Basic Review

Rating: 10/10 (15 November 2006)

Just came back from an advanced screening of the movie. We missed the first 20 minutes...we could barely follow the story after that.
I'm sure you all know the story, 1000 years, tree of life blah blah blah. I thought that the film was going to be subdivided into 3 parts, which would have been more interesting. Instead Aronofsky (the director) thought it would be better to mix all of them into one big story. Thing is, when all of them got mixed up like this, NOBODY in the audience understood what was going on, NOBODY. I'll elaborate in a bit...
Firtsly, the music of this film is what was really captivating. Clint Mansell and Mogwai created such a beautifully well-put together soundtrack, i loved every second of it. It really helped with the movie, and grasped the audiences emotions. Without it, I'm sure to say that this movie wouldn't have been the same.
Some of Hugh Jackman's and Rachel Weisz' acting wasn't too great, didn't really convince me enough that what was going on was truly real. Jackson put on a few good scenes, but thats about it.
Special effects were top notch, I couldn't believe they didn't do any CG work on this, and all the effects were microscopic images digitally enhanced. It really created a unique way of looking at the film, and made it seem different...in a way that was pleasing. If you're a big fan of effects, this movie is definitely the one to see.
In the end, I don't know what to say. I actually enjoyed the movie, but when I saw it in that theatre filled with movie critiques and film owners, I got a really negative vibe from the general audience. Perhaps they're just full of themselves.
Some of the spoilers (which I wont reveal) aren't too big enough. The story was pretty good, the effects were amazing same with the music, acting was poor.
8/10 I'd recommend it, really good on the psychological part, and visually beautiful. I'm guessing it would need to be watched a few more times to understand the story a little better, because I for one didn't understand a gosh darn thing