Movie Review: Poor Things

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A very intelligent and entertaining fairy tale for adults. 

Though certain parts of the story may recall Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, the movie as a whole seems more reminiscent of a fairy tale. It can especially resemble the Pinocchio type of fairy tale, where someone who has just come into the world goes on a big adventure and learns about life and who they are in the process. Like these fairy tales, this film has many important and deeper messages about life and the world hidden beneath its seemingly simple story. This movie takes a deep look at such heavy topics as class distinction, philosophy, gender politics, the pointlessness of societal norms and sexual freedom. At no time though does this film come off as preachy or like it is trying to bite off more than it can chew. These weighty topics are also met with a healthy dose of humor. The humor can get weird and bizarre, as well as dark and sexual. However, the humor is incredibly funny. Off the top of my head, I can hardly think of one comedic moment that fell flat for me. Most every comedic moment made me laugh out loud (the packed audience seeing with me laughed just as much). This is the type of truly over the top and often silly humor, that is becoming too rare today and I love it. Yet many of these comedic moments also held something quite observant and intelligent behind them. Yet as over the top as the humor gets, the movie knows when it needs to be serious as there are some very beautiful and emotional moments with no comedy at all. 

The real heart of this film though comes through comes from our main character. What makes this movie so effective is that we see and experience everything through her eyes. We experience all the awe and wonder that she sees through her newly born eyes. While a lot of the comedy comes from her newborn naivete, the character herself never becomes a joke. Also, even if she is naive, there are also plenty of moments that show that she is also incredibly intelligent. We also see how beautiful of a heart this character truly has and as the film goes on, we truly care about her. This makes it so no matter how weird and strange this film can get; it always has a strong emotional heart. Emma Stone is simply wonderful in this role and completely loses herself in this character. This may be one of the finest performances of her movie career. 

This film is also a pure visual wonder. This film creates a fantasy world all of its own. While it takes visual cues from various other fantasy movies, it doesn't copy any of them. The larger-than-life sets, the incredibly colorful skies (that are all sorts of different colors) and the alternating use of black and white and color, all work together to make this one of the great visual treats of the year. 

This is simply a great film.