Babylon is the new film from Damien Chazelle (Whiplash, La La Land) and starts Margot Robbie, Diego Calva and Brad Pitt as three characters whose lives intertwine against the backdrop of 1920s Hollywood.
Babylon is one of those films where you reaction could be you loved every minute of it or you hated every minute of it and I would completely understand your reaction either way. Its just over 3 hours long and that run time could either feel never-ending if you hated it or perfectly justified if you loved it.
I lean more towards enjoyment. There are individual sequences in this which are endlessly entertaining. The opening party scene and the sequence that follows it soon after where Manny (Calva) is trying to find a camera are both so much fun and would be great fun to re-watch. I also really liked the section with Tobey Maguire (I kind of wish he wasn’t in the trailer so it was a surprise when he shows up, but still a great bit).
The performances are great and the film looks amazing. The production design and costume have both been nominated at the Oscars recently are deservedly so. As well as the score, which deserves to take hope the award, I hope it does. I’m really surprised the performances weren’t nominated, I thought Margot Robbie for Best Actor and Brad Pitt for best Supporting Actor would be justifiable but apparently not.
The film is long, probably a bit too long (the end could have been cut down a bit), but I enjoyed how immersive it was particularly seeing it in the cinema. It also borrows a lot from existing films, Brad Pitt has a similar story to that of Jean Dujardin’s character in The Artist. A lot of other older films too, I believe, I’m just a bit less familiar. It even reminded me a bit of Amsterdam from last year (maybe it’s just having 3 intertwining main characters and Margot Robbie?), but this is a lot better.
Overall, I would recommend Babylon and I would recommend seeing it on the big screen. It’s no Whiplash or La La Land, but it is really entertaining and it doesn’t hold back in the best possible way (maybe don’t see it with your grandparents though). 4 Stars.
Movie Night 