As a film by Ridley Scott, I had some expectations but doubted whether he still had 'it' after my relative disappointment last year with Prometheus. Not bad, but nothing special.
However, I was absolutely amazed by this one. Chills down my spine, brainwaves, shudders and surprise. The intensity of my feelings with this one made me appreciate the pure beauty of this movie.
I found out it gets a lot of criticism; unrealistic, too bleak, too obvious, dumb story, plot holes, unrealistic conversations, higher expectations of the superstar cast in this movie. I think that's completely missing the point though.
The Counselor is a moving painting. It's scenes of decadence mixed with horrific events on a catastrophic scope. It magnifies the bubble of gruesome violence, treachery and animalism by making it all as visual as can be. Everything is explained, depicted, magnified or nuanced by visuals. The story and actors merely serve as a set-up of this moving painting. The conversations (or better: philosophical monologues) are not meant to be part of the story; They serve as a soundtrack to the visual spectacle! Yes, the character traits are in-your-face obvious; that's the point!
The traditional criteria for judging a movie (analyzing the acting, the story, the character development, etc) absolutely wouldn't work here. Like objectifying a painting; just fucking don't!
I am thrilled I got to watch this on the big screen. It works in an absolutely unique way.
Conclusion
a hard 10/10. Ridley Scott rules again; Blade Runner-quality this is!
The side dish
An okayish cinema-pilsener.
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