OK just for a change I thought I would do another top 10 list and this list will be about the most overrated films. Now I'm not saying these are films I necessarily hate in fact some of them I quite like but they are on here because I just think they are overly lauded and in a way their level of praise received is a bit much.
So there might be a few surprises in here where some of you (or whoever reads this blog) will say "What??? How could you call that film overrated??!!" but again these are just my choices and you can all disagree with them.
Anyway without much further ado here is the list.
10. Slumdog millionaire
OK to start off is this film which received rave reviews on its release and it went on to pick up 8 oscars including best picture and best director (for Danny Boyle). To quickly recap the plot surrounds a young man, Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) who goes on the Indian version of Who wants to be a millionaire and ends up winning as the questions all relate to certain incidents in his own life but he ends up being tortured by the police first just before he reaches the final question as they suspect foul play. So the film is told in a series of flashbacks and during the film and it also covers a bit about his love interest Latika (played by Freida Pinto).
However I just think this film is totally overrated and again its one of these so called feelgood movies which in actuality is really quite harrowing to watch as many of the events in Jamal's childhood and even his torture by the police makes for really uncomfortable viewing. And again despite its appearingly unique premise its just another cliched feelgood love story with some funny moments interspersed with the unpleasant stuff and in the end I don't really think its that great a film. Its not a bad film however just not a great one and as such I think it warrants a place on this list.
9. Inception
At No.9 is Inception and it really does again highlight while Christopher Nolan is a very talented filmmaker he can also be pretty hit and miss also and Inception for me is a case in point. Quickly the film's story revolves around its main character Dominick Cobb (Leo DiCaprio) who is a professional thief who commits acts of corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of whoever he targets. But Cobb is offered a chance to have his criminal record erased as a form of payment for undertaking a difficult task implanting another idea into the subconscious of another person, i.e. inception.
I think with Inception Nolan was just being a bit too clever for his own good and the film chokes itself on its own cleverness with a convoluted plot which left me confounded and baffled than anything else. And while the film's visuals are impressive the action is pretty boring and uninvolving and there were also too many supporting characters to deal with despite its mostly impressive cast (apart from the rather dull Joseph Gordon-Levitt, sorry Joesph!). The film also plods along pace wise rather slowly and it seems to take forever for Cobb and his gang to get started on their main task and any previous exposition just leaves you baffled more than anything else.
So to sum Inception is by far and a way overrated, boring, self indulgent and basically not a very interesting way to spend two and a half hours of your time.
8. Cinema Paradiso
OK this maybe the first what??? film on the list for some people as Cinema Paradiso is widely regarded as a modern classic. And to quickly recap the story it follows the life of Salvatore Di Vita, an Italian film director who reflects on his life and it is told in a series of flashbacks which begins with Salvatore as a young boy who grows up during WWII in Sicily and he escapes his harsh reality by going to the Cinema Paradiso, the local cinema where Salvatore strikes up a friendship with the projectionist Alfredo (Philippe Noiret). Salvatore also falls in love with a local girl Agnes Nano and he later takes over as the cinema's projectionist and later Alfredo tells him he should follow his passion for cinema and be a filmmaker.
This was one film I had always kind of put off seeing it and when I finally I did I understood why as Cinema Paradiso is just a massive bore. The story is of course supposed to be romantic and somewhat sentimental but it just didn't get me interested and it left me pretty indifferent to the story and its characters. So by the end I was left bored and uninterested by what I'd seen and to this day I still can't quite fathom why this film is such a classic. Perhaps a second viewing might change my mind but I doubt it and I don't hate it but in the end it just wasn't my cuppa tea.
7. Kick Ass
So this is another one of these films which on its release gathered alot of praise for its gritty action and its dark humour as it was based on the comic book of the same name. The premise for the story focuses on the notion of real life heroes and as such it means the action is far more gritty than it would appear in a fantasy superhero world. And the story focuses on a teenager, Dave (Aaron Johnson) who sets out to become a superhero who calls himself "Kick Ass". However Dave soon get's caught up in a much bigger fight when he meets Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) who is a former cop who is intenty on bringing down a crime boss and BD has also trained his 11 year old daughter to become a ruthless vigilante, Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) and together they get involved deep in a big battle to take down the boss and his men.
It really has to be said that Kick Ass is not only overrated but for me it is one of the ugliest movies to have come out of Hollywood in quite some time. And what makes Kick Ass so ugly as a film is its brutal violence and just how they try and pass it off as entertainment when it is anything but as the film's tone is so dark and mean spirited it made it almost impossible for me to get into it. I also found it quite disturbing that they made an 11 year old girl into a remorseless killer who leaves no one alive whatsoever and she appears more like a girl version of Anton Chighur, a pscyhopath who kills anyone that stands in their way. And unlike Quentin Tarantino's violence, which while it can be quite strong generally speaking it has a more comical feel to it, here the violence is just downright ugly.
So Kick Ass to sum up is not just overrated its also a pretty nasty mean spirited film and as such it more than deserves its place on the list.
6. Gladiator
Next is Gladiator and while its still a film I really enjoy it has to be said that yep it remains as being pretty overrated. And we all know the plot but quickly to recap, Maximus (Russell Crowe) is a Roman general who named as the successor to the emperor of Rome, Marcus Arelius (Richard Harris) but instead Marcus's son, Commodus who ends up killing his father out of rage for being passed over. Commodus then takes control as emperor and orders Maximus's execution after he refuses to serve him. And from Maximus's escapes the Roman soldiers and flees back to his home to find his wife and son murdered and he is later captured and taken as a slave and forced to learn to fight as a gladiator before he makes his way back to Rome to have a chance at revenge over Commodus.
Now to be fair Gladiator is a really entertaining film but I still think it is pretty overrated simply because Russell Crowe's performance is so dull and one dimensional its hard to understand why he won an Oscar for it. The film does have more interesting characters in the ruthless emperor Commodus and Lucilla, his sister which Commodus harbours incestuous feelings for. And only if Maximum's was a more engaging and interesting character it could have helped to make Gladiator a really great film instead of a merely good one.
So in the end Gladiator is enjoyable but its just overrated and not as good as its often given credit for.
And that's it for my first part and I'll be back soon with the 2nd!
Until then bye for now!
cant agree more
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