An underrated Bond film. People like to make fun of the title. Whatevs. I'll admit the script was hurt by the strike, they did what they could, it's the shortest Bond film and Craig's least successful outing. I still like it, and a revisit is always worth it for the GREAT song, and that motorcycle flip Bond does in the beginning. So badass.
I was reluctant to see this movie because on paper it looks like an arthouse chore. Luckily it isn't at all.
We follow the cynic and self-proclaimed "it-man" of the high-class nightlife in Rome; Jep, through his episodic encounters in the city. Because of the death of his one true love (who married someone else) he starts to reflect on his life and what the Great Beauty in it is (or was).
The movie showcases beautiful cinematography, editing and score and has a diverse set of actors. There is also plenty of often subtle humor to be found in the scenes and dialogue making it everything but dry.
That being said, I have to stay I was blown away by the movie in itself and the sheer brilliance of Cumberbatch's performance which will not be the first time..
The movie not only includes a brilliant performance but the script and the story line is captivating from beginning till end making it totally worth to be nominated for four academy awards this year which are best picture, best supporting actress for Keira Knightley, best directing, and best actor for the ever so deserving Cumberbatch to which I would be so very disappointed if he did not snag that baby home.
As far as the Critical response goes, Another incident where the Critics and I agree. I really ought to have my temperature checked
The film has received positive reviews, with critics particularly lauding Cumberbatch's lead performance as Turing.
Rotten Tomatoes sampled 216 critics and judged 90% of the reviews positive with an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With an outstanding starring performance from Benedict Cumberbatch illuminating its fact-based story, The Imitation Game serves as an eminently well-made entry in the 'prestige biopic' genre."
On Metacritic, the film has a score of 72 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".The film received a grade of "A+" from market-research firm CinemaScore and was included in both the National Board of Review's and American Film Institute's "Top 10 Films of 2014".
If you have not watch it already, you really have to, even if it did not win the Oscars this year.. This movie is really NOT something you should miss..
This is a horror movie.
The Imitation Game was a fairly typical and good biopic, even if it did stray a lot from the reality of the events. Turing definitely wasn't the lone wolf who single-handedly cracked Enigma he's portrayed as being, and was in fact supported by thousands of people, with many playing integral roles that don't even get mentioned in the movie. Most of the dramatic conflicts in the movie are just completely made up, with the real Turing being well-liked by his colleagues, not being so in the closet, not having issues with his superiors, never being threatened with getting fired, having entirely different bookends to his relationship with his fiancee and a far less "simple" end to his life. In fact, Joan Clarke never experienced such pressure from her parents and women in Bletchley Park outnumbered men four to one, so a major part of her role was practically fiction and just "hurr, women had it so tough back then" which, while it was indeed the case, isn't something that this particular story should be representing.
Of course, this is a dramatic movie so it does make sense to have some artistic liberties taken but at this point the entire movie's "based on a true story" only so far as its plot synopsis is accurate. In adapting it to a movie, there were also a number of unconvincing contrivances and convenient coincidences to move the plot along, with your typical chance happening causing a eureka moment, as well as entirely downplaying his homosexuality, presumably to appeal to a larger (older) audience. Now, excusing all the historical inaccuracies and keeping in mind it is meant to be just a movie, it's still enjoyable. Cumberbatch is fantastic, even though Turing's personality is largely exaggerated, and the rest of the cast are good too, even if the story doesn't care about any of them. Desplat's score's great as usual and there was a surprising number of comedic moments which I wasn't expecting at all from the promotional material. There was too much repetition of aphorisms and wink wink casual mentions of things that had happened earlier in the movie which all seemed pretty forced. If you're okay with biopics completely misrepresenting their historical figures, it's a pretty good movie.
The whole theatre burst into spontaneous cheers several times, and the whole theatre completely went silent - people literally stopped chewing their popcorn - on numerous occasions.
Like you've probably already heard, the movie REALLY is a phenomenal throwback to the original trilogy, with an extra oomph and insane amounts of creativity and new found inspiration that will take the franchise to a whole new level.
The characters are three-dimensional, it's nowhere near as strictly black and white, good vs. evil like in most of the previous movies, and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren is the best example of that. Hands down, the best villian to appear in the Star Wars franchise other than Darth Vader.
Daisy Ridley & John Boyega are thrilling to watch, the old cast members, popping in during the movie were just as fun to watch.
J.J. Abrams and the writers somehow managed to create a plot that was very confined in space and time, yet they effortlessly captured the grand universe that is Star Wars with some pretty great throwbacks to the old trilogy plot-wise. Some might argue that it's lack of creativity and unnecessary repetition, but I thought it was a wonderful homage. It flowed naturally and there really was no dull moment.
Absolutely phenomenal. :)
The best new Star Wars film in three decades and one of the most satisfying films of the year.
