The Death Of Stalin
Sometimes you see a film and at the end of it you say 'huh? What have I just watched?!'. The Death Of Stalin is definitely one of those movies!
I was really looking forward to this film, the trailers made it look hilarious. And, as for the cast, wow. You have the brilliant, hilarious and highly talented Jeffrey Tambor, who is just brilliant in the outstanding tv series Arrested Development. On top of that you have the brilliant Jason Isaacs, who is excellent in Star Trek Discovery, Michael Palin, Steve Buscemi and many more. Simply an outstanding cast. Plus a great director too.
So, why did I say 'huh' earlier? Well, because firstly none of them have Russian accents. Now I know it's satire, I know it's a piss take sort of movie so it doesn't have to be historically accurate, or serious but as the whole movie is set in Russia and based on the death of Stalin their former leader I think it is reasonable that the characters speak with Russian accents, just like Jennifer Lawrence did in the sexy and outstanding movie, Red Sparrow. In my mind hearing a collection of American and English accents for a movie set in Russia is just odd, satire or not. Especially if these are supposed to Stalins closest advisors. Very strange.
Another criticism I have of this movie is that sometimes the actors seem to be mumbling their lines a bit and not speaking clearly. It is a good job I was watching it through my Amazon Prime account so I could rewind bits of the film.
However, there is a lot of good to this movie too. On the whole, the director has done a great job as you cannot say any of the actors are 'phoning in' their parts. You can see the effort they go to to look convincing in their roles, non Russian accents aside. The music is also dramatic when needs be and appropriate to the movie. The sound is fine, except for the actors occasionally mumbling some of their lines, but I'm not sure if the blame for that lies with the sound person or the director.
This movie is also in parts, hilarious. Some scenes are just brilliant, for example when they poke Stalin to see if he really is dead. What is also interesting in this movie is how relevant it is to modern day Russia. It shows so much trickery and back stabbing and dodgy dealings which, if the British media and US media are to be believed, is relevant to Russia today.
It is a good history lesson of what goes on behind the walls of the Kremlin and a warning for the future, of that I cannot argue. The fact that it is presented in satirical format makes it more watchable and more bearable than your everyday slog of an historical piece. The great thing about this movie is that people who don't like history but like comedy will be taught an important historical lesson without even realising it.
To rate this movie is a tough thing, because it does so much well, e.g the comedy and the history lesson, but there are flaws, such as the accents and the actors occasionally mumbling some of their lines. I want to rate it highly, but I have to take the negatives into account.
In conclusion I'm going to give my first ever 3 and 3 quarters (or 3.75 stars) star rating. This is because it is way better than a 3 star movie but the flaws make it a teeny tiny bit worse than a 4 star movie. I would recommend you see it but only if it's free or very cheap to rent or buy. A good movie with a few issues but still well worth a watch with that cast, 3 and 3 quarters stars awarded.
*This review is all my own work, please don't reproduce without my permission but please visit my advertisers pages as they help keep the blog, thankyou. :-)
I was really looking forward to this film, the trailers made it look hilarious. And, as for the cast, wow. You have the brilliant, hilarious and highly talented Jeffrey Tambor, who is just brilliant in the outstanding tv series Arrested Development. On top of that you have the brilliant Jason Isaacs, who is excellent in Star Trek Discovery, Michael Palin, Steve Buscemi and many more. Simply an outstanding cast. Plus a great director too.
So, why did I say 'huh' earlier? Well, because firstly none of them have Russian accents. Now I know it's satire, I know it's a piss take sort of movie so it doesn't have to be historically accurate, or serious but as the whole movie is set in Russia and based on the death of Stalin their former leader I think it is reasonable that the characters speak with Russian accents, just like Jennifer Lawrence did in the sexy and outstanding movie, Red Sparrow. In my mind hearing a collection of American and English accents for a movie set in Russia is just odd, satire or not. Especially if these are supposed to Stalins closest advisors. Very strange.
Another criticism I have of this movie is that sometimes the actors seem to be mumbling their lines a bit and not speaking clearly. It is a good job I was watching it through my Amazon Prime account so I could rewind bits of the film.
However, there is a lot of good to this movie too. On the whole, the director has done a great job as you cannot say any of the actors are 'phoning in' their parts. You can see the effort they go to to look convincing in their roles, non Russian accents aside. The music is also dramatic when needs be and appropriate to the movie. The sound is fine, except for the actors occasionally mumbling some of their lines, but I'm not sure if the blame for that lies with the sound person or the director.
This movie is also in parts, hilarious. Some scenes are just brilliant, for example when they poke Stalin to see if he really is dead. What is also interesting in this movie is how relevant it is to modern day Russia. It shows so much trickery and back stabbing and dodgy dealings which, if the British media and US media are to be believed, is relevant to Russia today.
It is a good history lesson of what goes on behind the walls of the Kremlin and a warning for the future, of that I cannot argue. The fact that it is presented in satirical format makes it more watchable and more bearable than your everyday slog of an historical piece. The great thing about this movie is that people who don't like history but like comedy will be taught an important historical lesson without even realising it.
To rate this movie is a tough thing, because it does so much well, e.g the comedy and the history lesson, but there are flaws, such as the accents and the actors occasionally mumbling some of their lines. I want to rate it highly, but I have to take the negatives into account.
In conclusion I'm going to give my first ever 3 and 3 quarters (or 3.75 stars) star rating. This is because it is way better than a 3 star movie but the flaws make it a teeny tiny bit worse than a 4 star movie. I would recommend you see it but only if it's free or very cheap to rent or buy. A good movie with a few issues but still well worth a watch with that cast, 3 and 3 quarters stars awarded.
*This review is all my own work, please don't reproduce without my permission but please visit my advertisers pages as they help keep the blog, thankyou. :-)
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