Quick Movie Reviews
Rating of
4/4
mitchellyoung - wrote on 07/22/2011
Don't expect to find a well-defined, story-rich film in watching The Fall. The Fall is, chiefly, a visual masterpiece and, as a work of visual art, it is interpretative by its audience. Director Tarsem creates striking and memorable imagery that plays with concepts of storytelling, imagination, and redemption. It's unforgettable.
Rating of
3/4
GJ81 - wrote on 05/27/2009
The film as you may already have heard, looks stunning. It really does. But does that make it a good movie? It certainly helps, but as it is, its an affecting piece of cinema. The story of a young girl with a broken arm seeking solace in another patient is touching. The the patient (Lee Pace) tells the little girl a fairytale which is acted out with flashy characters and flashier visuals, and takes up half the movie. And thats the problem, while its a good story being told, the scenes in the hospital are much more engrossing. The performance from little Catinca Untaru is just beautiful, and Lee Pace as her storytelling friend is equally great. Overall, its a very good movie but not completely great.
Rating of
3.5/4
TommyL31 - wrote on 04/17/2009
This movie was quite interesting. I thought the visuals were breathtaking and inventive and I really enjoyed the storytelling aspect. I also applaud the movie for a nice balance of story telling and real life. I think there could have been a more well thought out and/or longer story even if it meant a longer movie but overall it was well done. I found the movie hard to follow at times and there could have been more character development but the last scene(s) are excellent.
Rating of
3/4
goodfellamike - wrote on 09/20/2008
Obviously influenced by the work of Salvador Dali, this gorgeous-looking epic tale has some startling images but very little story to give it momentum, though it's hardly a complaint when you can easily get lost in all the beauty. Final Grade: B
Rating of
3.5/4
danand82 - wrote on 09/07/2008
A captivatingly beautiful film, on a grand scale. The casual brutality of Tarsem's previous film The Cell is tempered this time by filtering the story through the imagination of a child. The images are sometimes uncanny, sometimes shocking but always awe-inspiring. Perhaps the story itself could have been a little more solid, especially in the final act but the impressively natural performances of the 2 main stars as well as a number of standout sequences (including an impressively fluid stop motion scene) are enough to make The Fall genuinely memorable. Truly extra-ordinary, and highly recommended.
Rating of
2.5/4
Allison - wrote on 07/08/2008
The movie started out really wonderful. It draws you into other worlds. It is much better than The Cell, the director's previous effort. The downfall of this movie is the inexperience of the actors and the director. At one point, a little girl starts screaming and she continues to scream for about 10 minutes. Although it was wonderful on the big screen, I couldn't help but wish that I had a fast-forward button. I liked the ending. In fact I like that era of 1920s Hollywood. So beautiful, but yet so crude and developing. Even though I complained about the acting, I really liked the storyteller. He was pretty good and I hope he becomes a star.
Rating of
4/4
Josh C - wrote on 06/06/2008
This movie is almost perfect. It is visually stunning, the acting is superb (including that of Catinca Intaru who is just a little girl) and the story is fantastic. It is simply one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. It had many of the elements that "Pan's Labyrinth" in the aspect that there were two plots: One real and one imagined. Both stories played off of each other and get entwined at points creating really funny dialog and unexpected moments. It really is just a great movie all around. My only problem with the movie was some of the "real" story got a bit sluggish at the end. But overall it was great.
