Read Negative User Reviews for Babylon (2022)

3

hnestlyontheslyJan 10, 2023

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's easy to, in retrospect, hold Damien Chazelle up to the firing squad of both critical and popular opinion and say, hey dude, your bad movie did bad financially and you should feel bad about that. You probably would enjoy doing that quite a bit, especially if you were in some way connected to the Moonlight production, but not every movie that runs a tad past three hours and features actual footage from James Cameron's Avatar while a different iteration of that movie by James Cameron plays in the screen right next to you is "undisciplined" or "a vanity project" or "completely bonkers". You know what I do when I encounter a movie that seems a little bit beyond me? A little too "high concept"? Before I stick out my tongue to blow raspberries, I ask myself the following question, "Am I reacting to this movie with my fight or flight response right now because it offends my sensibilities or because the film is actively trying to give me late onset epilepsy while simultaneously showing me the full history of the development of sound in movies in this montage?" And if I can answer that question without frothing at the mouth, I try to come up with a few nice things to say about the movie. There haven't been a lot of movies that I've seen people walk out of early this year or, really, ever, but I guess the past few years have given audiences in my hometown the clarity to recognize when they would be better off doing something other than the thing they unwittingly locked themselves into for fully one quarter of their waking hours of the day. The sequences that Wife and I (went together with siblings!!!) believe were some of the most rewarding are not actually so far removed from Yasmin Reza's play God of Carnage, and whether that's intentional or not (Chazelle seems like he's very intent on you understanding his inspiration for every line in the script from the golden age of cinema in this movie), it certainly makes you think about the directorial choices made to get to this point. The Slate article I alluded to earlier is, in part, charitably commenting on the lack of nostalgia for the "good old days" of Hollywood. At the same time, I think that this is a story of cultural decline, or maybe several stories of cultural decline--the budding, diverse, unrestrained racial and sexual paradise of the Roaring Twenties gives way to the cold, grungy yet sterile fastidiousness of talking pictures in the 30s: the deaths of some of the original Hollywood royalty pave the way for the next generation. Each death is both pain and possibility! It's also clear that Babylon is charting a course in a middle pandemic or post-pandemic world, abandoning the small scope, frustrated sensibilities of last year's cinema in favor of sweaty, horny, exuberant, ecstatic representation.

Suitsupply ad or maybe scene from Babylon, but both reactions to pandemic cultural forces

The third act of most of the ensemble cast is where the film really goes off the rails, except that one cameo in particular in the third act, the crime boss plot, is actually maybe the most horrific sequence of the year, completely unsettling and canny storytelling. If we are continuing to feel charitable, we ought to mention that there are some very entertaining scenes, like the oddly erotic snakebite, or seven takes for a talkie on set, even La Roy's very first time on set is tour de force in showmanship and technical excellence. That all being said, I cannot rightly recommend this movie to you really in any form. It's not really great as a movie to catch on a plane or while you're waiting for days for your Southwest flight to finally become available in an airport terminal this holiday season, with your relatives or even your loved ones. The only people this will really give any joy to are the folks who really, really liked the instrumental soundtrack to La La Land and the people who want to listen to it while immersed in scatological and emetic humor. If you're like… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

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0

DeralacFeb 10, 2023

This movie should never have been made. From the perspective of an historian who likes movies, this was boring and stupid. I typically enjoy Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Olivia Wilde’s work, but this movie was really bad. The writing wasThis movie should never have been made. From the perspective of an historian who likes movies, this was boring and stupid. I typically enjoy Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Olivia Wilde’s work, but this movie was really bad. The writing was atrocious, the “plot“ was boring and the story was obnoxious. While the movie was way too long, even as a 10 minute short it would have been horrid. There was nothing even close to a story that required such a long run time. It was just a series of county fair side-show scenes strung together with no coherence or purpose. There was nothing about this movie that I liked.… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

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0

simon9454Jan 22, 2023

Seriously, this movie was hot garbage. Did all reviewers who rated positive paid to write a good review?

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

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0

imthenoobFeb 26, 2023

It's kind of funny reading the positive reviews when a majority of them can't even pinpoint specific things they like about the movie. They just say a bland blanket statement and hope that covers their bases. TBH, I'm disappointed. ChazelleIt's kind of funny reading the positive reviews when a majority of them can't even pinpoint specific things they like about the movie. They just say a bland blanket statement and hope that covers their bases. TBH, I'm disappointed. Chazelle is insanely talented and to see him deliver a movie like this is nothing short of baffling. In short, It's a boring mess of a movie that relies heavily on shock value for laughs while wasting an insanely talented cast on a plot that goes nowhere fast with subplots that seemingly pop up out of nowhere.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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raybassJan 7, 2023

Be smart and don’t waste your time and money on this boring movie. This movie proves again that putting a bunch of stars on the same set doesn’t make a masterpiece at the end. Lame jokes and boring story is what this movie includes.

