Whalefall

due to the vagaries of library wait times and the limited nature of 4dx screenings i only managed to make it as far in the book as when he makes it into the whale before seeing the movie so i have an odd incomplete perspective on the adaptation here. what struck me in the portion that overlapped was that the book has a sense of awe at the majesty of the architeuthis and the sperm whale that the movie for the most part doesn’t really try to capture with a couple exceptions — the moment when jay sees the night sky in the movement of the whale’s stomach walls is a notable and really beautiful one, and the echolocation scene was also visually interesting though in a different way.  what the movie lacks in poetry it more than makes up for in the nastiness and claustrophobia of being inside the whale. it’s gross as hell in there! a really big fan of the lensing it does when it gets close up on abrams's face to really drill it home (and in general a broad shoutout to abrams for making it work throughout the movie).  the commitment to the grittiness inside the whale makes the final act a bit of an abrupt turn; i can imagine it fitting perfectly into the language of the novel but it’s not really surprising that the audience i was in didn’t respond positively. it generally worked ok for me, but the final resolution (specifically the moment where brolin is holding baby jay) felt a little ham handed and perfunctory. kind of goofy to give him a slumdog millionaire backstory. regardless as someone who participated in the american mock trial association during the 2012–2013 academic school year, it was a thrill to see plot critical nitrogen narcosis on the big screen. 4dx was pretty well handled! in conversation with godzilla minus one; generally knew to save it for the moments where it really mattered, and even some of the more unnecessary effects had a bit of thought to them (specifically thinking of jay and his mom driving home from the cemetery early on and how the chairs not only vibrated but bumped on a cadence similar to a car). i never would have guessed the monstro level of kingdom hearts was so accurate!