rddden
Patema Inverted came out the same year after releasing a Web preview a year earlier it is very similar to Upside Down with the world being split in half by gravity. Upside Down does not do a great job with character development entry at all. The world feels more real than the characters. I have the impression that someone saw the 4 part Web series for Patema Inverted the year before and said "we can do that". The effects are great in this film though. Kudos to the digital effects team. I would recommend Patema Inverted instead. It is animated but is a better overall movie. This is a special effects exercise with a plot thrown in at the last minute.
Johnjronald-571-398268
The visuals in this film are drop dead gorgeous, and I mainly kept watching to see the camera work. I had already seen the anime movie Patema Inverted, which came out in 2013 (after this movie) and had very similar plot elements, but told the love story much more competently than this film. The final kiss-"I love you" is so unearned!...I think the script writer focused so much on the "mind- blowing sci fi*" elements (*read: silly elements) that the love story got very short shrift. The priorities should have been reversed...the "science" is patently nonsense, just a vehicle to tell the love story. Patema Inverted understands this and goes with it. Upside Down does NOT, and gets lost in the details of the strange world. There is a legitimate way to explore this strange world, as allegory, a la absurdist humor like in Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL, say, but not by taking the "science" of it all too seriously. The romance of this story should've borrowed a page from, say, Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore's Fifty First Dates...that would have made this a much better film. Adam comes off as less endearing than creepy-stalkery and Eden, to her credit, reacts as you might expect, at least initially. There are some very humorous moments in this movie, some intentional (bathroom scene in upworld) some not (I could't help laughing at Adam getting the "hot foot" and running through the streets with his shoes on fire...I know it's supposed to be a serious dramatic moment where we care about his fate, but I could not stop laughing). This movie is on par with Jupiter Ascending...it's a pretty but dumb science fiction yarn with an underdeveloped love story...it feels like a student film with an outsized budget than a quality movie.
juneebuggy
Didn't think much of this despite an intriguing premise and some dazzling special effects. Talented cast in Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunst who do their best here too but I still found the Romeo and Juliet-esqe romance lacking and the story itself kind of dull once the visual gimmick of opposite gravity wore off.The film sees Jim Sturgess as Adam, a man from an impoverished planet who falls in love as a teenager with Eden (Kirsten Dunst). She lives on the wealthy planet that exists above his own. Their two worlds pull in opposite directions and experience opposite gravity and to complicate matters further they are forbidden to intermingle due to strict planetary rules. After being separated by interplanetary-border patrol agents Sturgess risks everything to reunite with his love, taking a job at a vast corporation whose towering headquarters connect their planets.I can see though how some people will think this movie is absolutely brilliant or life changing like Brad Pitt's weird (Tree Of Life) or that Hugh Jackman thingy (The Fountain) but it didn't work for me that way.The visuals are gorgeous and unique though and I also enjoyed Timothy Spall 12/1/15
SnoopyStyle
Adam (Jim Sturgess) and Eden (Kirsten Dunst) come from two planets next to each other. The gravity from each planet only works on matter from its own world. Matters from different worlds start to heat up when they stay in contact. The Down-Below world is a rundown place while Up-Top has gained immense wealth through a corporation called TransWorld. Adam is an orphan after a TransWorld explosion killed his parents. Through his aunt, he learns about a species of bees that pollinates flowers from both worlds. He meets a girl named Eden from the other world. However the authorities intervene and the couple is separated. Ten years later, Adam is developing his formula for a cosmetic lift cream. He signs a deal with TransWorld and befriends Bob Boruchowitz (Timothy Spall) from the other side. He tries to contact Eden and finds out that the childhood incident has left her with amnesia.I like the romanticism and I like the visual aspect of these other worlds. However the concept is impossibly unworkable. The movie lays out the parameters right away but they don't make sense. As the movie goes on, I just keep coming up with more questions and no answers. I think it would work better as a fantasy rather than sci-fi. All the advance tech just reminds me that this world has internal logic problems.I do like the romantic feel of the movie. Sturgess is being a bit too jittery. It's off-putting. He really should tell her the truth much sooner. The movie could have replaced his silly little date. He should be trying to convince her of their past. It would be more intense and less precious. This is a good star-crossed lovers setup. The development isn't that good. I think if the filmmakers asked a few more questions about these worlds, the logic of the place could be improved.
AD
