I *almost* agree with the reviewers who said this movie is a "slow burn." It's definitely slow, but it doesn't really burn. It kind of smolders, leaving you wishing that the film would at some point actually ignite and draw you in. It never did that for me.
On the positive side, the cinematography was very good and Mark Rylance's portrayal of the Magistrate was fantastic. He's a very talented actor. But I feel that his effort was wasted by poor development of literally every other character in the film, including the so-called "barbarians" for whom we are supposed to feel a great deal of empathy. I found myself disliking Johnny Depp as the Colonel, but not loathing him as I should have.
In short, I kept waiting for the film to quit messing around and just "go there" - I'm not even sure where "there" actually was, or what I would have discovered when I arrived. But it sort of felt like walking in place for 2 hours. Oh well. Barbarians, I hardly knew ye.
On the positive side, the cinematography was very good and Mark Rylance's portrayal of the Magistrate was fantastic. He's a very talented actor. But I feel that his effort was wasted by poor development of literally every other character in the film, including the so-called "barbarians" for whom we are supposed to feel a great deal of empathy. I found myself disliking Johnny Depp as the Colonel, but not loathing him as I should have.
In short, I kept waiting for the film to quit messing around and just "go there" - I'm not even sure where "there" actually was, or what I would have discovered when I arrived. But it sort of felt like walking in place for 2 hours. Oh well. Barbarians, I hardly knew ye.