Imaginaerum

I had no idea what this film was about nor had i ever heard of this film until torrentday. This is truly an epic film and one that i will not be forgetting for a long time.

The acting the graphics are faultless and the music score by for me an unknown nightwish fits the film perfectly. Some scenes may be too harsh for kids.

This is a film that baffles but easy to put together with a truly wonderful and emotionally ending.

Will my friends like it? probably not. But i can truly say i will not enjoy a film like this again for a long time.

My hat is off Stobe Harju.

Imaginaerum is one of those movies that will leave you confused for the first hour in to the movie. The bits and pieces of the soon fading memories of Thomas Whitman will confuse you and give more questions than answers. The last quarter of the movie will offer some explanations, but some will remain and the gaps in the life of Thomas Whitman are left up to the viewer to imagine.

The special effects are beautiful, but cannot compete with Hollywood movies with multi-million dollar budgets. Actors do their jobs pretty well, but some of them are not as convincing as you would like. Especially the young Gem Whitman leaves something to be desired. Francis X. McCarthy on the other hand is very convincing playing the role of the old demented song writer Thomas Whitman.

If you are a Nightwish fan, you'll get a kick out of this movie. If you have never heard of the band called Nightwish, you might enjoy it anyway if you are one of those people who like the fact that not everything is clear at the very beginning.

Overall, the movie is very touching once you get into it. It's not one of those "leave your brains at the door" movies because you really have to think and try to identify with the characters. With this movie, you can't expect things to be handed to you on a silver platter. Though something else might be...

Imaginaerum was a random pick & mix movie I went into knowing nothing and was immediatly struck by how good everything looked. This Finnish made title looks like a AAA Hollywood movie except here the rest of the quality matches.

Otherwise known as the Nightwish movie as it was scored & soundtracked by the Finnish band, this is a dark fairytale that really took me by surprise.

It tells the story of a man in his final hours living a bizzare fantasy in his head while his embittered daughter deals with his condition in her own way.

It is a true visual treat that though very fragmented and not the easiest movie to follow does in fact have an outstanding payoff and all comes together in the end.

Looking great, sounding fantastic and with a story that comes together this beautifully my one criticism was that I wanted it to continue for longer.

A wonderful movie worthy of anyone and everyones attention.

The Good:

Visually stunning

Fantastic soundtrack

Devastatingly well written

The Bad:

Should have perhaps been longer

Couple of weak moments that damage the flow

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I should start listening to more Nightwish

Having just finished watching this, and then reading the other reviews I am at a loss for all the fuss about the sub par special effects. They looked a lot better than the 250 million dollar Oz the Great and Powerful, which felt sadly fake in near every scene, and both movies are fantasy, so I saw nothing lacking in the special effects. The dialog in the opening of the movie for about 20 minutes is really just not great, but being a fan of Nightwish I stayed with the movie, and was glad to do so by the halfway mark. The other reviewers pointed out the homages so I will skip them. Coming at this film after seeing Tommy, The Wall, and Harry Potter films, I was not left in the lurch as many were about what was going on. I knew darn well I was seeing symbolism at every turn and was enthralled by it. The scene where the generations overlap in their pain was pure brilliance on the screen. I had never seen optics used in such a way to juxtapose two time periods and create a mood while still piling on the symbolism to even deeper meanings. The skipped words between characters in certain scenes is tasty for those who like being appreciated by the filmmakers to be smart enough to recognize what they were - like with the combination. It may not start out tidy but it gets that way. I was surprised by the idea that it was a movie with music and not a music movie. I was under the impression it would be more like Tommy than The Wall, it's not. The brief appearances by the band did leave me wanting way more, because I am fan of the group, but it didn't hurt the movie a bit. If only the beginning was as good as the rest I would give it all the stars, but it does open so poorly it would not be honest.

This very imaginary film is the most visionary depiction of dementia you'll ever see. A Tim-Burton-ish fantasy musical adventure, this is very unique and very different. At first glance not everything will make sense, so the film definitely deserves more than one viewing. If you're a Nightwish fan, there's the added bonus of the band members performing in the film as well. Their music was toned down and very effective. The film's visuals is striking and there's some really awesome super slow motion photography. What an absolutely beautiful film!