saltlakemusic

“This is like the worst video ever made.”

I hear you loud and clear Napoleon. This movie fucking sucks gosh! Granted, there were a few scenes and funny bits that I really liked. Unfortunately the bad outweighed the good. The whole movie I was trying so hard to understand something… anything. I later found out that I was trying way too hard. In fact, I think trying tat all might be simply counterproductive. It seemed like writer/director/pop-culture whore; Jared Hess just kept coming up with these great ideas but somehow agonizingly failed to paste them together into a coherent narrative. As the final credits rolled, I felt like I could really see and feel the world through the eyes of Napoleon: simple, slow and stupid.

Nevertheles, the use of vibrant colors which were very pleasing to the eye and almost screamed comedy. This film is very hip and retro which I think is why the younger generation has taken such a liking to it. It’s pure eye candy and there’s no brain power necessary for the audience member. It’s no accident that MTV slapped their name on it either. The eighties are back with a vengeance man, and both the filmmakers and producers must have had that in the back of their minds the whole fucking time.

The opening credits were enjoyable. I liked the foreshadowing with all the different foods. It was a nice touch. It is the same food that we would later ssee being eaten, tossed and smashed in a number of creative ways. The flamboyant characters are pretty much the only payoff to this film though. There are hints of conlict but the audience is never anticipating any sort of consequences for the characters’ actions. Its jkust kinda this lam dick-around yknow?

All sorts of assholes out there tell me they enjoyed the film because it had such fantastic characters. “We all know uncle Rico. We all knew that weird kid who got slammed into lockers in high school.” I agree to an extent, but I’m not going to pay $7.50 to watch my uncle Ralph throw steaks at people during family reunions. And I’m sre as hell not going to pay that weird kid to hear about his stupid fucking liger fantasies. When I walk out of a film I want to take “something” with me. I want to go home to my family and friends and discuss how I felt about certain issues, emotions, or themes. I understand now why this movie is quoted so Goddamn much. The quirky characters and oddball dialogue are the only things the audience has to take home to their family and friends. They have no wmotions or themes to discuss. All they can share is how funny it is to say “Gosh!” or “Quesadilla”. Even though the characters were very elaborate and outlandish they didn’t seem to care or give a shit about anything, and in the end neither did I.

PS – I enjoyed the Kip and Rico characters immensely. I almost wished the movied centered in on them instead of these three dumb ass outsider children who are immersed in some High School social crisis. This movie was very different, but being different doesn’t always make it good.

Chief

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