Alejandro does it again

Rating: 2/10 (21 May 2016)

Alejandro G. Iñárritu .... Yet another film that is critically acclaimed for reasons that escape me.
All the hallmarks of his films are in this one: - It's overly long... Did I mention that it's too long? - The story is shallow and borders on non-existent - It's far-fetched (many other reviewers point out specific areas) - You find yourself thinking about whether to abandon the film half way through, but convince yourself to keep watching because it must either get better or something interesting is about to happen. But that fails to materialise.
The film making was pretentious in the extreme. Leo was good and it was refreshing to see him playing a different character. He seems to be the same character in most of his films. I don't think he deserves an Oscar (full stop) but this is probably one of his better performances. With that said, the role and the film itself was largely Oscar-bait.
Overall, it was very boring and lacked magic. It was very visceral, but I felt that it was trading substance for style. Don't bother, though it's not as bad as the dreadful 'Birdman.'