Who wrote this script?
Unless in some great, biblical epic, what audience is going to believe that devastating fire (nice use of a burning ‘green and clean’ Australia), plague, economic decline, floods, overt international civil unrest, and 32,000 species threatened by extinction … will all come to crisis-point at roughly the same time?
I mean, where should the audience focus? Life or death? Plenty or poverty? Freedom or biological security? Ecological meltdown? Way too many plot-lines and I have only scraped the surface.
And styling! Why the orange pancake on the most powerful man in the world (nicely fleshed out by reality TV star Donald Trump)? His first lady was managed far better – pure glamour - but who chose all those European designer labels? Too Hollywood by far. Glam and believability please!
Not so much from ‘2019’s North Korean arch-villain this year (an impeccably styled Kim Jong-Un), playing a lesser role possibly due to media-overexposure last year. No doubt he will resurface in the franchise. Likewise, we saw less of the shirtless horseback warrior from Eastern Europe, though we felt his presence via hacking references (one of the few successful espionage subplots that was believable). And I can’t not mention the rise of actor Xi Jinping, cast as the poker playing, potential Emperor of the Universe. Will he find the magical elixir that will eliminate both the plague and all memory of its occurrence? I guess we will all have to stay tuned.
Special call out to Jacinda Ardern, playing the Prime Minister of a minor nation. With her girl-next-door charm and perfect timing she gave an impeccable performance!
Technically, the screen-within-screen effect was clever at first but fast became tedious with over-use.
For a film with so many flaws I loved the fact that all the heroes were minor role-players. Were the rest of ‘2020’ not so dire, I would call this a genius stroke. A multitude of extras – crowd-fillers in any other film – fire-fighters, health-workers, front-line staff … and those police and protestors who chose peaceful interaction and mutual support! Brought tears to my eyes.
Wishing all of Henry’s readers some intelligent plot-lines and fresh talent next year.
Fiona x