The premise and execution of the film is what kept me engaged but the overarching story felt a little played out and predictable. I found the choice to keep the characters rooted in Czech origins an interesting one in light of the fact that none of them attempted any sort of accent. Knowing the director of "Chernobyl" was behind this film made that a little easier to accept but even in that masterpiece it took me a little while to accept the non-accurate accents of the characters that made way for some truly outstanding performances.
Sandler does just fine, but I did wonder at one point what another, more experienced dramatic actor could have done with the role. His voice, inflections and mannerisms are so recognizable that it took me out of the moment in a few instances. I will say you do feel his despair as his loneliness and self-doubt take hold and he questions his own sanity when encountering the spider. However as he goes through his own process of self-discovery, its hard to identify a real change of heart in the man on the screen. Perhaps with more epilogue that could have happened, more on the ending later.
The spider itself was a somewhat confusing and unsettling element to drive forward his own self-analysis but I grew to accept it and feel the bond there between Sandler and his companion (Paul Dano did a great job, I felt, with the voice acting). But we never got an explanation of how he got there, whether he was real or imagined, or why the character was what he was, chosen or otherwise. I'm ok with a little ambiguity there, but it seemed like a wasted opportunity to add some bite to the premise to draw people in more than it did.
As for the ending, I was just hoping for a more impactful moment or series of moments than the one we got. It reminded me of Kubrick's "2001" in some ways and "Interstellar" in some others and really felt like it was building toward something more profound but ultimately there was not much of a payoff or anything terribly unique about how it was landed at the end of the story. We can assume where the titular character's life goes next but only based on a a few minutes of visuals absent of any meaningful dialogue.
I think some people will really love this film for some pretty good sci-fi world-building and the realism it delivers in that vein. I also think some people will really love the message delivered so I would recommend it to people for a watch for them to draw their own conclusions. But for me, I won't likely watch it again as it didn't bring much new to the table in terms of filmmaking based on what else I've seen. I will say that the movie has stuck with me somewhat in the days since I saw it, something I really value in a film, but mostly because it left me wanting just a bit more.
Sandler does just fine, but I did wonder at one point what another, more experienced dramatic actor could have done with the role. His voice, inflections and mannerisms are so recognizable that it took me out of the moment in a few instances. I will say you do feel his despair as his loneliness and self-doubt take hold and he questions his own sanity when encountering the spider. However as he goes through his own process of self-discovery, its hard to identify a real change of heart in the man on the screen. Perhaps with more epilogue that could have happened, more on the ending later.
The spider itself was a somewhat confusing and unsettling element to drive forward his own self-analysis but I grew to accept it and feel the bond there between Sandler and his companion (Paul Dano did a great job, I felt, with the voice acting). But we never got an explanation of how he got there, whether he was real or imagined, or why the character was what he was, chosen or otherwise. I'm ok with a little ambiguity there, but it seemed like a wasted opportunity to add some bite to the premise to draw people in more than it did.
As for the ending, I was just hoping for a more impactful moment or series of moments than the one we got. It reminded me of Kubrick's "2001" in some ways and "Interstellar" in some others and really felt like it was building toward something more profound but ultimately there was not much of a payoff or anything terribly unique about how it was landed at the end of the story. We can assume where the titular character's life goes next but only based on a a few minutes of visuals absent of any meaningful dialogue.
I think some people will really love this film for some pretty good sci-fi world-building and the realism it delivers in that vein. I also think some people will really love the message delivered so I would recommend it to people for a watch for them to draw their own conclusions. But for me, I won't likely watch it again as it didn't bring much new to the table in terms of filmmaking based on what else I've seen. I will say that the movie has stuck with me somewhat in the days since I saw it, something I really value in a film, but mostly because it left me wanting just a bit more.