The first reactions to Damien Chazelle’s ‘Babylon’ have arrived
Critics, journalists, and awards pundits in Los Angeles — and especially those who race to Twitter to offer snap reactions after big studio screenings — were in their element on Monday night, which marked the first public screening of Damien Chazelle‘s awards hopeful “Babylon.”
The film — a 183-minute fantasia about the early days of Hollywood picture-making — stars Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Jovan Adepo, Jean Smart, Samara Weaving, Li Jun Li, Lukas Haas, Max Ming Hella, and Tobey Maguire, plus newcomer Diego Calva in a lead role and reunites Chazelle with cinematographer Linus Sangren, who shot “First Man” and “La La Land,” and composer Justin Hurwitz, who has collaborated with the writer-director since his first indie, “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench.” All three of those collaborators won Oscars for “La La Land.” Editor Tom Cross, who won an Oscar for Chazelle’s “Whiplash” and was a nominee for “La La Land,” returns as well.
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Alas, despite the pedigree and high expectations as one of the final major Best Picture contenders to screen this year, many first reactions felt this new one lacked the tightness of a “Whiplash” drum.
EW’s Josh Roth Kopf felt it was a poor match of artist and repertoire, concluding that for all the bombast, it was “insightful.” Critic Scott D. Menzel called it “an ambitious mess” that was “all over the place.” Variety’s Clayton Davis allowed that “the first half was great.” Critic Ryan Swen admired Chazelle’s confidence, just felt he lacked the goods. The New York Times’s Kyle Buchanan, always eager to dish on the weird parts of a movie, commented about Robbie waving a dildo in Weaving’s face, and someone getting covered in elephant dung — all while referencing Nicole Kidman‘s oft-memed AMC commercial. (Whether these are positives or negatives remains a little ambiguous.) Collider’s Steven “Frosty” Weintraub simply commented on the movie’s coked-up energy, without offering his opinion. Oh, dear, you ask, did anyone like this thing? Yes, absolutely. Here are some positive responses from AFP’s Andrew Marszal, Cheat Sheet’s Jeff Nelson, critic Courtney Howard, and someone named Alison.
The chattering class in New York gets their first look at the picture on Wednesday.
“Babylon” is in theaters on December 23.