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Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A real shame as acclaimed British writers Dick La Frenais and Dick Clement's efforts have come to little. Dana Fuchs was very good, but I have already forgotten who the rest of the eminently forgettable cast were. Very disappointed.

Those four lads from Liverpool had unfortunately broken up before I discovered them on AM radio, but in my pre-teen years their singularly unique sound weaved it's way into my life and has remained there for half a century. How I missed the release of this wild ride of a film I can only attest to an ill-timed move across the country combined with the 2008 global financial crisis. Although a decade late taking it in, I would like to express appreciation to the talented team of professionals who lovingly crafted this ode to musical genius - a genius which transcended all that went before & possibly all that has come to be since- IMHO. A bit inspired I think by Mamma Mia! with a dash of Forrest Gump, this film brought back memories sad and happy as the familiar songs punctuated the films narrative... sparking reflections of people and events long past. This magical mystery tour may not be for everyone as it is not your typical musical fare, but for someone who lived through the tumultuous 60s and 70s, it struck a chord. As a Beatles fan, I loved it.

When this movie starts out, it presents a few promises.There is the promise of an interesting main plot. The promise of a few very interesting subplots. And of course, the overall promise that what you'll essentially see is a solid film with music mixed in at key points in the film for visual and plot effect.Those promises are well-kept until about a quarter of the way into the film. We get to know the main character and he develops. We follow a few supporting characters, and get to know them. And of course, the great music of the Beatles is used at very precise and fun times to carry the movie forward brilliantly.Then the whole thing collapses, as a movie, in my opinion. After a quarter of the movie passes, you are then presented with song after song after song after song after song after song, with barely any story or dialogue in between. That wouldn't be too bad of course if the songs truly pushed the plot forward along with what was on screen, but it doesn't. The visuals become more for entertainment and to serve artistic purposes than to carry forward anything that was previously established. At some point you realize that the plot and the overall story of this film takes a *complete* backseat to the Director's desire to make a series of visually stunning music videos for the Beatles songs. And the whole thing eventually feels tedious.But WHY does it feel tedious? The visuals and what's on screen are well executed. The music, of course, is great, and the 1960s vibe is fun.Well, it's tedious because you're essentially lied to. If the film started out completely honestly and established outright that this would be a front-to-back celebration of some great music with story as secondary, that would be fine. But that wasn't done. What happened is that you were drawn into a story to the point where you do indeed give the Director your time and feel commitment to the story being told. Your bring your half to the table because of the promises mentioned above, and quite frankly the film doesn't hold up its end of the bargain.Overall, this would have been much more enjoyable if the film was simply HONEST with it's own identity from the first scene. If it was, it would have been a hit out of the park.

"Across the Universe" is like a bad Beatles cover band. It means well, tries hard, and plays the band's catalog with love in its heart - but it's a waste of time. At the end of the show, you find yourself wishing that you had stayed home and listened to the real thing. Like most cover versions of Beatles songs, "Across the Universe" is awful, a poorly written and badly sung music video masquerading as a movie. The story is shallow, the characters paper-thin, and the musical numbers ridiculously over-the-top. That it drags some of the greatest pop music of the 20th century down with it just adds insult to injury.The plot, if you must: Lucy, Jude, Maxwell, Sadie and Prudence (get it?) sing Beatles songs as they move along with the change and upheaval of the 1960s, with each song representing a key event of the times. They drop acid while singing "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". They tune in, turn on and drop out to "Revolution". They get drafted to "Happiness is a Warm Gun". Finally, as if there was any doubt, they realize that "All You Need is Love".I wasn't there for the 1960s, so I can't say what those times were like for people coming of age in that moment of history. No one involved in this movie seems to know, either. The themes of the time - the anti-war movement, changing sexual mores, drug experimentation - are given such shallow treatment that they have no real resonance for the audience. It's as if the protagonists are standing outside of the world they live in, so apart from the scene that they could have walked in from another movie. They know the words, but not the music.Wow, do they not know the music. The cast members are all technically proficient singers, but they put no feeling, no soul, into their renditions of Beatles songs. Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood, who play star-crossed lovers Jude and Lucy, sing "Strawberry Fields Forever" during a breakup scene, but with none of the loneliness that John Lennon put into every syllable. Joe Anderson, who plays Maxwell, sings "With a Little Help From My Friends" during a party sequence, but his rendition has none of the childlike joy that Ringo Starr brought to the original. Sturgess' "Happiness is a Warm Gun", sung while he unconvincingly shoots heroin, is so bad it's offensive.Writer/director Julie Taymor makes each song into a ridiculously big set piece. The "Strawberry Fields" number has giant, papier-mache strawberries. "Happiness is a Warm Gun" is accompanied by Salma Hayek floating in a syringe. I don't think I can describe the "Why Don't We Do It In the Road?" number in a family-friendly blog.Taymor is clearly a devoted Beatles fan, and works really hard to make her audience love these songs. Thing is, the band doesn't need her help. The Beatles are part of our cultural DNA; they don't need to be introduced to new generations, because they have been transcending generations for 50 years. Like a bad cover band, this movie has no reason to exist, and just makes us pine for the real thing.