Across the Universe

Impressions before seeing it
When I first saw the trailer a few years ago, I thought it looked campy. When I watched the trailer again more recently, I had a different outlook and really liked how the visuals and movement in the shots went with the music, and I became more interested.

How was it?
I know this movie has a bit of a cult following, and I suppose I can see why, but on most levels it just didn't do it for me personally. I like The Beatles, but - and this is also one of Glee's many flaws - I usually hate hearing covers of familiar songs because they're never as good as the originals. And that's just the music.

There is a story running through the many Beatles songs but I didn't really find it compelling, and the characters spent so much time singing and dancing to songs that weren't personal to them due to being well-established Beatles songs that I didn't feel like I knew them very well, and thus I couldn't connect with them during what were supposed to be the emotionally moving scenes. In fact, the integration of the songs with the story felt forced to me, hitting the audience over the head by naming all of the characters after names found in Beatles songs and turning some lyrics into lines of dialogue and/or actions for some of the songs that weren't sung. I actually found myself rolling my eyes when a character climbed in through a window and introduced herself as Prudence, followed up by Jude saying "She came in through the bathroom window." I don't know, maybe some people find that clever or cool, but to me it just feels hackneyed and lacks subtlety. And I can't put my finger on it, but I really didn't like Jim Sturgess as Jude. His onscreen presence bothered me enough that I disliked the character when I could have at least been indifferent to him. On the plus side, this movie does have some weirdly unique visuals that I enjoyed seeing on Blu-ray. Maybe worth one viewing for that, but I don't know if I'll be coming back for a second look.

Recommendation
I can't say I recommend it because there were just too many things I didn't like, though maybe I'll change my mind again in a few years. If you're looking for a musical that is truly awesome, I would suggest Once, 8 Femmes, or Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.