It pulls a lot from the Guillermo del Toro/Alfonso Cuaron playbook in the way it portrays fantasy, but instead of being focussed on worldbuilding and set pieces, this is more story driven. I just don’t find that story all that interesting, and I don’t get who it’s made for. It’s too dark and abstract for kids, but as an adult I find it too simplistic and obvious. In terms of themes (5 stages of grief; complexity of the world) or the way that it portrays characters it’s not all that complex. For example, the bully character is so one dimensional and cliché that it feels like the character is ripped from an 80s movie. The emotional beats are somewhat effective, but they don’t hit as hard as they should because we’re not invested in this parental relationship beyond: it’s his mum, she has cancer, therefore you should feel stuff now. The visual effects are a little hit and miss; Liam Neeson’s monster is well realized, but some of the other stuff looks on the cheaper side. Bayona is certainly not the visual stylist that Cuaron and Del Toro are because the cinematography could also be a lot sharper. The animated bits are probably the most striking part of the film, both in terms of direction and visuals those scenes really stand out. Then there’s the acting, which is hard to discuss. Lewis MacDougall is given an impossible task here, and while he overacts like a lot of kid actors, the amount of range he displays still makes it a decent performance. Toby Kebbell, Felicity Jones and Liam Neeson are good, however Sigourney Weaver probably should’ve been recast with a British actress because the accent’s noticeably bad.
Review by JordyVIP 8BlockedParent2023-11-11T09:15:56Z
It pulls a lot from the Guillermo del Toro/Alfonso Cuaron playbook in the way it portrays fantasy, but instead of being focussed on worldbuilding and set pieces, this is more story driven. I just don’t find that story all that interesting, and I don’t get who it’s made for. It’s too dark and abstract for kids, but as an adult I find it too simplistic and obvious. In terms of themes (5 stages of grief; complexity of the world) or the way that it portrays characters it’s not all that complex. For example, the bully character is so one dimensional and cliché that it feels like the character is ripped from an 80s movie. The emotional beats are somewhat effective, but they don’t hit as hard as they should because we’re not invested in this parental relationship beyond: it’s his mum, she has cancer, therefore you should feel stuff now. The visual effects are a little hit and miss; Liam Neeson’s monster is well realized, but some of the other stuff looks on the cheaper side. Bayona is certainly not the visual stylist that Cuaron and Del Toro are because the cinematography could also be a lot sharper. The animated bits are probably the most striking part of the film, both in terms of direction and visuals those scenes really stand out. Then there’s the acting, which is hard to discuss. Lewis MacDougall is given an impossible task here, and while he overacts like a lot of kid actors, the amount of range he displays still makes it a decent performance. Toby Kebbell, Felicity Jones and Liam Neeson are good, however Sigourney Weaver probably should’ve been recast with a British actress because the accent’s noticeably bad.
4/10