mind blowing and exciting...but no Moulin Rouge

Rating: 7/10 (3 April 2008)

Julie Taymor does a fabulous job of creating a seemingly perfect narrative to the Beatles catalog. Most songs used, especially in the first half of the film, are strategically used to help the story and not just thrown in gratuitously (except "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite," which the film could've done without.) The performances are strong and the choreography, music, and visuals are astounding. There are places in the second half of the film that could've used some help in editing to improve the pacing (the second half drags from Bono onward) but it's still a must see for any Beatles fan. I would also recommend Moulin Rouge, an extraordinary musical that also uses contemporary pop songs to tell a story (and in my opinion, done better by Baz Luhrmann than Taymor).