Our take on Leo DiCaprio's '11th Hour'
Our take on Leo DiCaprio's '11th Hour'
Posted by
SinFuLsiGnoRiTa 227 days ago
Leonardo DiCaprio versus Al Gore -- The 11th Hour sounded like it was going to have way more mainstream appeal than An Inconvenient Truth, but we're not so sure that's the case. We really looked forward to The 11th Hour, but we're sorry to say that we weren't impressed.
The overall message was that we've forgotten that we're part of nature and even though the Earth as such will survive, it will not be a pleasant -- or indeed habitable -- place to be if we don't start looking after it and each other. While it's undoubtedly a good message, which we'd like as many people as possible to hear, the film itself is just not up to scratch.
An hour and a half of interviews with some interesting, inspiring people (and some random not-so-inspiring people), stock library footage of gigantic factory chimneys, oil rigs, melting icebergs and fires coupled with often cheesy music (uplifting when beautiful nature footage was shown and moody when the camera turned to smoke and fire) seemed dated and not very creative.
And then there were Leo DiCaprio's comments and questions thrown in now and then for good measure. We normally adore him and his passion for the planet, but in The 11th Hour his narrator role came off stilted and unnatural -- almost like he was acting too much for a role that really required earnestness (we wanted Leo, not Jack from Titanic or some other character). The directors could have used him in a much more exciting way, if you ask us.
An Inconvenient Truth was great because it opened up for debate and engaged the mainstream rather than just greenies, and we expected The 11th Hour to take this to another level. Unfortunately it didn't add much to the table, which is a real shame.
We did like the film's philosophical take on climate change and our role on this planet, though -- but if it had gone with that and not pretended to be a documentary it would have had much more appeal.
We admit we had high expectations, and despite our disappointment we do encourage everybody to go and see it anyway when it's out in March. It's a message worth supporting (and Leo still looks good).
The overall message was that we've forgotten that we're part of nature and even though the Earth as such will survive, it will not be a pleasant -- or indeed habitable -- place to be if we don't start looking after it and each other. While it's undoubtedly a good message, which we'd like as many people as possible to hear, the film itself is just not up to scratch.
An hour and a half of interviews with some interesting, inspiring people (and some random not-so-inspiring people), stock library footage of gigantic factory chimneys, oil rigs, melting icebergs and fires coupled with often cheesy music (uplifting when beautiful nature footage was shown and moody when the camera turned to smoke and fire) seemed dated and not very creative.
And then there were Leo DiCaprio's comments and questions thrown in now and then for good measure. We normally adore him and his passion for the planet, but in The 11th Hour his narrator role came off stilted and unnatural -- almost like he was acting too much for a role that really required earnestness (we wanted Leo, not Jack from Titanic or some other character). The directors could have used him in a much more exciting way, if you ask us.
An Inconvenient Truth was great because it opened up for debate and engaged the mainstream rather than just greenies, and we expected The 11th Hour to take this to another level. Unfortunately it didn't add much to the table, which is a real shame.
We did like the film's philosophical take on climate change and our role on this planet, though -- but if it had gone with that and not pretended to be a documentary it would have had much more appeal.
We admit we had high expectations, and despite our disappointment we do encourage everybody to go and see it anyway when it's out in March. It's a message worth supporting (and Leo still looks good).
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