Upside Down

In Upside Down, director Juan Diego Solanas presents us a romance set in sci-fi fantasy with Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunst playing the leads. The film begins with a young Adam (Jim Sturgess) explaining the extra-ordinary setting of a dual planetary system he belongs to with two planets stacked one on top of the other. If you could remember that extra-ordinary scene in Inception where Ariadne (Ellen Page) tests her powers on a city road, it would be easy to visualise this setting where both these planets are literally a stone's throw from each other. The planet below is Down There which is a dump wears the look of a war ravaged zone and is populated by poor have-nots who can barely eke out a living. In contrast, the planet above, Up Top, bears an ultra swanky look with affluence all around. He also explains a set of principles which govern the physics of these two planets, viz. -

Both the planets have their own opposing gravity and matter from each planet is pulled by the respective gravity An object's weight can be offset by matter from the other world (inverse matter) Matter in contact with inverse matter starts burning after some time Any unauthorised contact with the residents of the other planet is strictly prohibited and is punishable

Despite their close proximity, they are connected by a singular high rise structure which connects both these worlds which is owned by a mega corporation from Up Top called Transworld which controls the affairs of both the planets. Transworld mines the resources of Down There and also allows the poor workers from the other planet to toil for the corporation for earning a livelihood. We also see that the tallest peaks of both the planets come very close to each other and this is where we see a young Adam, who is a resident of Down There chances upon Eden (Kristen Dunst) from the other planet. Their contacts grow in length and frequency and when one such extended contact is detected by security guards, it results in an accident in which Eden loses her memory of Adam. Ten years pass by without an event and Adam carries on with life under the presumption that Eden is lost/dead and is now working as a scientist in a workshop in Down There. One day, when he sees Eden in a TV show and finds out that she is now an employee at Transworld, his feelings for her are rekindled and he too joins as an employee of Transworld to meet her and to rediscover their lost love. The rest of the movie narrates the events unfolding in the lives of the protagonists following Adam's risky venture.

This movie, in itself, has much in common with the dual contrasted planetary system it portrays. Despite the seemingly unlimited potential inherent in such an interesting premise, the movie never rises to reach its potential (a la Up Top) except in the case of visual splendour and plummets into an insipid romance (a la Down There) that redefines the term cheesy. The movie is further weighed down by an uninspired and apparently sleepwalking cast with the notable exception of the vivacious Timothy Spall who plays a lively cameo as Adam's co-worker. There is enough material in the premise to weave an engaging plot for some great romance between the leads from opposing worlds or even some well written drama or action thriller on class struggles. Alas, all Solanas and his co-writers could manage here is to barely scratch the surface, rather than to dig in deeper to come up with a more polished work. It is sadly ironic that a film which has gravity as its central premise is bogged down by a story and characters lacking the necessary gravitas !

The result is sadly apparent in a superficial, barely there plot, underwritten one-note characters and a grand opportunity that is squandered royally. Nevertheless, the movie does excel in presenting arresting visuals that are simply awesome in their imagination and execution which redeems it, if not wholly. Every frame of this movie is rich in beautifully crafted detail and presents picture postcard imagery which is simply dazzling. There are several stand-out scenes like the shot of an apparently endless office floor (and ceiling) full of cubicles or the one in which Adam, to escape chasing cops, falls, nay, leaps up into a river as well as the one of a grand ballroom with dancers from either world swaying on their respective ends with a giant chandelier in the middle.

Overall, this movie presents one of the most artistically sculpted exquisite and imaginative CGI visual splendours seen in recent times and would be a delight to watch on the big screen. If only the writers had put in even half the efforts of creating such visuals, we could have had a much better movie than what remains here as pure eye-candy that merely provides spectacular visual delights, but little else. If only ....

Upside Down creates a fascinating universe beyond our imagination. It is so amazing, it could have been something groundbreaking. The story is a romance that is suppose to defy gravity. It starts with a great promise and many imaginative ideas were featured. Unfortunately, the journey suffers incoherence and leaves several unsettled details. It tries to tell a deeper meaning about love but none of it worked because of its terribly underdeveloped plot and awful romance. It could have at least given some sense to their love but it doesn't provide much exploration to their relationship. The visuals are undeniably breathtaking but the plot gets the opposite which results a story that fails to be compelling.

