Okay, so I finished Metropolis. All in all, I did like it. However, even though I do try to go into seeing a movie this old with different expectations, I can't help but compare it to modern movies that emphesize the special effects more than anything else, and have huge plotholes and character motivation doesn't make sense. After all, while film was new at the time this movie was made, telling a story certainly wasn't. Creating beleivable characters wasn't. Subtlty wasn't (okay, it was in how film needed to use it, but still).
What were those machines? I don't need a full explanation, I get that they are very symbolic, but I would at least like SOMETHING.
Why would Joh Frederson want the revolution to happen? (he tells his henchman to let the workers do what they will) And why does he act so surprised when all the power goes out to the city? Isn't that what the machines do? Again, I'm assuming here, since the movie didn't tell us. But we know HE DESIGNED THEM, so he should know what happens when the workers are allowed to trash them!
I get why Josephat hated Joh, but what was his plan, exactly? This didn't seem to go well for him, either.
Why are the workers trapped underground, when the kids just have to walk up some fire escapes (that didn't seem all that high) to escape, through a door one man can rip open?
If the workers run the machines, don't they know what they do? At least vaguely? Shouldn't they know it would flood their homes?
Could we get a few more repeats of "The mediator between head and hands must be the heart"? Because I didn't quite get it! Jeez, this movie not only was influential for some of the good things about film and sci-fi, but the "treat your audience like they're idiots" as well. Not to mention the fact that the phrase is pseudo-philisophical bullshit anyway.
And why is Freder have to be the moderator, anyway? Couldn't it have just been Maria? He spent most of the movie being an ineffectual pussy, fainting and hamfisted realizing "OMG, society is, like, totally unfair". When did he show that he has more heart than anyone else, or would make a good diplomat (I think that is what that position was supposed to be) IN ANY WAY?!
That being said, there was a lot about this that was VERY impressive! The special effects were absolutely stunning, and I can easily see why this is such an influential movie. The use of immense sets and so many extras, this is as epic as epic gets in that sense.
I'm certainly glad I saw it finally. But I don't see myself revisiting it again.
Topic: What was the last movie you watched? (Read 1536783 times)
