I decided to check this movie out after Ebert's 4 star rave review, and the cult status this movie has received (and was also intrigued by the sexy-looking Ultimate Edition), so I decided to rent it. I was VERY surprised at how different it was than I expected it to be - I expected a ton of violence and not much in the way of writing or acting. The first time I saw it, I wasn't blown away, just kind of like whatever.
When I watched it for the second time, however, I really started to notice how well it's made, in addition to liking it more. Every shot is bursting with background detail, a great amount of attention on the production design (the theme of a certain color in a scene was restrained, yet perfectly balanced). The actors really gave it all, especially the 2 male leads who really blew me away. The music is a varied mix of beautiful classical music and some pretty cool techno. The screenplay is brilliant; the characters are developed very well, extremely complex, and the plot is not only ingenious, but the payoff and twists are 1000x better than any Shamaylan movie.
Simply put, from a technical point of view, it's one of the best movies ever. From a critic's point of view, it is a very well-done movie that goes a little overboard in sex and violence, and is just a little strange.
