Downsizing promised so much but delivered so little as it went from a quirky comedy to a damp squib
All Downsizing kept saying was how much better Ant-Man was while forcing you to watch this insipid tale about life choices
This promised so much but delivered so little.
I don’t know what happened along the way, but what starts as a quirky comedy turns very quickly into a damp squib, forgetting it’s initial charming concept.
In light of global warming and overpopulation, the world is introduced to a revolutionary experiment - let a machine shrink you down to five inches tall and exponentially increase your net worth so each dollar you own now turns into $1000.
You’ll live in Leisureland where, you’ll need to do very little except enjoy your wealth.
A neat concept right? One that clever CGI lends itself to perfectly, allowing for fine comedy moments.
Seemingly only for the first 10 minutes.
Matt Damon is Paul Safranek - a straight laced Occupational Therapist - dull, dependable...standard Damon.
He and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) decide to cash their chips in and take the plunge - except she loses her bottle and leaves him stranded in small-mans land.
The second Wiig disappears, so does the film’s charm.
Whilst there’s plenty of Mike Teevee cuteness, and the initial hilarity which arises from the perfectly done shrinking scenes, as the films moves on - we get an insipid tale about life choices and an ecological doomsday.
There is light relief from Christoph Waltz as party boy Mirkovi, the first glimpse of Matt Damon and Hong Chau is brilliant as amputee activist Ngoc Lan Tran but it simply does not work.
MOST READ IN FILM
With so many visual gags being based on OH LOOK AT THE MASSIVE NORMAL THING it is baffling why this all of a sudden disappears.
I spent 40 minutes internally screaming WHY AREN’T THE BLADES OF GRASS MASSIVE IN NORWAY.
I don’t know what it’s trying to tell me apart from “Ant-Man was a lot more fun”.
Downsizing
(15) 135mins
★★☆☆☆