Across The Universe

[MisterFishey]

As an avid Beatles fan, I was sort of skeptical at the movie, seeing as the last Beatles-themed motion picture was one of the greatest box office failures of the century. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, anyone? (I have actually seen it, and it was horrible. Actually, that's an understatement.)

Back to the main topic. Unlike most people, I was actually expecting a really mediocre story line crudely strung together by Beatles songs with really dazzling visuals. So it was exactly what I expected (and kind of wanted) it to be. The one part that really struck me was the overall quality of the singing used in the movie. In virtually every rock musical I have seen, there has been one bad voice that ruins the whole thing. Case in point: Tommy! Tommy's father's singing voice is atrocious. Jesus Christ Superstar! Most of the cast's voices were rather weak. Kudos for great voices!

My favorite scene was I Want You (She's So Heavy) - great visuals with lots of not-so-subtle political commentary. The music overall was nice, and not redone in a crude way, very sincere. The story also didn't revolve around the songs in a contrived way, which I really appreciated. For example: There was a character named Doctor Robert without the song Doctor Robert being in the movie. Ditto for Sadie, and the song Sexie Sadie. The All You Need Is Love ending was cliche, IMO, but hey! You can't have everything...