Bill Murray and Tim Robbins together in a sci-fi adventure. Could I have asked for more?
Before I saw it, I might have said no, that will do nicely thank you very much. Does it need a great script? No, of course not... it's the simplest most clichéd sci-fi story in existence: A group of survivors isolated from the rest of the world embark on adventure to reach the outside world. Logans Run for kids.
Can't go wrong...
But what I hadn't anticipated was how every scene would be magically devoid of any energy, momentum, or interest. Even the "set pieces" - and it's an incredible stretch to call them that - were so bland it was like eating boiled vegetables.
Nor had I anticipated some of the biggest continuity flaws and plot holes I have ever seen in a movie. Here's one example (SPOILER ALERT)... to get out of the city, the kids take a roller coaster boat ride down multiple ramps, down chutes, down waterfalls... down down down... then miraculously emerge 1 mile directly ABOVE the city. So directly above it, in fact, that they can drop a rock straight down into the streets below. "Huh?" you say? Yes, that's what I said too.
And trust me, this is just one of countless such logical boo-boos throughout the movie. I could probably forgive it if common-sense had been abandoned in order to cram in some exciting action scenes; but in a movie this mind-numbingly dull, plot holes were just extra nails in the coffin.
Before I saw it, I might have said no, that will do nicely thank you very much. Does it need a great script? No, of course not... it's the simplest most clichéd sci-fi story in existence: A group of survivors isolated from the rest of the world embark on adventure to reach the outside world. Logans Run for kids.
Can't go wrong...
But what I hadn't anticipated was how every scene would be magically devoid of any energy, momentum, or interest. Even the "set pieces" - and it's an incredible stretch to call them that - were so bland it was like eating boiled vegetables.
Nor had I anticipated some of the biggest continuity flaws and plot holes I have ever seen in a movie. Here's one example (SPOILER ALERT)... to get out of the city, the kids take a roller coaster boat ride down multiple ramps, down chutes, down waterfalls... down down down... then miraculously emerge 1 mile directly ABOVE the city. So directly above it, in fact, that they can drop a rock straight down into the streets below. "Huh?" you say? Yes, that's what I said too.
And trust me, this is just one of countless such logical boo-boos throughout the movie. I could probably forgive it if common-sense had been abandoned in order to cram in some exciting action scenes; but in a movie this mind-numbingly dull, plot holes were just extra nails in the coffin.