, like, virtually everybody is praising the hell out of it. That's a good deal of pressure and hype to live up to.
But then, there are times when the movie isn't just a letdown. No, it's worse than mere disappointment. It's... how to describe this... it's... bafflement. Bafflement at a movie that astounded and thrilled pretty much everyone I know who has seen it, and yet has left me totally, completely cold.
Such a film is THE PRESTIGE.
And I wanted to like it, God I did. But I just... didn't... care. At no point in this movie did I care about ANY of these cold, selfish people. I swear, the only character for whom I had any sympathy and emotional investment was Andy Serkis' cat. That's it. And I kept hoping, "See where it's going, get to the end, to the big reveal," because I had just a few days ago finished ENDER'S GAME, a book I really, really didn't care for until the very end, an end which salvaged the whole thing for me and made it excellent, so I was still in that mindset. Nope. Not so.
***
SPOILERS
***
Ok, we're a jaded modern audience, everyone knew SOMETHING was up with the beared silent guy in the glasses, right? I couldn't have been the only one. Did anyone NOT know it was someone in disguise? Did anyone NOT figure out who it was? Halfway through, by process of elimination, I'd already figured out that is was Christian Bale too. I figured he got a double too, that would have been acceptable.
But folks, did I miss a mention of a brother somewhere? Did anyone bring that up? Because a surprise brother completely out of left fucking field is one thing, but a god damn TWIN brother?! Oh, come on! Once you start throwing twins in the plot, it becomes DAVID BLANE'S GENERAL HOSPITAL.
And y'know, I was prepared for the leap into "real" magic. But... a cloning/teleportation device? What? Bizarrely enough for me, I could have accepted real magic, but pseudo-science felt... really weird and out-of-place. Unless we're to believe that Tesla actually was a Wizard, an actual mage, but no, he was meant to be in the realm of science, yes? Well, at that point the movie slipped into the realm of fantasy, a fantasy that just didn't fit in the realism of everything else. It just felt random.
But that's just one element. My problem is the whole movie, which felt like a cycle of "Magician A does a trick, Magician B sabotages it, Magician B does even better version of the same trick, Magician A sabotages it, Magician A does the best version yet, Magician B sabotages it, etc." I don't CARE about you selfish, unlikable, unsympathetic men. The movie would have satisfied me more if they had ended up killing one another. Seriously, it would have.
***
END SPOILERS
***
The worst part is how damn frustrated I am right now. I don't get it! I'm baffled. How could this movie so deeply connect with so many people when it left me totally, completely cold? Cold, cold is the word! There was nothing warm, nothing for me to hold on to or care about in this whole damn movie. And I hate this feeling, I really do.
This is worse than mere disappointment. Because I feel like the only person in the world who just... doesn't... get it.
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no subject
Date: 2006-11-18 07:10 am (UTC)You'd have loved my night of theatre tonight. I saw a stage production of Night of the Living Dead! Okay, it wasn't that great. But for the rest of my life I can say I saw a stage production of Night of the Living Dead! Weeeeee!
no subject
Date: 2006-11-18 07:15 am (UTC)Aw, sweet! We actually just had a production that sounds very similar down here in DC, but I couldn't make it. Still, wait till I eventually do *my* version of it. Six actors, no zombies. The way we have it planned, it'll be awwwwwesome. One of these days.