Don't Look Up

I always like the prospect of a nice disaster film, but I was also intrigued by the fact that this film was labelled as a comedy. Thankfully, this worked rather well, and this film was anything but a disaster (in the metaphorical sense of whatever, you know what I mean!!!)

The cast shone beautifully. Leonardo Dicaprio played the role of a socially out of comfort zone scientist perfectly, Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep were equally as amazing, and I loved the fact that they sneaked Timothee Chalamet in there! But really, I think that Cate Blanchett's performance was the best, and she encapsulated that talk show host in a comedic way that really complimented the film.

Cinematography showed nothing remarkable, but I thought that editing was done rather amusingly, as just cutting to random scenes of random things showed the film's comedic nature.

The soundtrack was surprisingly complimentary: the upbeat jazz score reflected the frenetic, relentless storyline, and the comedic storyline. Writing was brilliant, and there were many jokes which made me laugh out loud, something that I don't often do with films!

Lighting: nothing worthy of comment.

Overall, a good mainstream audience comedy, but not really a filmsy film*. On the whole though, it was a good laugh!

*A film worthy of analysis. Technical term.

"Don't Look Up" will divide audiences for a myriad of reasons, but personally, I found this to be a brilliant satire about the state of growing misinformation and the dangerous hypocrisies of this digital age.

It's chock full of unpleasant characters and unpleasant situations, and viewers need to go-into all of it with a coarse grain of salt. I suspect many detractors of the film might be those easily persuaded by misinformation, and those, who themselves, like to ignore science and tend-to grasp onto these social life-jackets - instead of heeding the poignant and important meaning of the film - they will focus on all the negatives.

The film is completely absurd, and it's supposed to be. The style, cast and absurdity just work together harmoniously. Everything about this ridiculous movie is probably not as far removed from reality as one might think. It is over-stylized, no doubt, but it's Running Man, Hunger Games, Total Recall disinformation-vibe rings true in today's world, and far sooner than many suspected. It's like Miracle Mile, Back to the Future 2, Deep Impact and This is the End, had a coma baby birthed-in the somber realities and fact-checks of Bright Lights Big City.

It's not perfect. The film would have benefitted from more family development, and a better soundtrack, but any low scores can be dismissed as those who took political offense and missed the point. Cast attacks can be dismissed as well - it's comedy not a drama. Don't expect The Color Purple or Bridges of Madison County here.

Good movie. Will surely find a top 25 spot for 2021. Love the extended credits. The film is clever and, imo, an important film.

Leonardo DiCaprio - flawless and channelling his inner Leonard Hofstadter.

Jennifer Lawrence - also flawless. Didn't realise how much I missed watching her in films.

Everyone else - all amazing, all did a brilliant job.

The writing was spot on, though the theme was pretty dark the comedic moments came in at the right time. There were some parts where it dragged a little but it soon picked back up. There were nice little nuances throughout that captured each character.

With such a big cast of absolute talent it felt like there was a danger the film wouldn't find the balance for all their stories, but it does and just shows the skill of the director and editors.

A poignant look at what our reactions might be to such a disaster, indeed what our reactions are right now when faced with a choice between believing scientific facts and verbal garbage from political blowhards and tech giant psychos who have no idea what they're doing.

Satire at its best.

Once the credits hit make sure you hang around. There's a clip near the start of them and one right at the end.

Spoiler free review.

I wasn't exactly gripped by the plot, but the cast, yes please, this film boasts one impressive line up.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, it managed to mix up subtlety with brashness incredibly well, it pokes fun at modern cultures, celebrity and the absurdities of social media.

I spoke to a few people that found it rather funny, I can't say I was amused, but I certainly was entertained. The absurdity amused me, I pondered if some events would happen if the world did actually face disaster. The rich getting richer in the face of disaster.....

Merryl Street as always was first class, but for me the standout had to be Di Caprio, he was terrific throughout, that scene where he blows his top, incredible.

Thoroughly enjoyable, 8/10.

I may have been slightly kind on the rating I have given to don't look up but I promise that I can justify my choice.

Don't look up is maybe not the most original plot ever but is definitely original in the way it goes about it. If I was to think of disaster movies that take pride and benefit from dark humour this would be right up there. This is obviously helped by spectacular and extremely realistic performances from Leonardo Di' Caprio and Jennifer Lawrence which I know sounds weird as this movie is quite far from realistic, or is it as I believe this is a perfect take on how a government would act towards an extinction level event because after covid I do believe that the government has the power to not give a Sh** about the people which is why I do believe this is an extremely convincing and proper way of acting these roles. Don't Look Up also helps to show us what lengths people and the media will go to, to make sure that know one cares or knows about a life changing event or in this case a life ending event. This is mainly why I believe this movie deserves a 9/10 just because of how I strongly believe a government or object of power would act towards this sort of issue.

Another aspect that is touched upon which I believe really helps the movie is the idea of greed and corruption within a government as in the end the USA goes to huge lengths to make money out of an extinction level event however this is extremely true and I can personally see this happening as technically it is happening right before us with sales of weapons and explosive goods with ongoing wars. With that aside Don't Look Up really sparks fear and question into the mind of the viewer as it really makes you question is this what would really happen if an event like this came to fruition it also make us question the affect that social media has on every single person when there is no hard evidence only theory as in a modern world this happens on the daily however if I was to compare this to the theory's posed in Oppenheimer there was no social media to spread question of if a bomb would work so this movie really goes to show how far back as a race we have gone and how much we have changed for the worse.

Overall, Don't Look Up is a great film but also quite a frightening one as it goes to show what could actually happen if evidence of a mass destruction event was found. And with all of this I believe Don't Look Up is a great film and is a must watch for people who like movies like, 2012 and the day after tomorrow.