Babylon suffers from a style over substance problem, which feels particularly egregious given it's 3+ hour length. There were a lot of extended sequences of non-narrative window dressing that overstayed their welcome. Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't some arthouse film with no story to speak of. There's plenty of story, but it just feels like it plays second fiddle to a disturbing magical realism vibe, an almost fairy tale-esque (Grimm, not Disney) style that took me out of the story (the most extreme example of this was the entire sequence with Tobey Maguire, which went completely off the rails). This was compounded by the film's frantic pacing and aggressive editing. I'm quite confident that this was all intentional; that Damien Chazelle wanted to create a feeling of discomfort. Unfortunately, the discomfort was a bit too much for me.
All of that said, I still enjoyed certain elements of the film. I'm a sucker for stories about Hollywood, so the overall backdrop was appealing. Brad Pitt is also dependable (as always). However, even those elements that I somewhat enjoyed just had me wanting to re-watch movies/tv that I enjoyed even more (i.e. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or The Last Tycoon).
The last thing I'll say is that the final sequence definitely didn't land for me. I appreciate the idea and, had it served as the conclusion to a movie that I enjoyed more, it might have been effective, but as the finale to this film, it just felt unearned or even cloying.
Review by SkinnyFilmBuffVIP 8BlockedParent2023-02-05T16:26:12Z
Babylon suffers from a style over substance problem, which feels particularly egregious given it's 3+ hour length. There were a lot of extended sequences of non-narrative window dressing that overstayed their welcome. Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't some arthouse film with no story to speak of. There's plenty of story, but it just feels like it plays second fiddle to a disturbing magical realism vibe, an almost fairy tale-esque (Grimm, not Disney) style that took me out of the story (the most extreme example of this was the entire sequence with Tobey Maguire, which went completely off the rails). This was compounded by the film's frantic pacing and aggressive editing. I'm quite confident that this was all intentional; that Damien Chazelle wanted to create a feeling of discomfort. Unfortunately, the discomfort was a bit too much for me.
All of that said, I still enjoyed certain elements of the film. I'm a sucker for stories about Hollywood, so the overall backdrop was appealing. Brad Pitt is also dependable (as always). However, even those elements that I somewhat enjoyed just had me wanting to re-watch movies/tv that I enjoyed even more (i.e. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or The Last Tycoon).
The last thing I'll say is that the final sequence definitely didn't land for me. I appreciate the idea and, had it served as the conclusion to a movie that I enjoyed more, it might have been effective, but as the finale to this film, it just felt unearned or even cloying.