Unwatchable

Rating: 1/10 (19 August 2007)

I guess I'm in the minority here but for me this was excruciatingly bad. I had to stop watching after the first half hour and I can sit through practically anything. The invasion of Shanghai was just so fake and every scene so manipulative and clumsy. There is nothing real about this monstrosity. Bertolucci's Last Emperor is the closest thing I can think of as a comparison, but even that waste of money is less condescending and deeper. The simpleton view of the world can be entertaining and obviously comforting to many but I won't get into where that leads. More evidence that Spielberg is truly the Frank Capra of our times, naive and sickly sweet, fine for escapist fare but failing completely to understand anything deeper.