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Critics Consensus: Psychedelic musical numbers can't mask Across the Universe's clichéd love story and thinly written characters.
Critic Consensus: Psychedelic musical numbers can't mask Across the Universe's clichéd love story and thinly written characters.
All Critics (172) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (91) | Rotten (81) | DVD (8)
The Beatles already survived one attempt by Hollywood to turn them into kitsch -- 1978's infamous Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band -- and so you have to wonder what they did to deserve Across the Universe.
If you're a fan of the Beatles and their music, of unconventional musicals (this isn't Hairspray) or even of Bono (he has a couple of songs), this trippy trip Across the Universe is one you won't mind taking.
The imagery is pretty astonishing -- Taymor treats some of the more fantastical moments as if she were making big-screen music videos -- and it's all very intelligently done. But it's kind of a silly idea, very intelligently done
Goo goo g'joob; save your money for the Help! DVD.
...the long and winding road that is Julie Taymor's opulent, eye-filling, and disappointingly uninvolving musical extravaganza...
Across the Universe isn't beholden to any stage incarnation. It owes its vision to the vibrant imagination of its director, who created a musical that reminds us how cultural-political events can change our tune.
Across the Universe is a good-natured (if sometimes enthusiastic to the point of corniness) romp.
Many will enjoy what is a veritable feast for the senses and the leads are easy to root for - just don't expect it to rock your world in any profound way.
The songs are jumbled here, and this may sound like nitpicking, but you can t explain the chaos of "Helter Skelter" or the sad melancholy of "Let It Be" without first touching on the hopefulness of "All You Need is Love" and patience of "Dear Prudence."
What a bloody mess.
Universe's generic storyline and literalist approach to the songs pull it down. Even a relatively simple love song like George Harrison's "Something" outclasses the relationship it illustrates here.
It's a little slow going in the start, but once their engines are revved up, every swirl and lick are thought out with care and love...
This ambitious pastiche musical is perhaps just too avant-garde - trying to fit so many Beatles songs and tropes into a cohesive, motivated story about war, class, love, politics, (and failing in a narrative sense) - but dang it all if those crazy, trippy symbolic scenes and performances don't just make you want to have whatever Julie Taymor is having, whether sex, drugs, or rock and roll. Jim Sturgess is the most soulful of down-and-out bums, and it's disappointing that he hasn't gotten more high-profile jobs.
Super Reviewer
The idea of a film telling its love story primarily through Beatles songs is great. An d while some versions of the classic tunes work better than others, the same goes for their according scenes. Overall, the film tries a little too hard, especially the political commentary of the late 60s is unnecessary and forced. A shorter, much more focus movie would have worked so much better. That doesn't change the fact that some, not all, of the music sequences are magical.
This may sound harsh, but "Across The Universe" is basically a Beatle-themed "Glee" movie. This isn't necessarily an insult - if you like that show's alternate take on hit songs and how it incorporates the music into its plotlines, then there is no reason not to enjoy this film. If you don't like "Glee", I've probably already talked you out of it.
four stars
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