Great visuals, disappointing story

Rating: 6/10 (9 April 2011)

Okay. Saw it a few days ago. I liked the film, I'll buy it on DVD. Now for the part that will make everyone will click "Not helpful":
*Spoilers* (of course) The story is half-assed. Snyder is a brilliant director, but a poor storyteller. It's like Snyder has taken the concept of "dream within a dream", but then not given us any real narrative or point. The ending is very disappointing. It just doesn't make sense. What that means is that the film is immediately rendered very one-dimensional, because it relies so heavily on the ending. That's the point that ties it all together, and it's missing.
Maybe I went into it expecting the story to have meaning. Alas. As one reviewer put it, "It's astonishing that you could take this many potentially incendiary elements and make something that crushingly dull". I admit I did find parts of it dull. Yes the fight sequences are cool, and yes the visuals are neat, but it's very flat and shallow. There are potentially incendiary elements, but they're wasted. Maybe they'll come out in the director's cut?
Because the characters/storyline are/is flat, the film is dull. Yes, there's explosions, a cool Japanese battle-bot, steam-powered Nazi zombies (it's not actually steampunk, contrary to the buzz), Lord of the Rings Orcs, a dragon etc etc, but my main issue is that the film promises more but doesn't deliver. It almost does, so I don't know why Snyder couldn't pull it together. There's a throwaway line at the end about how the things that occur in the alternate reality actually occurred in the 'real' reality, but that's lazy storytelling. It's like he filmed a bunch of stuff, and then said, "Oh, by the way, all that really happened". Lazy storytelling.
So. If you want a film of chicks in tight clothes blowing stuff up, this is for you. It's a wild ride and looks great. If, like me, you wish that Snyder was a better storyteller who could have made a film that had depth and meaning, you'll not enjoy it so much.
7 out of 10 for great visuals. Worth the money. 2 out of 10 for being poorly written. Final: 6 out of 10.