Unique visual style, but still not for me...

Rating: 5/10 (20 March 2002)

I was reading an article on the visual effects of Moulin Rouge in my Cinefex--a magazine for special visual effects--and saw a beautiful, yet stylized, matte painting of Paris at the turn of the century. It was absolutely breathtaking. After a long time of debating on whether or not I should really check out this movie, I finally realized that I could rent it and not waste a terrible amount of money if I didn't like it. My opinion on the movie: I can't say for sure on whether I did or didn't like it. In many ways, I found it to be unique, and you could say that I'm not a big fan of musicals, but it turns out that the majority of the songs played in the picture is very modern.
Another good thing about the movie is its unique art direction and set design, along with the stylized visuals accomplished via computers and miniatures. Australian Director Baz Luhrmann has quite a visual sense of style. He is able to combine the historical elements with today's and practically create a brand new movie genre, or enhance a movie genre, I should say. I must say that he's quite successful. However, I can't say that I'm particularly a fan of this "new" movie genre.
Aside from having dazzling special effects and art direction, Moulin Rouge is rather boring when it comes to telling a story. In addition to my opinion on musicals, I'm not really a fan of romance movies, either. Unfortunately, Luhrmann was able to do nothing to fix this genre. To me, if a romance movie is good, then it probably has action, which I am particularly fond of, like Titanic and Pearl Harbor. However, I am able to admire the amount of effort by the cast and crew, who were able to try something new, it's just not my type. Story: D Visuals: A-