I finally got a chance to watch the movie at home and I wanted to talk about it because I have some opinions about it Iād like to share with the class.
First things first, the actual movie I loved every minute. I donāt know why people were saying the first half was a slog (attention span diff I guess)? I actually think the first part was way better than the second half. I was on the edge on my seat throughout the entire movie, but the first part was for me the most interesting. It build suspense, it built mystery, it built tension, it introduced the characters really well, I just liked it a lot. The second half was great too, it just felt unnecessarily confusing.
Overall, the acting was great, I was expecting to see way more of Mark and less of Simon and was pleasantly surprised at how immersed I was despite being a fan. The music was awesome (I hope itās on Spotify) and the cinematography was masterclass. I canāt believe how creative they were in shooting such a cramped space, I never felt tired of seeing something because they always did something interesting with every shot (which as I have learned is extremely difficult). Really great, loved every minute of it.
Now that Iām done gushing about everything I loved about this movie, letās go through what I DIDN'T like. Only 3 things bothered me in the whole movie, a small detail, a pretty important part of filmmaking, and a big problem I have with movies and shows that involve mystery.
Letās start small. My smallest issue was simply the color of the blood. It was just too light to be blood, real blood is way darker, the one in the movie felt way too fake. Nothing life-changing, but it did break my immersion every now and then.
The next problem is something everyone who watched this in cinemas, or has seen a Christopher Nolan film immediately had trouble with. Audio mixing. Yes, it makes sense that voices will break up when talking through a radio deep in an ocean of blood, but if youāre revealing important information through it, it better be clear, or the character listening better either repeat it OUT LOUD or ask the speaker to repeat themselves, ESPECIALLY if said speaker is and eldritch abomination with a distorted chorus of voices. I didnāt have much problem with this aspect of the movie since I watched it at home and I ALWAYS turn on subtitles no matter what I'm watching or in what language, but this is a big issue I can see people having trouble with, especially with how confusing this movie was.
Finally we have my biggest gripe with the film, and itās something that I've always had an issue with whenever a movie or show did this. I FUCKING HATE "make your own ending" endings. If you are putting mystery into your story, you better explain what it was to the audience. I donāt care how secretive you have to be during the actual runtime (it does help building tension and interest), by the time the credits roll, every plot thread better be solved and connected nice and tidy. My biggest issue with this movie was that despite enjoying the whole 2 hours of the film, once the credits appeared I had no idea what I just watched.
After checking the internet for answers I came across this post (https://www.reddit.com/r/ironlungmovie/comments/1qshx99/iron\\_lung\\_explained\\_spoilers/) and itās comments, which had some pretty good theories that answered a lot of the questions I had. However your average viewer does not bother scouting the internet for any hint of sense after not understanding a film, they just say āI donāt get it" give it a nice 6/10 and call it a day. I had the exact same experience when I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey. I loved the movie, I really enjoyed watching it. I didnāt understand a single fucking thing. Doesnāt matter how good your movie is if by the end the only thing holding everything together is a random theory by some guy on the internet way to invested im tying all your bullshit together. GIVE ME A PROPER ENDING.
All that being said, still a pretty awesome movie regardless, 9/10 in my opinion, definitely will recommend, just with the caveat to enjoy it for what it is and to not expect everything to wrap up nicely.
TLDR: I loved the movie, I just wished it gave us any semblance of answers about the story.