Not that great

Rating: 4/10 (22 January 2005)

I'm not exactly a Chaplin fan, and perhaps that's part of why I didn't find The Great Dictator to be that good.
The film feels too long to begin with. It's not a good thing when you sort of drift in and out of the film, suddenly realising that you weren't paying attention, and also realising that you didn't really miss anything. This almost always happened when the barber was on screen, rather than dictator Hynkel. I really didn't care for the melodramatic stuff, which is too much on the sappy side for my taste.
The real joy of watching this movie comes from the crazed antics of Adenoid Hynkel. Things pick up pace every time he appears and Chaplin's satire take on Hitler is really good. In his scenes, the film lives up to its classic stature.
The film feels very well made for its time, so I have no problem there either. The famous ending speech by Chaplin ruins a lot, though. It's all done with the best of intentions, but today it feels very naive and doesn't fit in with the rest of the movie. It's like Chaplin just ends the film with a propaganda speech, rather than to bring closure to the story. A more subtle approach towards getting out his message would have been much better. [4/10]