Infuriating and delightful in equal measure, CASTRO rarely presents itself as a conventional thriller. Or a conventional comedy. Or a conventional anything, really, which is why I found it so compelling.
A manhunt chase film by way of Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL and sporting rapid-fire badinage that couldn't possibly be spoken by real humans (yet sounds like music coming from the lithe, game cast), it's a film that asks many questions of life and receives few answers. Far from being unsatisfying,…
About as damning an anti-war film as has ever been committed to film, and a near-perfect realisation of the saying "shit rolls downhill". Power may corrupt, but it also makes for pompous, apathetic fools in high office, which is arguably far worse.
Awful in the way only bad remakes can be. There's nothing inherently wrong with the technical filmmaking on show, but the vulgar superficial warping of Park Chan-Wook's original film feels forced and unnatural where the 2003 movie is graceful in its inevitability. It also doesn't help that, while Spike Lee is no slouch cinematically, his visuals come off as sloppy when compared to Park's masterful, elegant compositions.
Other things that hurt the film include Brolin's detestable characterisation (who would want…
