REVIEW #239 Babylon (2022)

Decadence, depravity and outrageous excess lead to the rise and fall of several ambitious dreamers in 1920’s Hollywood.

Babylon certainly lives up to its synopsis, highlighting decadence, depravity and outrageous excess in extreme measure. It’s large set pieces that contained exotic props, hundreds of extras and wild choreography, created a constant sense of fast paced chaos that almost symbolised the main characters rapid rise in Hollywood. The first two acts didn’t give the audience a moments rest and I really enjoyed that, it captured my attention and never let it go thereafter. Meanwhile behind the chaos, it tells a rather sad story of how fast people can rise and fall in Hollywood, with fatal consequences if one loses themselves in the spotlight. It really does feel like trademark Chazelle, using music to evoke an emotional response from the audience and behind that, creative writing that can really pull us into his characters. The acting is also something to behold, as always Margot Robbie steals the show and Brad Pitt continues his impressive form with yet another killer performance. Diego Calva also performed brilliantly, almost playing the bridge between all of the characters in the film. 

I must say up until the final act I was quite blown away by the film, I had seen the terrible critics scores and the mixed reviews from general audiences and I really couldn’t understand how they rated it so low. That being said, as I entered the final act I did start to question the direction of the plot. In particular the Manny and Nellie conclusion. I didn’t mind the gambling debt aspect of the story, that made sense and it fit the narrative. However I think the entire twenty minutes or so involving Toby Maguires character just got a little silly. I get that the film was built on outlandish set pieces but that circus inspired dungeon just disconnected me a little, which was a real shame because like I said I absolutely loved it up until this point. I did appreciate how the final few scenes acted as a dedication to cinema and how far it has come, allowing us to take a step back and appreciate why we all attend the cinema in the first place, that felt really special. So overall, I had a great time with the movie! It felt unique and original whilst providing a moving story that was set in a really interesting time period. I would certainly recommend it, ignore the critic score and try for yourself!

Overall (9/10)

Thanks for reading.

Callan