Review of Reviews

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

The first time I saw this movie, I was taken aback. It was probably one of the first “thinker” movies that I had ever seen. I thought that there must be more movies out there that are like this one, so I researched the director, Wes Anderson, and bought all the rest of his movies and was not disappointed in the least. I would have to say that my favorite aspect of the film is the character development. Zissou started off as a self-involved prick, but near the end he starts to realize that there are more important things. He sets out on this adventure to kill the “Jaguar Shark”, but when he finally does find it, he shows it to everyone so they believe him, then just lets it be. I absolutely love movies where in the end characters end of making the right decision, which is why I liked Casablanca so much. Another thing that I liked about the movie was the humor. I don't think that it is necessary to have humor in movies, but this was well placed. The dry, subtle humor fits perfectly and you can tell that it isn't just to get a laugh but to show what the characters are like. I also liked that it was kind of realistic, yet fantasy at the same time. There are certain aspects of the film, such as the sea creatures themselves, that are animated, and not the best animation either, which I think makes it better. It makes them stick out more and it seems almost like it is in a dream.

Carina Chocano, 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou', Los Angeles Times
“An exquisitely evocative movie that elevates rueful melancholia to a superpower”
Characters: What Chocano really commented on a lot is the characters. She goes through all the details of the main characters which basically says how well thought out they were and how each had a specific characteristic. “Because it is about man against the universe”, which is describing Zissou and how even though he is a celebrity, he is all alone.
Plot: She wasn't a huge fan of the plot. I believe she said, “is not exactly a plot-lover's pizza”. She also comments on how it is like Jacues Cousteau, which is what the movie was based off of.
Cinematography: What she really likes about the cinematography of this movie is the first seen. She talks about how in the first seen, there is a large “renaissance tableau” in the background and how it is common to “frame the vantage point”, which she says is very artistic.
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/chocano/cl-et-aquatic10dec10,1,1117692.story

Desson Thomson, 'Life Aquatic': Just Coasting, Washington Post
“A potboiler that doesn't seem pressed to do more than bubble contentedly”
Music: He comments on how he loves to here Seu Jorge sing David Bowie songs in Portuguese. He says: “You haven't lived until you've heard “Rebel Rebel” with a mournful, midnight-in-Rio flavor”.
Acting: Overall he like the acting a lot in the movie, especially Bill Murray. However, he didn't like Owen Wilson so much in this movie. He says that after Wilson's role in “Bottle Rocket, this isn't so good but “a mild disappointment”.
Characters: Thomson also didn't like the characters that much. He says, “the characters seem to have been implanted arbitrarily”, which is basically saying that they don't fit in and are really random. He also comments on are they are “single trait” and aren't really there for a reason.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17385-2004Dec21.html

Roger Ebert, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Sun Times
“The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is the damnedest film. I can't recommend it, but I would not for one second discourage it.”
Ending: I think that he likes the ending almost as much as I do. They went out to seek revenge and kill the jaguar shark that ate his best friend. Instead “they fall silent and just regard it, because it's kind of beautiful”. This ending is excellent because he is staring at the thing that killed his best friend, and all he can do is look.
Set: As a set guy myself, I like it a lot that he complimented Anderson for it. It is often a thing that is missed. He says that he likes the “cutaway front wall” because you can see everything that is happening in the room.
Colors: In this review he pays regards to the colors in the film. He says “The colors are like thehttp://www.mrqe.com/ pastels produced by colored pencils and kind of beautiful”, which is another thing that I haven't heard of much. Anderson tends to like the paler blue and yellow in this movie and it works really well.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041223/REVIEWS/41201010/1023

A. O. Scott, A Seagoing Showcase of Human Collectables, New York Times
“Mr. Anderson blithely heads for the open sea of self-indulgent make-believe.”
Acting: He really likes the role of Bill Murray and how he portrays it. He raves about how well he plays it and says, “his performance is a triumph over comic minimalism”.
Pace: Scott comments on how even though the pace tends to be slower than most, it makes a big part of the movie and wouldn't be the same without it because it makes a lot of the better parts.
Cinematography: In this review he talks about how the cinematography of this film is silly, which is a good thing. He compares it to “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” because of how imaginative it actually is.
http://movies.nytimes.com/2004/12/10/movies/10life.html?_r=1

Jonathan Rodriguez, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Christian Spotlight
“The film seems pieced together by an artist so smug in his previous successes that he feels anything he touches will turn to gold.”
Acting: The word that he uses a few times in this review is stale. He says that the acting is stale and doesn't have much to it, even though there are famous actors involved.
Characters: He comments a couple of times that the characters aren't that interesting. He says that since the acting isn't so good, it takes away from the characters, especially Murray who doesn't get any pity for his role.
Content: Well, considering it is a Christian review, I expected it to be a bit more harsh, which it was. He comments on how the language, nudity (although brief), and violence are all completely unnecessary.
http://www.christiananswers.net/spotlight/movies/2004/thelifeaquaticwithstevezissou.html

I would have to say I agree with most of the things that they say. They pretty much say a lot of the same things. Obviously, since this is my favorite movie, I would have to disagree with all the bad things they say, especially the Christian perspective. I don't really feel like going on a rant about how Christians need to become a bit more open minded, so I won't. But the one thing that I totally agree with in the reviews is Bill Murray's performance. His dryness is a magnificent. Even though that Mr. Rodriquez says that they are stale, I think that is almost how they are supposed to be. Anderson is a fan of dry humor in all of his movies. Another subject that I agree with in the reviews is the music. I could not stop listening to the Portuguese covers of David Bowie, done by Seu Jorge. They fit perfectly with the melancholy of the movie. A unique thing that I read about was the color scheme. He likes using the pale colors, which for some reason just fit the movie so well. Overall, I agreed with most of the reviews and even learned a few things that I really hadn't notice or recognized, even though I had seen the movie quite a few times.

Top 10

TOP 10

1.The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou- I think that this is my favorite movie because of the really dry humor and how Steve succeeds in the mission after a lot of trouble
2.Royal Tenenbaums- Another awesome movie by Wes Anderson that has dry humor. I also love how all the characters change for the better, even in a “non-kosher” way.
3.Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas- This is a straight up crazy movie filled with a whole lot of crazy antics and dare I say some drugs.
4.Burn After Reading- The entire movie you are questioning what is happening and where is this going. All of it really just leads to nothing, which adds a very unexpected ending.
5.Darjeeling Limited- This is a very interesting story that keeps you curious about what is going to happen next and how the three brothers end up.
6.Rushmore- Yet another Wes Anderson film about a high school student that is very funny, and ends in a very satisfying way.
7.Science of Sleep- A very very very unusual movie about a guy who can't figure out whether he is dreaming or awake and neither can you.
8.Into the Wild- This is about a young man who decides to live in the wild with no earthly limits. It is a very sad movie, but you almost feel happy about how it happens.
9.Reign Over Me- I have to say I like this film a lot because it shows what can happen to someone after a serious tragedy.
10.Snatch- This is a very unusual action film and even though action movies aren't my favorite, this one is clever enough to be awesome.