Review of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) by Matthew W — 25 May 2011
Brilliant opening scene starts the movie off with a bang...and then you realize that nothing else is ever going to happen. While Depp and Del Toro succeed at creating iconic caricatures, their 'characters' mumble and shout their lines more than actually act them in coherent ways.
The filmmakers obviously just took the book and cut it apart until there was nothing but Depp and Toro screaming and puking for two hours (a very long two hours.) Gilliam proudly shows off his trademark style of blasting frantic, crazy shit across the camera for no reason at all.
The film doesn't build, it remains a straight line and then peaks a tad when the filmmakers realized they should try to throw in some of Thompson's dialogue because the film really does need to end at some point.
Entertaining enough, if watched in half-hour blocks but overall 'Fear and Loathing' just proves how much of an overused gimmick Gilliam really is.
This review of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) was written by Matthew W on 25 May 2011.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has generally received positive reviews.
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