Like going to a scenery art gallery

Rating: 4/10 (6 May 2007)

The new world had posters advertising it about 13 months before it came out. Then when it did come out, it lasted a week. About 17 months after I'd heard of the movie, I finally saw it on DVD.
TNW has a very interesting premise: a new take on the classic Phocahonatas story. It had a lot of potential going into it. But watching the movie, it is as if Terrence Mallik fired all of his crew except for the cinematographer. Every shot is like a painting, landscapes of fields and other places. Even scenes with people look like they've been painted. Because of just landscape, the movie feels so empty. No characters are developed, the plot seems weak, and I found myself counting the minutes until it would be over. I was bored out of my mind.
This movie is for the kind of people who can go into an art gallery and sit at one painting for an hour, move to another for another hour, and continue like that. Mallik should have just made a collection of paintings and called them "The New World."
Despite having an all-star cast, a promising newcomer, and a story I've always enjoyed hearing, this movie was easily the biggest let-down of the year.