Review of Moulin Rouge! (2001) by Joe W — 09 Sep 2012

It's basically a musical with ADHD. I'm not a big fan of Baz Luhrmann's style. The editing gets on my nerves. Every SINGLE shot is under half a second. Granted the fast paced editing does give you an adrenaline rush, if Baz directed a drug film or an action film, it would work.

It's just the dialogue scenes are hard to watch. If the shots of people talking could last for 10 seconds or so, this movie could've worked.

The love story is poorly written and very cliched. But this movie isn't going for plot, it's more about the visuals.

The songs are unoriginal, I think this movie is basically pantomime. In pantos, licensed songs are used cos pantos don't take themselves seriously.

For me, the worst scene in the movie is the farce that involves Satine trying to hide Christian from The Duke. If only the editing was better and the shots were longer, we could've at least enjoyed it. Imagine a comedy farce with fast paced editing and you'll get my frustration.

The Duke's desire is just......... well........ he says he wants Satine all to himself because he says "I don't like people touching my things!" (sigh) all this with a side order of an OTT performance from Richard Roxburgh.

Nicole overacts a lot at the start but her performance gets serious later on. It's just Nicole playing her typical love interest she's been playing for the umpteenth time. The academy nominated her because she's Nicole Kidman.

But I didn't hate this film. I think it's just okay. The musical sequences are fun to watch. Plus Nicole is hot in this movie.

It's really just a big budget panto or a 2 hour long music video.