The idea is wonderful. Who could imagine a world like that? It may be scientifically unbelievable but it doesn't matter. As long as it has a substantial story. Sadly, that story is unable to achieve its message. Even if it's quite gripping, the film calls for something better. The central plot is about a man who risks everything to get his love back. The first and second act really shows a lot of intrigue to the premise but falters when it goes through the rest. The biggest problem is probably the romance. It is poorly portrayed. It's hard to understand why do they love each other. Yeah, they had a childhood together and they are good looking but what else? That's almost the only thing we knew about them because every time when it stumbles to their relationship, it becomes a montage of inaudible chatter thus never really get to know them more. Even the talents couldn't save their love. Jim Sturgess is always charming as a lover boy. He gets a lot of things to do in most vital parts but only did little to the romance. Same goes to Kristen Dunst, except she is mostly underused. In other cast, Timothy Spall appears as an older version of cliché best friend roles in romantic comedies.

It also leaves some unanswered questions in the end but that ending chooses forget almost everything from those questions. Despite of the story's inconsistency, the visuals are the landmark here. It is a brilliantly designed world that can be both trippy and fascinating. Mashing several styles like steampunk and typical futuristic details. Much magnificent is when it take turns between the aspects of the two worlds. There are two sequences that can be goosebumps worthy. These portraits are so gorgeous, it is best to see in cinema. It would still be worth watching if you're one of those people who doesn't care about the story even if its flaws are inevitable, but it still deserves something better.

Upside Down is visually breathtaking but it didn't go beyond that. The romance is beyond bland and it spends most of the time doing stuff that achieved so little to the plot. When I said the romance is beyond bland I mean it has no personality, no depth, no meaning. It's pretty vague. This likely proves that even the most stunning visuals cannot bring justice to a problematic story. It's disappointing because it wastes the potential of the visuals and the first half. Instead of being compelling, it rather shows how beautiful the two's relationship is with a grand scale universe in the background. Aside of the love story, the context between the two worlds are intriguing but there is nothing else about it besides of what it was explained which it isn't enough. It still has its merits. In a nutshell, the film itself is like the two worlds. The visuals are on the top, and the rest are on the bottom. Make sense?

This film is a love story set in a world where there are two worlds separated by different gravities.

On the surface, "Upside Down" is about a man from down below falling in love with a woman from the world above. In reality, the message is so profound, as it describes class and societal segregation. It shows how the less privileged (the world below) are separated from the privileged (the world above), and the upward social movement is impossible. People from one world pretend he is from another but in vain. People's hopes for a better life are shattered by societal limits. This difficult struggle is happening everyday in the world, where people in a country wants to move higher, or people wanting to move to another better off country in search for a better life. We don't normally think about this, but "Upside Down" brings such a problem to the foreground of the consciousness in a way that stimulates thoughts.

Visuals in "Upside Down" is stunning. From the sombre colour schemes down below, to the beautiful lights above; from the macabre buildings below to the majestic buildings above, every scene is beautifully crafted and presented in a surreal manner. Just the visuals alone make "Upside Down" worth watching. The soundtrack is excellent as well, it adds to the beauty of the scenes.

I enjoyed "Upside Down" a lot. I hope it will reach a wider audience.

This movie looked so promising based on it's trailer. Not to mention the visuals were absolutely gorgeous. It had this fantasy quality about it without looking fake; even though you absolutely know its green screen. Also, the plot premise was such an interesting idea; star-crossed lovers separated by the science of their universe. I was excited to watch it because I thought It'd have an "inception-like" quality. HOWEVER, I was horribly wrong.

The character development was just sort of...there. And no real relationship ever seemed to develop between the characters. It went from WE LOVE EACH OTHER to I DON'T KNOW YOU to WE LOVE EACH OTHER again without anything real happening. The romance has a bad back story and the sudden realizations were too flimsy. Adam was adorable in his endless attempts at trying to get to Eden. But thats all. They were so flat in the end and nothing interesting happened. Not to mention, the excitement factor was a bust and it was clichéd and awfully expressed in the end. It felt like I was watching a poem told with gorgeous figurative language, but lacking any substance, heart, or care. The movie needed a better plot, it needed more events, it needed more character development, and it needed a lot of polishing up. Since it's main point of drama was in the romance and even THAT was awfully put together, all in all, it was flop.

However, it was an okay watch and again, the visuals of such a disorientating world totally threw me off whack. For the next ten minutes after the movie, I felt like things should be floating upward and I should be upside down...it was weird but showed that I actually did get immersed into the world.

My recommendation? GET A BETTER WRITER

The film's setting is magnificently beautiful, there are a lot of stunning ideas and images and the main story is good enough to make the two-planet world look real. The one and the only one flaw of the film is that it pretends to be a sci-fi film rather than a fairy-tale in an unusual setting. If you judge it as a sci-fi you will find a lot of "how could it be" things that tear the imaginary world apart. The actors are great and it is fun to see Spall as a protagonist friend rather than foe. Both Sturges and Dunst are wonderful. So if you want to watch a sci-fi film you better avoid "Upside Down". This is a love story set in the fantasy world. No more, but no less.