Everywhere everything all at once - why so famous?

Submitted by WhereIsThatElephant t3_z6jyuf in movies

I'm baffled why this is recommended by so many people as being an outstanding movie about multiverse, while it's pretty much a kung-fu family Looper headache-infusing hack with no plan, no sense and an ADHD direction, if there was one. Is this a cultural thing, or do other people see it this way, I wonder. I tried to survive this as long as possible, before turning it off, it just felt so bad.

Plus, it looks like it borrowed heavily from the 2009 Push.

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WalkingEars t1_iy1tqup wrote

The actual character arc of the movie involves both the daughter and the mother having an existential crisis about how to find value and meaning in life, and that crisis resolves in the form of "being kind to others" being a form of personal salvation.

The frantic pacing and the chaotic vibe and the talking rocks make the movie engaging and fun, but the emotional core of the story - about how to make sense of life in chaotic and confusing times, and the idea of kindness as a way to fight, instead of giving up - is I think what helps the movie really resonate with people in a deeper way than just spectacle.

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tootsmcgeees t1_iy2dp6q wrote

For me, your comment is accurate. The visuals were great fun along the way to the emotional core. I saw so much of my parents and myself in the characters. It captures the poignancy of regret and expectations—the ones we put on ourselves and the ones that are put upon us—so compellingly. It really made me think about what happiness means and how, ultimately, our lives only have as much meaning and joy as we allow ourselves to give it. All movies tell stories, and some stories just don’t resonate with everyone. And that’s okay.

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fart-debris t1_iy20lc2 wrote

I don’t understand people so fundamentally lacking in empathic imagination that they literally cannot understand the simple idea that different people like different things.

It doesn’t have to be the result of wide-sweeping cultural differences - there are just going to be popular things that you don’t like.

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midnightmoose t1_iy1tdet wrote

While the fantasy elements bordered on absurdist theatre I thought the writing skill and creativity to pull it off was incredible. In an era of nonstop repackaged shit franchise movies, it was such a refreshing breath of air to experience something that continuously took you in unexpected directions.

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mediarch t1_iy1u0vm wrote

> continuously took you in unexpected directions

It's really easy to take you in unexpected directions when everything is just sort of random for the sake of random.

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Maury_poopins t1_iy224pc wrote

Well, there’s random for the sake of random and then there’s >!shoving random office supplies up your ass during a martial arts brawl,!< which is next-level absurdist weirdness.

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EddyP13 t1_iy1ss8p wrote

It's an introspective movie that uses the multiverse as a vehicle for all the action. I personally thought it was very entertaining because of all the weird/funny shenanigans they brought up to push the story.

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deadandmessedup t1_iy28z85 wrote

It's definitely a maximalist and very absurd movie, and so it's not gonna play for everyone. I love Speed Racer, but I can completely get why someone wouldn't care for that one. We're all different people with our own sets of criteria.

FWIW, I think it has a very clear plan once you consider it in retrospect. The absurdity of other realities helps to make them memorable in our mind, and that becomes useful for us when the film starts intersecting all those different realities in the climactic action. e.g. Racacoonie is said offhand as a silly little joke, it becomes true in a different reality (and silly as fuck), it becomes affecting (in its own limited way) when we learn the chef's genuine despair over losing his friend, and it becomes cathartic (in theory) when the narrative shifts on account of Yeoh's kindness.

We get similar introduction - development - involvement - catharsis with the rock reality, the hot dog reality, the current reality, the Wong Kar Wai reality, etc.

Honestly-- while I'd agree the film attempts to portray chaos-- the amount of planning, control, and synthesis of all the creative teams to make that chaos largely comprehensible (to the point that so many people have had a positive reaction to the film, from cinephiles to casual moviegoers) suggests that there's a lot of sense involved.

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PMzyox t1_iy26aqw wrote

I didn’t love the movie either, you’re not alone

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Mi-Tuoi t1_iy1s0jy wrote

I finished the movie and still didn’t understand what I just saw.

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doc_55lk t1_iy1ttpp wrote

It wasn't a bad movie but definitely overrated imo.

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DC1883 t1_iy1rya1 wrote

I liked some of the themes and visuals but I agree, totally overrated.

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SpringHillFair t1_iy1wxnm wrote

Aside from Blonde, it was my least favorite movie of the year. I can understand why it is popular with young people. Fast pace editing, meme humor, representation and sentimentalism. It's like a mash up of TikTok, Reddit, video games, comic book movies, YA novels and anime.

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Lord_Darksong t1_iy3eog5 wrote

I'm GenX and thought it was great. As someone else posted said: There was meaning in enough of the chaos to pull the points of the movie together and still make it fun. Not for everyone and that's Ok.

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