Downsizing – Big concept, downsized execution

‘Downsizing’ looked really good from the trailer.  Yes, don’t all films?  It’s about – believe it or not – a world where, if you want to decrease your carbon footprint and get more for your money, you can be shrunk to a mere five inches tall and (effectively) live in a doll’s house-like world with your friends and loved ones.  I know the premise is a little ‘out there,’ but Matt Damon is the lead and it looked really funny.  And it nearly was. 

The film had two major stumbling points for me.  I was quite happy to suspend my disbelief in order to accept the plot.  However, the first fault came because I’d seen the trailer.  The film almost feels like two stories rolled into one.  The first half is basically the trailer, only full-length.  Therefore, if, like me, you’ve seen the trailer, then you’ve basically seen the entire first half of the movie – i.e. no shocks, surprises or new gags to come.

Then, at roughly the halfway mark, it feels like a completely different writer took over control.  The film ditches ninety per cent of its established characters and brings in a load of new ones.  Not only this, but the whole film feels weirdly-different from everything that’s set it up beforehand.  The first half is like a quirky romantic comedy and the second turns into a deep drama with heady political messages about the environment.

Matt Damon is likeable enough in the lead and if you’re a huge fan of his then you’ll enjoy it.  The supporting cast all do their best, but it’s the writing of the secondary characters that lets them down – they individual character arcs all seem totally unbelievable.  It’s like Darth Vader suddenly turning good halfway through the first ‘Star Wars’ film.

Also, was it just me or did the special effects seem a little on the cheap-looking?  With a story involving tiny people interacting with normal-sized people you’d expect them to blend the two seamlessly.  However, much of it looked very ‘blue-screen’ esque.

I know I’m sounding quite negative about it all, but, believe it or not, it is quite fun.  There are definitely good jokes that land in there (well, mainly the first half) so it’s not all bad.  I just wished that it had chosen one particular genre and stuck with it, rather than trying to be everything all at once.

5/10 a hard trek, a bit like unicycling to Mordor and back