Quick Review: Upside Down (2013)

March 15, 2013 / Leave a Comment

UPSIDE DOWN

BY CHRISTOPHER HASKELL
MARCH 15, 2013

Often overcomplicated and drawn out, “Upside Down” is ambitious from the start but loses ground when it tries too hard to be something futuristic and different. The cinematography is outstanding, resembling that of Terrence Malick’s work, with stunning, vast landscapes and much-needed visual effects, in this science fiction interpretation of love between two very different people.

With an amnesia plot device that messes with the film’s pacing and a complex story structure of changing rules, it is miraculous this film doesn’t entirely fall off the deep end. Instead, it is held wonderfully in check by actors Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunst, who individually prove their statures in their own right. When there is a sense of urgency, the film comes together nicely, but when random events occur, like men with dogs in the woods, it’s a shame the film loses such a foothold.

Promising and enduring, “Upside Down” is a pleasant, romantic, science fiction endeavor but straddles the borders between an above-average fantasy piece and a nonsensical substandard sci-fi flick.