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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2

jake-bFeb 2, 2023

The director's love affair is not with the movies but with himself, grounded in an unfounded confidence in his abilities as director, writer, comic and historian. The anachronistic music, language and (of course) minority casting leaves noThe director's love affair is not with the movies but with himself, grounded in an unfounded confidence in his abilities as director, writer, comic and historian. The anachronistic music, language and (of course) minority casting leaves no self-indulgence or approbation unexploited. Whoever paid for this mess must have been as tiresomely arch, antic and dim as the studio executives who appear in the movie.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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2

digitaledanielFeb 14, 2023

Bottom line: its a horrible waste of loads of money that could have been used to make a great film of one of the thousands of SF books written from back then until now. What is the use of recreating a period of wich allready a massiveBottom line: its a horrible waste of loads of money that could have been used to make a great film of one of the thousands of SF books written from back then until now. What is the use of recreating a period of wich allready a massive quantity of films survived, that no one looks at anymore anyway? If you want to see a more recent history evocation, there is Babylon Berlin, the great Gatsby, or Romeo + juliet(1996)(all with great music). Those did the job, this movie failed miserably. If you know somebody in the movie business, tell them to start reading SF and Fantasy books and stop trying to write scenarios, right now.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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RightThenDec 23, 2022

Juvenile and nowhere near as profround and entertaining as it thinks it is.

9 of 20 users found this helpful911

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dreamland23Dec 29, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A 3 hour long student film with and unlimited budget. Montage at the end was amateurish. The plot was terrible. Spoiler alert 3 of the characters die. Why? Overly reliant on the score to make the viewer feel something. The score was too loud and repetitive and way too much like lalaland. The acting was like bad improv. The dialogue was weak. I have never seen Brad Pitt as a bad actor until I saw this.
What a waste of talent on a self indulgent drawn out music video with no point. Not surprised it's a flop. It's very bad.… Expand

7 of 16 users found this helpful79

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3

MovieMetaCriticDec 31, 2022

This film is the product of a good idea with bad writers! I have never walked out of a theater but the last hour or so of this movie made my head spin! Please, prepare yourself if you are gonna go see this film because your gonna need it.This film is the product of a good idea with bad writers! I have never walked out of a theater but the last hour or so of this movie made my head spin! Please, prepare yourself if you are gonna go see this film because your gonna need it. From the over the top drug usage to nudity it is so much to take in.… Expand

2 of 5 users found this helpful23

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3

georgiadrewJan 1, 2023

If you want to waste $ and be in agony for 3 hours then go see this movie. Pitt must have mega gambling debts to pay for why else would he get involved in pathetic trash like this movie? No plot, poor acting, directing that goes nowhere isIf you want to waste $ and be in agony for 3 hours then go see this movie. Pitt must have mega gambling debts to pay for why else would he get involved in pathetic trash like this movie? No plot, poor acting, directing that goes nowhere is the result.… Expand

3 of 8 users found this helpful35

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0

praneelrajaDec 24, 2022

An exhausting, nihilistic, shallow, overlong and conflicting non-story, but hey the costumes are great.

7 of 19 users found this helpful712

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clairedDec 23, 2022

Repetitive, very derivative, way too reliant on Justin Hurwitz’s jazz to conceal very weak moments including the embarrassing ending.

6 of 17 users found this helpful611

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MrsSmith100Jan 1, 2023

The worst movie ever and my husband and I are retired and go to the movies a lot. Even all the debauchery didn’t bother me. The movie was all over the place and unrealistic. During that period in time Blacks and Asians were Not able to moveThe worst movie ever and my husband and I are retired and go to the movies a lot. Even all the debauchery didn’t bother me. The movie was all over the place and unrealistic. During that period in time Blacks and Asians were Not able to move around freely especially among white ppl. America at that time was very racist. At some point I stop caring about it being unrealistic and just wanted it to be over. The movie was over 3 hours. The last 30 minutes of the movie was as though the director was on acid. We absolutely HATED the movie, paying for all the well known actors were a waste of money!… Expand

2 of 6 users found this helpful24

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Broker2022Dec 28, 2022

Totally boring! Waste of time. Boring, boring... sleep-soothing, big names and a bad plot.

4 of 16 users found this helpful412

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2

TannerCreedenDec 25, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Yeesh! Can I have three hours of my life back, there was just so much going on and then finally when I could see the light light at the end of the tunnel and could walk out of the theater the **** thing keeps going another hour like **** me three hours for that was torture… Expand

3 of 13 users found this helpful310

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2

radu1006Feb 14, 2023

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It tries, but fails pretty bad.

The whole movie is a chaos, and not in a good way. The movie starts with a very long orgy party that serves as an introduction for the characters and sets the start for the movie. This sequence is actually very representative for the whole movie. It is filled with random erotic, violent, gross and macabre scenes that do not make any sense.

It tries a dark humour, but it does not even make you smile, because all characters seem to have random behaviour and no identity.

It is a long agonising experience that lacks real content even with if it has a large variety of things happening.

I do not recommend it to anyone and hopefully Brad Pitt will recover from this downfall.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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3

AIexDeIFeb 7, 2023

An excellent film, a splendid declaration of love for cinema... Of course, adding another actor of caliber to Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie would have been a perfect idea instead of the albeit very good Diego Calva...
Let's say, a real star,An excellent film, a splendid declaration of love for cinema... Of course, adding another actor of caliber to Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie would have been a perfect idea instead of the albeit very good Diego Calva...
Let's say, a real star, like Leonardo di Caprio.. .. And then, instead of the pompous collage-finale, there could have been a good senseless action scene, like one of those movies made by Tarant.. OH WAIT...… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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1

psyberdelicMar 26, 2023

A giant waste of time! Story was paint by the numbers. Golden showers and elephants crapping don't make for a enlightening evening at the theater or in your living room. I jumped ahead several times to get it over with. If you're in theA giant waste of time! Story was paint by the numbers. Golden showers and elephants crapping don't make for a enlightening evening at the theater or in your living room. I jumped ahead several times to get it over with. If you're in the mood for something stupid and gross you might want to try it out.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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