The other reviewers here pretty well nailed the problems with this movie, but I'll add a couple my own observations.
Paying homage to other movies or styles is fine, but this movie is nothing but homages. There needs to be some originality mixed in, or a film falls flat, as this one does. Quentin Tarantino is famous for showing respect for other films and styles in his movies, but he adds his own flavor to his work, so the homages are evident but also not the only aspect to his films. That works; in this film those homages do not.
Part of the reason for that is the number of films and styles paid tribute to here. There are too many, creating a confusing mixture, with no single theme binding everything together. An example of that would be the final resolution with the character The Duchess. What happens is inconsistent with the world of the rest of the film, seemingly thrown in just to pay homage to another famous film (I won't say more because I don't like putting spoilers in my reviews).
The script is also a problem. We've seen the dystopian, ruling class vs underclass thing many times in other films. To stand out, there would have to be something new and original added to the genre. There was not.
Finally, the ending was telegraphed. Once the "twist" was revealed, it was obvious what was going to happen at the end. That took away any suspense or surprise that I would imagine the filmmakers wanted to give audiences.
So why did I give the movie 5 stars, which is higher than other people did, in spite of my harsh review? The set designs were somewhat interesting, and the flaws in the movie, while evident throughout, were most obvious after watching it. I was somewhat engaged while watching the film, but most disappointed afterward.
Paying homage to other movies or styles is fine, but this movie is nothing but homages. There needs to be some originality mixed in, or a film falls flat, as this one does. Quentin Tarantino is famous for showing respect for other films and styles in his movies, but he adds his own flavor to his work, so the homages are evident but also not the only aspect to his films. That works; in this film those homages do not.
Part of the reason for that is the number of films and styles paid tribute to here. There are too many, creating a confusing mixture, with no single theme binding everything together. An example of that would be the final resolution with the character The Duchess. What happens is inconsistent with the world of the rest of the film, seemingly thrown in just to pay homage to another famous film (I won't say more because I don't like putting spoilers in my reviews).
The script is also a problem. We've seen the dystopian, ruling class vs underclass thing many times in other films. To stand out, there would have to be something new and original added to the genre. There was not.
Finally, the ending was telegraphed. Once the "twist" was revealed, it was obvious what was going to happen at the end. That took away any suspense or surprise that I would imagine the filmmakers wanted to give audiences.
So why did I give the movie 5 stars, which is higher than other people did, in spite of my harsh review? The set designs were somewhat interesting, and the flaws in the movie, while evident throughout, were most obvious after watching it. I was somewhat engaged while watching the film, but most disappointed afterward.