20131219: Fantasy Review--Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2012, PG, 91 minutes, family, adventure.
2. IMDB: 6.5/10.0 from 4,793 audience ratings.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 47% on the meter; 58% liked it from 12,274 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.9/5.0 from 42,990 audience ratings.
5. Written and directed by: Andrew Adamson.
6. Starring: Erica Linz as Mia, Igor Zaripov as The Aerialist, Lutz Halbhubner as Ringmaster, John Clarke as Sad Clown, Dallas Barnett as Boss, Matt Gillanders as Circuit Marvelous cast member.


2. Setup and Plot
1. This is indeed a film about a carnival, with some fantasy elements thrown in.


2. The visuals are spectacular.


3. Conclusions
1. Refers to Paul McCartney singing Blackbird as 'folk singing.'  Who came up with that? The Beatles' songs were, by and large, of no connection to the visuals (except perhaps for Octopus' Garden).
2. One line summary: Cirque du Soleil showing off excellent visuals, but not much else.
3. Two stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 Watched this in HD but not 3D.  It was still quite beautiful.


2. Sound: 2/10 My first experience of Cirque du Soleil was the soundtrack of Alegria, with no video, but with powerful singing.  When I first saw Alegria, I was disappointed, because the visuals were so inferior to the singing.  In this film, the visuals are striking, fully as good as I hoped for in Alegria.  However, the sound track in this film is weak, unimpressive, hardly a match for the amazing visuals.


3. Acting: 3/10 I have no interest in (or enjoyment of) clowns, carnies, and mimes.  If you like them, you might find this film more palatable. 


4. Screenplay: 3/10 There was a screenplay?  Were there characters I was supposed to care about?  Enjoy the visuals; that is all you are going to get: art direction, not screenplay.