The center cannot hold

Rating: 4/10 (9 March 2007)

This is a strange movie. In some regards, it is very well made -- acting, direction, editing are very well done. But I hope you don't see this movie for these reasons -- because the story is sick, sick, sick.
The violence of the war portion of the movie is over-the-top. There is so much disgusting unnecessary violence that it merits its own description: sicko-bleedo. As other critical reviews here have said, the war story has no redeeming qualities, no characters that I would want to meet and talk with. Likewise the fantasy story is without value, only a pastiche of fantasy elements that never come into a living, breathing life.
What is more troubling to me is the very high rating and awards this twisted movie has gotten. I am concerned about what is happening to the taste of American moviegoers. I would not recommend this movie to anyone. It has perfected my growing concerns -- I no longer trust the IMDb rating system to guide me.
This movie is without soul; or rather, perhaps it has a soul, dark, noxious, cold. A slouching beast. What Yeats says applies here: "the ceremony of innocence is drowned"; the child is unable to live alive in either world. Better to read his poem.