Babylon Review: Robbie Is Alluring but the Movie Doesn't
Babylon is opulent, stunning to behold, but barren. An intricate screenplay would have otherwise tied everything together, but this tribute to hollywood gets lost in its muddle. Damien Chazelle, who gained fame with La La Land, wrote and directed the bloated, disorganised, and lifeless Babylon, which is nearly three hours long. Despite having a fantastic ensemble, it takes too long to get to the purpose as it meanders to its conclusion. It has a buzzing, frenetic intensity that is lost in the reverie.
Babylon is a two-decade-long drama that starts in 1926 and follows a wide range of characters through the switch from silent to sound cinema. Elinor St. john is a well-known gossip columnist who chronicles the ups and downs of Hollywood's most famous; Nellie LaRoy is an aspiring actress who becomes a silent film star but struggles as hollywood changes around her; Jack Conrad is a well-known silent film actor who is nearing the end of his era and finds it difficult to let go; Manny Torres is a film assistant who succeeds as a film producer; and Sidney Palmer is The characters go through a fair amount of hardships.
In the end, Babylon is the kind of movie that pretends to be saying something deep but isn't. Although it is encased in luxury, its essence is painfully shallow. Although practically every frame is filled with flash and luxury, Chazelle is unable to properly develop his characters beyond the flimsy narrative that makes up their on-screen adventures. Babylon fails to impress despite its flashy presentation, which could have easily obscured the weak plot underneath. The movie drags out the events to the fault of the movie because the tale isn't cohesive and the length of the movie doesn't help to cover it up.
The remainder of the ensemble is strong, but because Babylon prioritises grandeur above everything else, the characters are all weaker. Simply said, there is too much sparkle, and the movie almost drowns in it. In a movie that is essentially a brilliant nothingness, the characters are largely secondary. Its hollowness, both in terms of what it's trying to say and how it's attempting to tell it, cannot be made up for by the stunning cinematography and costumes.