Upside Down

Y'know, its been a while since I straight-up reviewed a movie, so here you go!

Upside Down (2012)
PG-13
Starring: Jim Sturgess (Accross The Universe, 21), Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man, Drop Dead Gorgeous), Timothy Spall (Harry Potter series)

What its all about: In one sentence, picture the special effects of "Inception" meets the basic forbidden love plot of "Romeo & Juliet" and you have "Upside Down". Adam and Eden live on two separate planets that share a gravitational pole, except that they're reversed. Eden's planet represents the "upper class" where life is just better, and Adam's planet is basically the slums. Its extremely frowned upon for people from the two planets to interact.

Seriously...dizzying but awesome.

The Good: Flat out, this movie is visually spectacular. The scenery is beautiful, and most of the gravity-based special effects are as believable as they can be without actually being in a bi-gravitational solar system (or whatever you'd call it). There are a few weak scenes that lose the amazing "I'm floating all over" charm, and just look like (horrible) wireworks, but over all its really impressive to watch.

The main two actors are pretty good, Jim Sturgess being far better of the two, but I thought Timothy Spall stole the show. Without spoiling anything, he plays a co-worker of Adam, but from the opposite world. Their interactions are actually really fun to watch and listen to, and the visual layout of their scenes is really cool since they're on opposite worlds.

Gravity. It's a bitch.

The Bad: For starters, Kirsten Dunst's acting. I'm sorry but the woman is not a great actress. Now don't get me wrong, she can play the sweet nice girl very well, but any serious scenes, she totally botches them. Jim Sturgess's character would show more powerful emotion when stubbing his toe than she does in this movie. I also already mentioned the very rare moments where the special effects look like they were done by the b-team of effects artists, but as I said, they're rare.

I do however have to call out a few very poorly done parts of the movie, starting with the narration in the beginning/end of the movie. I think Jim Sturgess is a very talented young actor who wasn't utilized enough after his initial breakthrough success in "Across The Universe", but that said, his narrating is weak, at best. It sounds like he's trying to seductively whisper into your ear and tell you the story of someone else he loves. *shudder* 

On top of that, the story itself follows way too much of a cookie-cutter pattern. I feel like they spent so much time on the visual effects that they forgot there had to be a story too! My final beef with the movie is that while the visuals are unlike almost any movie I've seen in recent memory, they suffer the same fate as equally visually striking movies (e.g. "Cloverfield" or "Inception"): you will almost assuredly get dizzy or a headache watching this movie. The gravity-play is absolutely great, but it is a bit headache-inducing.

PLEASE don't let that deter you, though! I highly suggest everyone give this movie a chance! If not just for the visuals.

No seriously, the visuals are fantastic.

Verdict: 7 out of 10

I really wish I could rate this movie higher, and say that its one of my new favorites, but the story was just too weak to merit any higher. A pretty even mix of good and terrible acting tend to balance out, and honestly for this movie being as short as it is (roughly 100 mins) I feel like it could have been longer, had a little more story to it, and it would have been a blockbuster. Instead it seems to be one that is somewhat lesser known. I don't even remember it coming to theaters...

I HIGHLY recommend you watch it, IT'S ON NETFLIX! But I can't say its one that I would go out and buy.