Fero_Marini

I didn't hear about the book until I saw the first trailer, so I bought it immediately after. I finished it in two weeks and loved it very much.

Eagerly awaiting this movie I tried to not look at the reviews, nor find out more about the movie so that my view is not affected. As with every book to movie adaptation, it cannot be followed to the dot, it has to be different, so I wasn't expecting a 100% adaptation.

The movie started great, I was blown away by the first Easter egg challenge, which got me really excited, but it was clear that the differences to the book will be greater than I thought. And I was right. Although the movie follows the book, a lot is different. The book is great, so why they changed literally all the key events? It's like going to arcade and putting a coin to play Pacman, but instead getting Dynablaster. You still have fun, but it's not the same. The movie did however a great justice to the 80s pop culture, feels like every scene has at least one Easter egg. This makes it exciting to watch, and re-watch.

It's a great movie to watch, but if I didn't read the book first, I would probably enjoyed it even more. But I'm still happy I read the book first;)

I have to admit, I really struggled with watching this movie. As a whole, it (kind of) make sense: the fate of humanity and how no one knows where we're going, how grey and flat things are etc. There are however so many scenes where I just kept on asking myself, what does this mean, but no answers were provided. Stylistically it feels as if you're watching Storm Thorgerson's moving pictures, so that part is quite nice, especially the final scene. But at the end, the movie left me feeling empty, but not because it is its intend to do so, but because I've no idea what was going through director's head when each shot was made. And internet, nor other reviews provided much explanation. I would love to watch this movie again with the director sitting by my side, explaining what he meant to say with each scene.

Not a lot of movies can leave a long impression on the viewer, but luckily this one will. I have to admit, I didn't read the book, nor did I see previous movies. But in terms of the story I was completely absorbed from start to finish. Who is this Gatsby and why is he doing what he does?

The filmmakers did a great job bringing the roaring twenties onto the screen, the atmosphere, the costumes (watch the costumes closely, I'm a man but I have to admit, they're really beautiful), New York, cars, booze, dancing, pomposity. I'm not sure if mixing modern music with old was the best choice, I don't think it was, but it was certainly 'brave', and something different.

I was disappointed by special effects, they look quite cheap in some scenes, and were distracting. The acting was truly good and although I found Leonardo really great in the role of Gatsby I couldn't shake the feeling off, that I could imagine someone else, slightly better, in his place.

Overall I think the story is by far the best part of the movie, and I think you won't be disappointed by watching it. Now off to read the book:)