really well made but not very entertaining

Rating: 6/10 (12 October 2019)

This is a well made movie all around. the acting job by phoenix is phenomenal. the tone of the movie is palpable. this kind of realism in a comic book movie reminds of of the dark knight trilogy. (2 viewings, 2/21/2020)
(MILD SPOILERS)
having said all that, this movie is very slow and lacking in entertainment value. just to be clear, i'm not saying it has to be fun or funny like typical comic book movies. but how about some suspense??? some intrigue??? a story that captures you??? this entire movie is about a character and what happens to him, as opposed to a movie about a story with a character in it.
as an example i will compare it to batman begins, which is the origin story of batman. while being an origin story, the movie didn't only focus on the character of bruce wayne and what turned him into batman. that was just one aspect as part of a much bigger overall story. with a villain, with stakes, with intrigue, where you cannot wait to see what happens next. i didn't feel that here.
if this entire movie was shortened and the pace was increased, and was turned into the first half of a movie with a bigger story, i think it could have been amazing. it doesn't have to be action, doesn't even have to have a villain. but maybe a scheme or some kind of demented social experiment to further illustrate who he has become. but who knows, maybe they wanted to avoid the traditional origin story route