Director: Ramin Bahrani
Writer: Amir Naderi, Ramin Bahrani (Screenplay) Ray Bradbury (Novel)
Starring: Michael B Jordan, Michael Shannon, Sofia Boutella, Lilly Singh, Khandi Alexander, Keir Dullea
Plot: In a terrifying care-free future, a young man, Guy Montag, whose job as a fireman is to burn all books, questions his actions after meeting a young girl…and begins to rebel against society.
Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Dull and Uninspiring
Story: Fahrenheit 451 starts in the future where books have become illegal and firefighters job is to burn books, Captain Beatty (Shannon) and Guy Montag (Jordan) are our two lead firefighters, with Beatty about to get promoted. The Eels (the people behind the books) continue to fight for the true history with their identity being erased if they get caught with books.
When one of the investigations goes in a direction they can’t control, Guy starts to question the decisions to burn the books, learning from Clarisse (Boutella) about the culture that came before and fighting back against the system.
Thoughts on Fahrenheit 451
Characters – Guy Montag is the charismatic firefighter, one of the faces of the movement which burns the books, he starts to question his decisions about burning the books and the history being left behind, he could become the big part of the change needed. Captain Beatty is the mentor of Guy, the partner in firefighting, he is cold hearted through every action he does, truly believing in what he is working for. Clarisse is one of the victims of the burning, deleted from the records she is the connection for Beatty as he looks to eliminate other pockets of Eels.
Performances – The movie here has three of the best actors in the business today in, they struggle here, Michael B Jordan doesn’t give us any of the charisma we know he is capable off, just becoming background for the most part. Michael Shannon does the best work in the film as the man leading the firefighters, while Sofia Boutella is solid without being great.
Story – The story here takes us to a world where books are bad and if you were to be caught with them, you become burned, this is a remake of a film I have never seen, but it also feels like it should be called Equilibrium because the similarities are striking. We know how this type of story will go as the once great firefighter now wants to work for the other side questioning everything he has been doing. It doesn’t come off as original, it has poor pacing throughout and the story ends up feeling boring.
Sci-Fi – The sci-fi world we enter seems interesting, but we never get to explore why the books became banned and how the movement came about.
Settings – The film seems to be set in a modern looking world, which shows how efficient things are meant to be, but we never get to explore the different classes in this world.
Special Effects – The effects are solid enough, even if we don’t turn to them too often.
Scene of the Movie – The moment Guy starts to question everything.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It is too slow.
Final Thoughts – This is a slow moving movie that does ask a big question, we never get to focus on everything needed to make this interesting.
Overall: Slow moving throughout.
Rating
