It just might be the best Musical ever made

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2009)

Across the universe is a mind altering substance so far out there the trailer will give you a contact high.
The music is, of course a large selection of the Beetles best, skillfully performed, easily meeting the bands standards and a rousing rendition of "Hey Jude" that's so moving and heartfelt that to my ears it's actually better the Beetles version. Oddly, you might not expect a musical to have some of the most stellar visuals in film history, but this movie showcases a unique set of eye candy best watched by fans of the surreal, it actually make "Yellow Submarine" look tame. The story comes off all little bit like "Hair", but instead of the traditional Hippies are good, Government is bad mentality (common in these 60s remembrance films) it shows a much more realistic depiction of life. It's the first movie of it's kind to acknowledge that while hippies may have had the right idea most of them were lazy and kind of useless and some of the revolutionary ones were just terrorists. It's a very realistic world shown through the eyes of an artist, an artist frequently on something at that, but what centers it is that it retains the overarching War Is Bad love is Good message.
If there is anything bad about it it's how may relevant characters (which might be why the movies so long) and none of them are fully developed, but there not suppose to be, this movies about emotion and reality, and the real life rarely has closure. Honestly there's nothing I'd change about it, the characters are all very real and as such memorable and relatable.
In short, if you like the beetles or musicals you will die with regret for not seeing this visual and auditor masterpiece.