Decent adaption of a timeless classic but not without it's flaws.

Rating: 6/10 (12 May 2013)

As we all know by word of mouth or picking up a book, The Great Gatsby is a tale of love, loss and getting loaded in the roaring 1920's. Luhrmann's 2013 adaption stars Tobey Maguire as narrator Nick Carraway, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, and Leonardo DiCaprio and the mysterious J. Gatsby himself. Supporting cast includes Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Debicki, Joel Edgerton, and Jason Clarke. The already popular soundtrack features artists such as Beyoncé, will.i.am, Jay Z, Lana Del Rey, Florence and the Machine, Gotye, Fergie, and Sia.
What I liked: Well, for starters, the title isn't just a title, it's not just The Great Gatsby for sake of it. It's a great tale and it was translated very well onto the screen. The screenplay was very well written, and given with what the actors had to work with the majority of them did an excellent job, especially Leo. I loved the party dresses and costumes that the women were wearing at Gatsby's, so detailed, elegant and fun.
What I didn't like: I don't know why filmmakers believe this but you do not need 3D and 75 million dollars' worth of special effects to tell a great story. Many people have said that the 3D and effects were for the party scenes and that it was supposed to make you feel like you were there. If you are an innovative and great filmmaker, you don't need 3D to make that happen. A filmmaker should be able to captivate you enough to make you feel like you are in the scene without putting on specialized glasses. The overuse of modern, contemporary music when it wasn't appropriate. There were a lot of scenes in this movie where a rap or hip hop song would play in the middle of something and as much as I am for the experimentation of music in film, it didn't work, it didn't fit, and it was extremely sloppy. I think Luhrmann was trying to reach out to a younger generation by doing this, and in ways it worked but using it in that way in the film completely backfired. It felt so out of place and was awkward. Some of the costuming, design, and editing were over the top and out of place for what was supposed to be a drama. When you do a drama, especially a period drama, especially something that's as well known as The Great Gatsby, it wouldn't hurt to be as realistic as possible. Many things that were supposed to be taken seriously, Nick's writing scenes, looking over the lake, Gatsby and Nick driving into town, felt very cheesy and poorly done for a movie that had a budget of $105,000,000.
Overall: Although there were quite a few things I disliked about this movie, it wasn't inherently bad. After the first dreadful 45 minutes and Gatsby is introduced, I enjoyed it quite a bit. If you want to enjoy it more than I did, you have to take it for what it truly is, a moneymaking piece of cinema make for the generation that only read about Gatsby in sophomore English class.