Disappointing Considering All Those Genies

Rating: 4/10 (18 March 2011)

I was expecting a lot more especially after all the awards the film has received. I was curiously zoning out in the middle act - the movie wandered about in the desert (literally)and I did not feel engaged by the characters at all.
There seems to be some sort of ying-yang morality tale going on judging by the ending, but it lacked real emotional punch. I felt manipulated by the story. This was an extreme situation and maybe it was just too hard to suspend my disbelief. Given the source material, I'm not sure they could have done much.
Having re-watched the Hurt Locker the night before I saw this film, I found that the cinematography lacks the clarity and point of view that Kathryn Bigelow's film does. I'm surprised that this film won the Genie award for editing and cinematography - it must have been a slow year in Canadian cinema.
I found Villeneuve sliding into some Gus Van Sant territory - deliberately infuriating shot setups meant to imply something greater than whats on the screen.