Am I strange for not loving Everything Everywhere All At Once?
Just got around to watching it for the first time tonight. We had so many people tell us we'd love it and need to watch it, so it was high on our list. Great cast, and it won so many awards.
I didn't hate it, but I was left scratching my head over all the hype. I like odd movies and books, so it's not that I couldn't handle the weirdness. It seemed like in the same vein as Scott Pilgrim, and if you told me it wasn't a bit box office but got a cult following, I'd totally believe that.
My wife felt exactly the same way. Maybe it's just one of those cases where there was too much hype for us, but I felt kind of let down.
I watched it without knowing much about it. It's absurdist and it does that fairly well for most of the movie. It's also shot and performed pretty well. There was some good action choreography, and thoughtful design. It pulled on the heart strings and had some powerful messages in it. The style was also striking.
On the downside it felt like it was trying to be a fusion superhero movie. For a movie it had appreciable depth as a piece of existential absurdist work. However, I felt that depth in the end was still relatively shallow - it's just that there aren't many competitors in the movie space. Much of the action didn't feel like it built or had meaningful stakes, it felt more like it was trying to meet a screentime quota from the producers.
I think pretty much everyone involved did quite well and put together a nice piece of art. However, I don't think it has the attributes of a classic. I can see it as a cult classic, especially with a segment of audience it really resonates. However I think it might be a little too Netflix-y to have that kind of staying power. On the other hand it seems was marketed or else spread organically very well, so that could help it.
Still, I think I and a lot of others saw the credits roll and felt that it was missing substance at its very core. I believe the story itself, and the unfolding of it perhaps, is one of the weaker elements. It retains a great tension through it nonetheless, but this tension snaps as soon as the movie is over.
I think it is appropriate that it is considered a good movie, but I don't think you are weird for not loving it.