High Rise

(spoiler free)

Filmed just down the road from where I live I was even more intrigued to see ‘High Rise’ than I would have been normally. Although even without the filming location I thought the premise was interesting and I liked a lot of the names attached to the film. I was also a fan of Tom Hiddlestons last film, ‘Crimson Peak’ where many others weren’t so all in all I was fairly optimistic for ‘High Rise’.

I was right to be a fan of the names attached to the film as there are lots and lots of great performances in this movie. Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller and Jeremy Irons are just some of the more well known performers who work very well here. The standout performance is definitely courtesy of Luke Evans though. His appropriately named character, Richard Wilder, lends himself to a more engaging performance but Evans holds nothing back whilst playing this man and his desire for equality and exposing the truth. On a whole I was a fan of the characters here, with the setting of a high rise there was lots of potential for a wide variety of figures and that’s what the film offers. There are a couple of moments of humour too, I just wish this had been a more consistent element. Accompanying all our characters and their antics was a great score and at times awesome use of well known songs in ways not known so well, who doesn’t love a good ABBA remix, eh?

I’m afraid that this is where my praise for ‘High Rise’ ends though as the first few floors of the film were enough to entertain and engage me but as more and more was revealed I was less and less impressed. The film begins by showing the audience a scene almost at the very end of the film and then a ‘3 months earlier’ banner appears on screen. I have a real hate for this story telling technique, it can work when done well but here it’s not. It removes any suspense or interest in the building and whether or not it will be a success.  I thought that a lot of the shots of the buildings looked muggy too, I was hoping for some striking visuals in terms of these but I was almost always left disappointed with what I saw. The film quickly becomes old, I got the point so earlier on and it just ends up repeating itself over and over again until the credits role. I was so bored for a lot of the film and as a result the films run time seemed to go on for an eternity.  By the end of the film I had to come to the conclusion that the film was just unoriginal and a little pointless. I know the film is adapted from a book written in 1975 so people will argue it is original, however in those years where it lay just as a book other mediums have told its story and in much more entertaining ways.

So whilst ‘High Rise’ is impressive in it’s performances and wide range of characters these can only sustain your attention for so long. Everything else in the film becomes so monotonous and you’ll be urging the credits to appear. It’s all wrapped up in a nice soundtrack but for me there were just too many issues which stopped me from enjoying the film. This one will divide people, so if you liked it that’s cool but it just wasn’t for me.

Rating – 4/10

Question: What’s your favourite Luke Evans performance to date?

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Thanks for reading this review and please let me know what you thought about the movie! Leave a comment below or drop me a tweet over at @HCMovieReviews.

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