Seriously questioning the integrity of the Oscars now...

Rating: 6/10 (6 March 2016)

I don't get it. I placed this film on my watch list simply due to the Oscar attention, and wins, although I was seriously skeptical that a movie of this sort was really all that. I figured that beyond the way it looked in the trailers that I so easily dismissed, they must have really broken artistic ground, must have knocked the acting out of the park, the story, they must have really done something special here. Nope! The movie was worse than any low expectations I initially had.
The funny thing is, I watched this movie following a debate about the integrity of the Oscars--which I defended!--and then we watched this movie. Now I have my doubts, there is simply no rational explanation for the accolades bestowed upon this film beyond some ulterior motives, beyond somebody making money on this process.
The characters in this film were all caricatures of anything that made any sense, yet so amped-up and just silly that the it seemed everyone involved was on speed while writing, producing, and acting this out. Completely hollow characters, shallow and essentially empty plot, the film managed to be riveting only through non-stop action that as I look back feels a bit like a PTSD recollection of Clockwork Orange Alex watching it strapped down with eyes forced open.
The movie was indeed a visual wonder and spectacle, and I enjoyed watching it. If it was just there, adorned with low expectations, looking unloved, and I watched it without bias--then, perhaps, would I simply say "wow, what a neat blockbuster extravaganza, typical Hollywood, shallow, but who cares, it was fun". But for this movie to win all these awards, I feel completely sick about the entire Oscars enterprise. Between this, and the fiasco of the worst Oscars ceremony I've ever witnessed, they now have a long way to go before I pay as much attention to them as I once did. Too bad...