Malkovich great, not so sure about the rest

Rating: 6/10 (22 July 2006)

'Empire of the Sun', J.B. Ballard's semi-autobiographical story of growing up in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, is one of his most conventional novels. In Steven Spielberg's hands, however, it becomes a movie that suffers from intrusive music and a certain absence of subtlety. Ballard's books are often heavy on symbolism; but this unfortunately translates into a certain heavy-handedness on film. The best thing in it is John Malkovich , who plays the enigmatically villainous Basie, a far more interesting character than Christian Bale's hero whose perpetual naiveté never quite convinces. If it wasn't quite so long, I might have enjoyed it a little more.