Whenever I post stuff on Facebook related to the visuals used by Baz Luhrmann in this film, I always say that Great Gatsby is "Stylishly Tragic". And it actually is in more ways than one.
Quick disclaimer here, this is a review for the movie so no discussion about character devs, no nothing about how much assholes and dicks and generally manipulative bastards some of the characters are. If I find the time I could probably do that.
Alright visually speaking Luhrmann manages to take us into an eye-candy of a film. All the party scenes were so nice to look at at the beginning that I was half wishing that would never end. The colors just leap out of the screen especially if you catch the movie in 3D. Everything here was designed to look cool while at the same time stay loyal to the period.
The plot itself is easy to track. If this is going to be your very first introduction to F. Scott Fitzgerald's work then you'll be happy to know that the adaptation is faithful to the source material. So that means that the unfortunate things that happens to the characters still happen.
Leonardo DiCaprio was awesome here. He was great (no pun intended) as Gatsby but I feel like this is NOT the movie that will give him his much-deserved and very elusive Oscar Best Actor award. But the old sport is definitely getting there.
Tobey Maguire and Joel Edgerton did stunning portrayals of Nick Carraway and Tom Buchanan respectively. In fact there were moments where they even outshined DiCaprio. Oh and if you're wondering if Maguire did that classic face of his, the answer is yes. So is DiCaprio's often meme'd face from Inception. That one's present in the movie as well.
Carey Mulligan looked beautiful onscreen and in 3D. She just doesn't do justice to the Daisy Buchanan that was running in my head while reading the book. Oh and massive props to Luhrmann for adding in Elizabeth Debicki and Isla Fisher as they were so gorgeous in this flick.
And while we're still in the subject of plot structure and all that, I find "The Great Gatsby" weak when it comes to how it was composed. Just weak, not flimsy. I mean c'mon, half the movie was all about the effects and the exposition and the showcasing of all the cool toys that Luhrmann has in his employ. I was half thinking that he would probably kill to have the same technology when he was doing 'Romeo + Juliet' and 'Moulin Rouge'. Depending on what type of film viewer you are here's the breakdown of what to expect from 'Gatsby':
- First Part boring/ Second half interesting
- First half stunning/ Second half dragging.
Take your pick.
The other big thing about "The Great Gatsby" was the soundtrack which I find very, very favorable. Jay-Z's songs make an appearance here including "Empire State of Mind" and "100 Dollar Bills". It's a fresh way of sparking interest in a movie that's based on a pre-Depression novel for the younger generation. My only gripe, they gave so much 'screentime' on Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful".
One last gripe in this film is that the second half is filled with lazily animated quotes from the book. It's nice to look at but don't you think its a bit lazy to actually put those words down. Plus its double overkill. Maguire was practically reading the dialogue from the book while he's typing away and then we need to see that as well. Surely there could've been other ways to show those scenes. It's like putting in a screen cap of a screen cap.
Overall, I'm going back to my quote on this film 'Stylishly tragic'. It's a double edged sword. 'The Great Gatsby' is filled with symmetry here and there. Like the character Gatsby, its got so much razzle-dazzle and sparkle and then ends with a really sad note.
Photos appear courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Verdict: 8/10
"The Great Gatsby" is now showing in your favorite theaters. Special thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures Philippines and the Power Plant Mall.
You might want to check out my feature on The Great Gatsby OST.
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