Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
1.5/4
Across the Universe review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 02/25/2013
Overloaded with uninteresting characters and exaggerated acting. Incoherent plot and music video-like direction just plain ludicrous and pointless as the scenes go on and on. Visually gorgeous, the songs eternal and majestic thanks to the iconic The Beatles. Usually, in musicals one needs flawless choreography, this reviewer saw one too many poorly executed dance numbers. Unfortunately, if one needs to listen to the bands song why not view A Hard Day's Night or Yellow Submarine, instead of watching and hearing other people singing and acting as if there is a real story. The picture obviously relies on the songs, really forced some scenes just to insert some Beatles classics. Some cut scenes and cinematography were amazing, that aside from the songs (not the ones remade) are the …
Rating of
2.5/4
ACROSS THE BEATLES UNIVERSE
shutterspeed777 - wrote on 04/22/2009
A medley of The Beatles hits put into film while trying to concoct a plot. I didn't realize that JULIE TAYMOR met my brother years ago before her rise to stardom. My brother gave her a grand tour of the Philippines, and invited her to speak at seminars for PETA (PHILIPPINE EDUCATIONAL THEATRE ASSOCIATION - not to be mistaken for the animal-friendly movement). My brother said that she was a decent lady with a magnetic persona. Hopefully, she stayed the same.
The film made $29 million against a huge $45 million production budget. Like any other musical, the challenge is to make sense of all the sub plots involved and come up with a single-thread storyline. My daughter adores the film because, according to her, "JIM STURGESS IS HOT!" OK! Well, I think EVAN RACHEL WOOD is hot …
Rating of
2/4
60%
CJP - wrote on 10/15/2008
Action: 2/3 + Comedy: 0/2 + Good vs Evil: 0.5/1 + Love/Sex: 1/1 + Special Effects: 1/1 + Plot: 1/1 + Music: 0.5/1 = 6/10 or 60%.
The films visuals are the thrill within this piece. Apartment walls become the sky, football players cartwheel through coming out declarations, and strawberries are the military's splattering bombs. Even a simple bowling alley isn't safe within it's own conformity, instead falling into unified leaps over the ball dispensers with people rolling themselves down the lanes.
The songs themselves, all Beatles remakes, seem wedged and forced into the story though. A newspaper story, for example, conjures "A Day in the Life" briefly because it contains the line "I read the news today" and that's it. Thus, the visual balance outweighs and questions the use of the …
Rating of
4/4
I've Just Seen a Face
PsychoKing1227 - wrote on 10/04/2008
A kaliedascopic feature of unprecedented greatness, "Across the Universe" was one of the best films released in 2007 (though not quite measuring up to "Moulin Rouge" excellence). Take one of the greatest bands of all time and incorporate their music into a story of love and war of their own time - hand the reins over to the grand mastery of spectacle Julie Taymor (if you haven't seen the stage interpretation of "Lion King"....do), and what you have is a concoction of brilliance and opulence. What struck me so hard in this movie was the fact that all the actors do their own singing and how the music isn't necessarily progressing the story, but how it adds to the texture of the character relationships. Artistically stunning, Taymor outdid herself with this wonderful masterpiece.
Rating of
3.5/4
Trippy
chiggles - wrote on 05/31/2008
In all honesty, I did not expect Across The Universe to be as good as the finished film was. As I saw the previews in multiple films in theatres, I never really sported that "I want to go see that" mood about the movie. A close friend of mine though is in love with this movie, so we rented it along with No Country For Old Men and Death Sentence. Certainly, Across The Universe takes about 90% of all The Beatles songs and re does them, making them sound more retro and just better then originally played.
The thing which really made me study this movie and just keep getting more and more involved with it was the fact that it's not just a musical. While the bigger percrentage of the film is filled with trippy, mind boggling dances and venues for the songs and actors, the main plot that …
Rating of
1/4
A Beatles Abortion
Gabe - wrote on 04/09/2008
Holy crap, where do I begin. I suppose at the beginning. When I first heard about this film a year or so ago, I was thinking, awesome, a movie/musical using nothing but Beatles songs. Then later I heard Julie Taymor was going to direct it. My jaw hit the floor and thought, just give it a chance, she can't make it that bad, can she? Well she did. It's horrible. Visually, it's not bad, but those places a few and far between, most notably during "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". The acting was poor and their singing sounded like the Disney Channel got a hold of it and tore the soul right out of the great material. Just, take my word for it and listen to your Beatles albums for the 1 millionth time and stay away from this film.
Rating of
2/4
Confusing, Inane
Franz Patrick - wrote on 03/29/2008
I don't even know where to begin. I had high expectations coming into this movie because I'm a big fan of The Beatles and I was interested to see how this film would interpret their songs. Plus, Evan Rachel Wood won me over in "Thirteen" so I was excited to see her again. Unfortunately, there isn't much of a story in this musical. I thought that they jumped from one song after another, introducing weird (and somewhat interesting) images along with them, without any form of transition. Not to mention they jumped forward in time without letting the audience know that they did it. When my friend and I tried to sort the details out, we got even more confused because characters would disappear one minute and appear the next without any explanation. Overall, this was a very frustrating ride …
Rating of
1.5/4
A complete mess
patjohnson76 - wrote on 02/28/2008
Julie Taymor must have had several ideas on what to do for her next movie. Should it be a musical? Should it be a love story? Should I use all Beatles songs? Should it reflect the turmoil of the 60s? I know, let's do it all!
It's this bizarre thinking that leads to an utter mess of a movie. Going through an artist's catalogue for a musical isn't new. Sometimes it works (Mamma Mia or Movin' Out), most times it doesn't (Ring of Fire, Good Vibrations, All Shook Up, Hot Feet, etc.). Here's an example where the times it works are few and far between. With 33 songs stuffed in here, most are clumsily placed and so obvious I was laughing. A scene of a guy saying how much he loves his friends? Let's sing "With a Little Help From My Friends!" A scene with a lovestruck teen? Let's …
Rating of
3/4
Review - Across the Universe (2007)
Delorted - wrote on 01/08/2008
Jude (Jim Sturgess), a dock worker in the U.K. in the 1960’s, traveled to America to find his birth father. After doing so, he joined a group of hippies and fell in love in the Beatles-inspired musical, “Across the Universe.”
I always hate it when I finish watching a movie and all I can think is “hmm.” It’s so much easier when I just love or hate a movie, but no, something like this has to come along and ruin the fun.
But seriously, the movie has up and downs. While the style is just remarkable, the writing is a bit bland and force. They were very free with the songs, but I don’t think they made it enough its own thing as much as “Hey look, we’re using Beatles songs!”
One thing I would like to point out though is that the choreography is very unique. …
Rating of
3.5/4
One of the Best Musicals Ever
Alex - wrote on 11/02/2007
In a movie year full of sequels, we are finally given a very original piece of film, not to mention a great one. I have not seen a better musical since Moulin Rouge (and "Across" may be better). Right now, I am calling it one of the best movies of the year.
The acting was superb, which included a talented young musical cast. The two leads (Wood and Sturgess) were fantastic. The rest followed suit. But a lot of movies have great acting, so why is this one so much better?
Simple. It was well paced, very well song, and very well shot. I am not really a fan of Taymor (I despised "Titus") but some how she pulls it off. There were a couple completely out there scenes in which I didn't understand what was going on. But, actually it made sense. They were high on something other …
