KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — If the fate of the free world depended on making a movie about aliens, which director would you entrust with that responsibility?
The obvious choice would be E.T. storyteller Steven Spielberg.
I wasn't planning on watching Disclosure Day as I haven't been a fan of his films of the last 10 years yet when the chance came to preview the film, ah, I thought, why not?
Much as I admire the breadth of Spielberg's work, I'm not always convinced by its depth.
Disclosure Day from its trailers seems more like a thriller that just happens to have aliens.
A hint of government conspiracy, Emily Blunt speaking in tongues, glowing children and a deer as an unexpected visitor... but what actually is Disclosure Day?
It's a movie about aliens.
Familiar beats, acting too good for material
The premise is right out of a UFO conspiracy textbook: aliens have existed all this time, they have been to Earth and the US government has done its best to cover it up.
Emily Blunt is in fine form as weather girl Margaret Fairchild aspiring to bigger, better things and wants out of Dodge, I mean, Kansas City.
Josh O'Connor by contrast to her shines nevertheless in his very understated portrayal of an Edward Snowden-type (explaining more than that would be too spoiler-y) and Colin Firth is utterly chilling as a world-weary, emotionally checked out spyboss.
The supporting cast are just as solid with Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo and Elizabeth Marvel being particular standouts in their roles.
Now that's my biggest problem with this film; the acting is near-sublime but the script is all over the place, a weird salad of espionage, Cold War and alien conspiracy theories.
Yes, I appreciate the attempt at a more cerebral narrative but the whole "the world is not black and white, it's shades of grey, does the end really justify the means" schpiel has been done better in the Final Fantasy games.
The pacing is like a car with a faulty transmission, sometimes sputtering almost to a halt (there is a panic attack scene that eats more screen time than it should) but then suddenly going full octane without warning.
Let's just say I would be very drunk if there was a drinking game involving how many times a black car appears on screen, and then crashed into another one.
With characters flirting with death, then driving really fast to get away from said death, I wonder if the real moral here is that the US really needs better public transportation.
As someone who works in the media I did find it a little affecting that the film actually still portrays the mass media, or in this case the broadcast media, as still the best way to reach the masses so they will hear what they need most — the truth.
Spielberg even manages a sneaky reference to the current "is this real" phenomena afflicting the state of the news today.
Should you watch it? If you're a non-disillusioned Spielberg fan, yes, immediately book yourself a seat, IMAX preferably, the film is at its most riveting in the wider format and, well, the comfier seats as it's a long ride at roughly 2.5 hours.
The film is flawed, mostly due to the writing but Spielberg still manages to squeeze out performances that are miles above the material and that, I think, makes it worth the ticket price.
Leave the kids at home, though, because the lack of any attempt at humour and the very heavy questions poised would probably put the youngsters to sleep.
But if you want an E.T. with more teeth (though less heart) and a less discombobulated War of the Worlds, Disclosure Day is still worthy of joining Spielberg's pantheon of "I am incredibly obsessed with aliens" cinema.
Login
