Why “Don’t look up” is not your typical apocalyptic movie
I couldn’t have been more eager to click on the play button for the new Adam McKay end of the year masterpiece. I mean with Dicaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill and Timothee Chalamet, who wouldn’t resist. But besides the star-studded cast and a the typical Armageddon trope this movie has lot more to offer.
An astronomy student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and professor Dr Mindy (Leonardo Dicaprio) discovers a gigantic comet which could bring a catastrophic destruction to the whole earthen civilization in six months. While the duo unrelentingly strives to avoid the imminent disaster and create awareness, the national politicians, the media and the businessmen turns a blind eye towards the real disaster, serving their own selfish gains. Will they really succeed in surviving a collision course almost similar to the one which had destroyed the dinosaurs? Well it’s all yours to watch.
This is all too real
With a brilliant script interwoven with caustic wit and hilarious allegories, Adam Mccay has satirised the social scenario in the current man-eats-man world. The frustration of the two scientists throws light at every nook and corner of the defective societal constituents. McKay has triumphed in mocking at every one of them including the power-hungry administration system, the corporate businessmen who actually run the administration and the flawed media which utterly fails to propagate the truth. The President Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep) and her son Jason Orlean (Jonah Hill) and their ignorance to an impending disaster as they are caught in their political sex scandals might remind you of someone. (Well I hope you can guess the name .) Mindy and Dibiasky finds solace in the media, which again turns to be another humoursitic debacle. Filled with half-witted and polished journalists like Brie Evantee(Cate Blanchett), the media apparently popularize the sensational and juicy stories filtering out the much needed truth. The sovereign cyber business tycoon Peter Isherwell, (Mark Rylance) whom I assume to be a mixture of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, takes control of the whole celestial survival mission for his own financial gains.
With his talented cast, McKay has indeed depicted everything from society’s inattentiveness to scientific discoveries, media’s short attention span, corporate control of national politics and the inefectiveness of the national government. McKay even throws a shot at the film industry commercialising the world-ending with a Hollywood release which is described just as a “Popcorn movie”
We really did have everything.
Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal of the feisty, rebellious student who can’t control her screams is phenomenal. Dicaprio, an anxious and edgy scientist and his panicked responses towards the whole situation proves the versatility of the actor. And all hail the Queen, Meryl Streep( **takes a bow**) has brought such hatred towards her antagonistic character that, well, she has succeeded in making it real. Cate Blanchett as the porcelain wax figurine of a journalist deserves another applause. Jonah Hill, man how do you manage to make yourself so annoying? Even Ariana Grande with her cameo has brought laughter into the story. (Did anyone get reminded of her role in Victorious?)
Don’t look away (from the screen)
Adam McKay has succeeded in plotting a script which touches almost all the socio-political scenarios of the decade. The story could be attributed to the forthcoming catastrophies of climate change and global warming and how the society disregards it until it finally arrives. Well the crowded cast of five Oscar winners and two Oscar nominees hasn’t certainly been in vain. I feel this movie is certainly a brilliant piece to celebrate the end of 2021 along with your christmas wine and turkey. Also don’t stop watching when the credits starts rolling, there’s something hilarious coming at the end. (If you are a marvel fan, well I dont have to remind.)
