Guillermo del Toro Is one of those directors that can do no wrong in the eyes of most critics . I'm not buying that.
While I really liked some of his early stuff such as Blade ll and Hellboy , I thought Pans Labyrinth was overrated and The Shape Of Water and Pacific Ring were poor films.
Nightmare Alley is a partial return to form and probably the best thing he's done since Hellboy but it's still not without it's faults .
Bradley Cooper plays a man who joins the carnival and learns to manipulate people through mind reading deception . He later hooks up with a female psychiatrist played by Cate Blanchett who seems even more dangerous than he is.
Unsurprisingly for a Del Toro movie , this looks fantastic . The first half of the film which is set in the carnival is superb . You really do feel you have been transported into a world of freak shows and snake oil salesmen .
The second half , when Stanton ups his game and to tries to fleece the upper class , has the look and feel of The Great Gatsby and I didn't like it as much .
The story is a good one and I love the way it exposes that mind readers and mediums are frauds .
It cleverly shows you how these people prey on the emotions of vulnerable people .
Bradley Cooper is great and puts in the standout performance but Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette and Willem Defoe are really good too . The latter seemingly perfect for that carnival vibe .
My only real disappointment was the ending and that's probably more down to expectation.
I was lead to believe it had a bleak and shocking ending and while it's not a fairytale finish it wasn't half as grim as I hoped for .
I pondered on giving this 3.5 stars but settled on 4 . When I have more time to digest the film , that may change back .
While I really liked some of his early stuff such as Blade ll and Hellboy , I thought Pans Labyrinth was overrated and The Shape Of Water and Pacific Ring were poor films.
Nightmare Alley is a partial return to form and probably the best thing he's done since Hellboy but it's still not without it's faults .
Bradley Cooper plays a man who joins the carnival and learns to manipulate people through mind reading deception . He later hooks up with a female psychiatrist played by Cate Blanchett who seems even more dangerous than he is.
Unsurprisingly for a Del Toro movie , this looks fantastic . The first half of the film which is set in the carnival is superb . You really do feel you have been transported into a world of freak shows and snake oil salesmen .
The second half , when Stanton ups his game and to tries to fleece the upper class , has the look and feel of The Great Gatsby and I didn't like it as much .
The story is a good one and I love the way it exposes that mind readers and mediums are frauds .
It cleverly shows you how these people prey on the emotions of vulnerable people .
Bradley Cooper is great and puts in the standout performance but Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette and Willem Defoe are really good too . The latter seemingly perfect for that carnival vibe .
My only real disappointment was the ending and that's probably more down to expectation.
I was lead to believe it had a bleak and shocking ending and while it's not a fairytale finish it wasn't half as grim as I hoped for .
I pondered on giving this 3.5 stars but settled on 4 . When I have more time to digest the film , that may change back .