Last night I finally got around to Watching Across the Universe. Kelly wanted to see it, and I had at one point wanted to see it, but had since changed my mind. I suppose that I wanted to see it enough to sit through it, but I had a bad feeling going in. And let me tell you, I was right.
It was literally one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I’m not even sure where to begin. First, the plot was trite. And they butchered the music. And they tried to be literal (Prudence entered the movie by coming in through a bathroom window, for example), but at the same time they tried to be too metaphorical. The best way I can explain it is that if you’ve seen Magical Mystery Tour, imagine some of the weirder scenes from that, and intersperse them with a movie that is trying to be normal and literal and tell a love story. It doesn’t work and it just sorta ruins everything. And it was WAY too long.
I guess my biggest problem was that they tried to do something that was like something the Beatles did in the 60s, but it isn’t the 60s. So even though what the Beatles did back then was revolutionary, in today’s context it looks silly. And don’t get me wrong. I’m the biggest Beatles fan, and still think their music is better than anything else out there. And what they did culturally was amazing, at the time. But if they did it today, it would be completely different. And I think the best way to celebrate that is to push new boundaries, not pay homage to old ones.
And really, it just sucked as a movie.
One Comment
Seconded.