The problem with Wes Anderson. Flat, X & Y and full of 90 degree right angles

Rating: 4/10 (16 December 2014)

I admire the effort and meticulous planning that goes into his scenes. It's a breath of fresh air to see a director take passion in the colour palette of a film and stylise it so. However, what happens to your actors when they can only walk either vertically or horizontally? It becomes flat. I get the overwhelming impression that Anderson has planned his scenes so much so that there is absolutely no spontaneity. I think this is probably the most frustrating film I have ever seen, mainly because of the amount of effort that has gone into it but the lack of exploration given to the actors over arches the entire production. It's close, but miles off at the same time. I literally had to turn it off half way through after the 100th symmetrical scene or a shot in profile / head on. What had happened to exploring the 3 dimension world the film is shot in. I actually feel like within 30 minutes his direction becomes lazy and he has forgotten what the emotion of film is all about. Incredible scenes are lost because of the direction being so caught up in its own aesthetic. It's almost like watching Pac man for 2 hours. Shame, obviously a great script.