Songbird

The trailer was interesting. I postponed watching this for two days thinking it will be depressing to watch but finally I watched it and I really liked it. There was attention to detail. Actors did a good job. Production and cinematography is as good as any A movie. There are somethings that were shown in the movie that are actually unfolding as reality now. I liked it so much that I am recommending my family and friends to watch it too.

There was some potential here, and if anything, it should have allowed viewers to perfectly relate to what the characters in this movie are going through. Sadly, this movie largely falls flat.

With the Covid pandemic as its backdrop, and a dystopian near future as its setting, 'Songbird' had all the ingredients for at least a solid thriller. The movie has trouble finding its own identity however, following several different plotlines, none of which are thoroughly worked out.

The two main romantic leads, played by KJ Apa and Sofia Carson, get the majority of the screen time, and their arc is the one that's arguably best worked out. However, their story feels bland, and very derivative of a load of other doomed romance stories. The two bad guys, Peter Stormare and Bradley Whitford, are uninspired and boring, with neither getting to do anything particularly memorable. Add some other one-off characters played by Demi Moore, Craig Robinson and Alexandra Daddario, and you have a reasonably talented cast who are not given that much to work with.

The movie's plot furthermore would have allowed the filmmaker to add some biting social critiques and maybe even some satire, but this is nowhere to be seen. The movie is a basic romance on one end, and a bland action thriller on the other. Really, aside from being a quarantine movie coming out during a quarantine, there isn't that much special about this movie.

Furthermore, I have to mention my dislike of the movie's camerawork and editing. The shaky-cam aesthetic and rapid editing can work very well for certain movies, but it feels totally superfluous and unnecessary here.

Overall, the actors' performances were solid enough, but the story and execution lacked in quality.

Ok so it's not Oscar material but that being said it was really good! It was thrilling and it kept my attention. In this age of Covid this movie is a must see. I'm glad I didn't listen to the reviews. I also liked the love story plot...and the character relationships that show how the virus can either bring people together or tear them apart. It can bring out the best in some people or the worst.

Honestly, I get that people are angry that this movie feeds into the fear narrative of our current situation but I actually think it is not supposed to scare you but show you that things can be waaayyy worse. I liked the fact that they focus on several people's lives and thus, several aspects of this apocalyptic word. This gives an overview of what the creators of the movie imagined the world could look like. I agree that some parts of the script are kinda dumb, but overall I believe it deserves more than its imdb score and most of the reviews here.

Initial Thoughts: Minus the whole zombie apocalypse aspect. I thought this film would be much more similar to the outbreak, and subsequent emptiness that was found in "I Am Legend". Anyways....

While the trailer hinted at a decent story. I was filled with skepticism going into this film. Based off both the trailer, and the description, this film falls way short of its intent. While classified as a comedy, drama, and romance, I felt very little to no emotion within each of those categories. Nothing stood out as funny. There was very little drama to be had. Hearing there were "Q-zones", and people trying to fight back, I assumed there would be riots and intense action to show how tired people were for being oppressed and contained of the virus. There was none of that. Lastly, the romance was sub-par. There was no spark, no emotion that made me feel the leads were truly in love, or had any connection that would've brought them together. The most engaging sub-story was the one with a military veteran trying to help an internet personality escape her oppressor, and I felt that story was stronger than the main one.

Overall: The film was slow, emotionless, and a waste of time. Honestly, wait for it to come out on a streaming service. No amount of screen or sound is going to make the film any better than it already isn't.

Enjoy the show!