by Reviewrz

Created on: March 07, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Babel is a very watchable movie. Its running time of nearly two and a half hours didn't seem that long, which I always take as a sign of a movie that I enjoyed. It presents a lot of thought provoking themes in the cultural and communication barriers that it highlights, which means that this movie is more than just a way to kill some time - you have learned something (perhaps about yourself) once you've watched it.

The movie centers around a number of subplots that seem separate until they are tied together at the end. The plots have purposely used a number of different ages, countries, languages, and religions, with American children, a Mexican nanny, a deaf Japanese girl, a Moroccan family, and two feuding American's, who are 'holidaying' in Morocco. Each character is well developed, and the viewer can't help but feel empathy with them, which is perhaps one of the most important qualities in a successful movie.

The cinematography was very good, with a number of very powerful scenes - especially ones that involved the deaf Japanese girl. The camera work was complimented with a very good soundtrack, which emphasized the emotions of the more powerful scenes.

Before you get too carried away and go watch/buy/download the movie, it definitely does have negative points. Although the movie was not too long, it could have been shorter. The balance of developing characters and keeping the movie within the normal person's attention span was perhaps a little bit off, although not everyone would share this opinion.

I also believe that the plot was very weak. I think that the reason why this movie has done so well is because it appeals to the viewers emotions, and people tend to overlook the movie as a viewing experience. Babel uses the new flavor of the month, which is separate plots that weave together. Whilst this is a great idea in principal (and in fact, most of my favorite movies employ this technique), it appears that it was done without much thought, as the connections are quite superficial, and don't add much to the movie. To see a real example of a complicated plot that comes together, I recommend 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', or more recently, 'Lucky Number Slevin'.

Another point which I had some issues with is that a lot of the stories in Babel finish unresolved. Perhaps this was a conscious decision, to highlight the fact that cultural barriers cannot be broken down easily, and maybe even shouldn't be. But I had a problem with this, for a similar reason to the above issue. As a viewing experience, I want closure and a full stop at the end of the movie. Babel doesn't have this. Again, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but this is a warning that you won't watch it feeling warm and fuzzy at the end.

So, I am not going to give this movie a star rating, because to be honest, I don't even know how I felt about it. I would recommend this movie, but don't be disappointed if you just don't get around to seeing it.

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