Review: 'Wonderstruck'

Since I saw Carol, I have always been keeping an eye on any of director Todd Haynes' future projects.

His style of directing really appealed to me and I would happily check out what projects he wants to explore next.

This particular one I noticed was based on a novel from the same author that wrote The Invention Of Hugo Cabret, which was made into a film by Martin Scorsese called Hugo, which is one of my favourites of this current decade.

While it is sadly massively inferior to Hugo, I felt pretty entertained by it. When you look at Scorsese's Hugo, you can see if directed the wrong way, it could have been far too melodramatic and over-sentimental. Sadly, the director seems to concentrate more on the schmaltz when it comes to the story.

But from a technical side, it is very impressive. The film splits off it two completely different genres to fit into its respective time period. It makes great use of silent cinema story-telling in one half of the story. There were some strangely powerful scenes in that portion of the tale.

There is also a funky and yet dirty look in the other, and it felt far too accurate to be true.

The story does move along pretty well and it kept me interested throughout, despite it almost touching the same amount of over-sentimentality of something like August Rush towards the end.

I thought the performances by the kids especially were really good. Millicent Simmonds was the stand-out. She perfectly fitted into the period her character was in and was a delightful screen presence. Simmonds could be a land-mark breakthrough in the acting profession. Once you see the film, you'll know why.

Oakes Fegley gave a strong and heart-felt contribution in his role and was impressive for his age. His chemistry with fellow youngster Jaden Michael was enjoyable to see develop.

Despite Julianne Moore being the biggest name in the cast list, she did not have much to do and was perfectly fine and yet unremarkable at the same time in her role.

There's not many other performances to speak of, apart from that I noticed Cory Michael Smith has a small role in this. You may know him from playing Edward Nygma in the Gotham TV series.

Haynes designs technically brilliant films, and this one is no different. The level of detail, the mechanics, and delicate style of editing of his films are fantastic to watch.

There is a use of models in certain scenes towards the end, and it looks impressive in its creation.

Sadly, its weakest department is its story, and that brings my rating for it down as that usually a film's most integral aspect. As I said before, Haynes and his team do go for a more schmaltzy approach. It's not totally sugar-coated. It's not at the end, where its at its most melodramatic.

It's also a bit on-the-nose at times, which is why it was obvious how it was going to end early on.

Even though I could see where it was going, the adventure and journey getting there is fairly enjoyable, sweet, and heart-warming for the most part.

It's a film where its craft and technical achievements are superior to the story. So there is a lot to like. But sadly, the story is nothing exceptional. But the other things happening around are really good to watch.

One thing I noticed is that I think kids can get really into this. It's definitely suitable for family viewing, and this would be a great way to open their eyes into other ways of telling stories in films rather than being a loud and bright feature with simple messages.

Rating: 7/10