Amsterdam

Amsterdam comes roaring out of the gate with a fast-paced, quirky, charming, and unique mystery of the likes of Sherlock Holmes or Knives Out. The list of celebrities and actors continues to grow as almost every face in this movie is another a-lister making an entertaining appearance. I was so excited to see what happened next and was surprised when the story suddenly screeched to a halt for a very long slow flashback that didn't offer much to the plot. I hoped the exciting pace would return when the story returned to its original narrative, but the risk and urgency had been replaced by a scattered collection of arbitrary dialogue and scenes that lingered much longer than needed. The pacing lagged almost an hour before ramping back up in the final act. Amsterdam had so much potential but floundered in its attempts to be different and unique. The film's best part was Michael Shannon and Mike Myers' quirky bird-loving spies. Every time they were on the screen, I couldn't help but laugh. Christian Bale logged another amazing performance, as expected. But even with entertaining characters, great performances, and an exciting opening and conclusion, Amsterdam fumbled all its fantastic elements and ended up making my eyes heavy and my heart yearn to go to bed early.

I approached "Amsterdam" with foreboding because of its many negative reviews, but it turned out to be fun, suspenseful, and with great acting performances by all. And along the way the movie highlighted the difficult path of WWI veterans after the war, and brought up a now little-know plot against Roosevelt by some big businessmen.

The period clothing, cars, and etc. Were superb. As another reviewer stated, Christian Bale was awesome, but Zoe Saldana and David Washington, along with DeNiro, made the movie special.

There were shots depicting the horrible injuries incurred in WWII, and the suffering vets continued to have when they arrived back in the States.

Altogether a surprisingly coherent movie, despite what most reviewers had said.

This is a great movie, especially important given how pre-fascist history is repeating itself in 2025. It begins, like most conspiracies, with the curtains drawn on the hidden plot, but that plot becomes very real and terrifying as the movie progresses. Bale, Robbie and Washington are all perfectly cast, and DeNiro is right at home as the linchpin of the story.

As a period drama (1918 and 1933), Amsterdam is extremely effective in describing the era between the two world wars. Costumes and music are well chosen. Especially intriguing, and somewhat horrifying. Is the depiction of cosmetic surgery to hide war wounds.

Highly recommended: although I fear too many conservatives won't want to believe these same dangers are at our doorstep again.

I could not decide if I liked this movie as I was watching it. I knew it was unique with fully loaded star power and great performances but the pacing and story had me scratching my head and even bored at times. I kept checking how much longer the movie had (HBOMax) more than a few times but didn't give up on it. I'm glad I stayed with it. It's a 2 1/2 hour movie but when I finally reached the two hour mark all of a sudden the two previous hours I invested paid off. The story came together quickly and had a surprisingly satisfying ending. This movie is definitely not for everyone. It requires a lot of patience and your full attention but I found it a worthwhile endeavor. Much of it is based on real events. A who's who of A-list actors throughout giving solid performances. Critics panned this movie unfairly in my opinion. What Director Russell created was no easy task. Beautifully filmed with many memorable scenes. I would definitely recommend watching it.

Can't see why there are so many negative reviews unless it's right wing trolls or the typical american cluelessness about the country's past (and present) and painfully limited attention span. GREAT cast. You have to be patient with films like this and I'm sorry that that's enough to turn off so many people. The editing is a bit rough at times but not enough to warrant the negativity.

Now I have to meet the required character count so feel free to ignore the rest of this review and GIVE THIS MOVIE A CHANCE! I'd watch these actors in almost anything so I was happy the indifference to this film turned out to be unjustified.