souplahoopla

Let me start by saying I watch a lot of crime documentaries, and I mean a lot.

This documentary series begins really well, it's a time line constructed by interviews, news reports and expert testimony that lays it all out really well. It explains it really well for people who are unfamiliar with it or weren't born at the time.

It starts falling apart in the 2nd episode. The narration is still there, but it's clearly trying to be as culturally sensitive as possible. I remember that day, and I remember those years. It did feel at times like they were attempting to minimise the extremism that permeated the world at that point. I appreciate the voices from Muslims who were there at the time, who spoke about how it didn't represent them. But despite the victims testimonies, it failed to capture the absolute fear and paranoia that gripped everyday people. Indicating people were unnecessarily 'bigotted' or people being profiled because people are just 'mean' was not needed. And the pointed repetition of 'homegrown' was so on the nose, by the end it was a little silly.

I understand the need to be a little careful when something still is a real world threat. And this is coming from someone with a Muslim partner. But this series really diluted what is a really big problem still.

Okay. I'm not from the US so I don't have a historical knowledge of this.

The facts they have are laid out well, it's comprehensive and good.

However the actual criminal case is laid out like an episode of Monk...'hes disabled and has dirt on his soles and therefore a murderer'

Okay yeah, the main suspect is a bit creepy sure. Maybe he did do it, but people be creepy anyway right?

Maybe it was a government covering for the pharm industry, for a rogue worker, sure.

What you'll take from this is nothing. It basically reviews the information, makes a stab in the dark and then ends. At least it's somewhat entertaining.

I'm not speaking to the hardened Wes fans here who absolutely love everything he does without question. This is more for fans of The Life Aquatic, Moonrise Kingdom etc and not so much every single thing he does.

I made the effort to see this one in the cinema, not so much as I was desperate to see it, but more I never go out and it provided a bit of a nudge.

So I went. I was whelmed. The sets, the cinematography, the costumes, the acting. All excellent. Wes Anderson has an amazing eye for symmetry, giving sets a kind of diorama look, honestly always beautiful.

What this filmed lacked was really in the story. It made sense but it felt like it was so focused on the stilted, blunt delivery that was charming in earlier movies, that it actually impeded it in this one. It was far too overdone. His earlier movies always had a heart to them in the end. This one felt so sterile, you didn't even feel happy about the ending.