Release Date |
March 15, 2013 |
Director |
Juan Diego Solanas |
Screenplay |
Juan Diego Solanas |
Distributed By |
Millennium Entertainment |
Budget |
$50 million |
Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction Rated PG-13 for some violence 100 minutes |
Upside Down |
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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 a visual effects presence that is much needed in this science fiction interpretation about love between two very different people.
With an amnesia plot device that messes with the film’s pacing and a convoluted story structure of changing rules, it is miraculous this film doesn’t completely fall off the deep end. Instead, it is held wonderfully in check by actors Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunst who both prove their statures in their own right. When there actually is a sense of urgency, the film comes together nicely, but when random events occur like men with dogs in the woods, its really a shame the film has to lose such a foothold.
Promising and enduring, “Upside Down” is a nice, romantic, science fiction endeavor, but straddles the borders between an above average fantasy piece and a nonsensical substandard sci-fi flick.