The Great Gatsby Review

Yes, yes, yes. I’m finally getting around to talking about The Great Gatsby! My god, it’s actually taken me much longer to watch this film in the cinema than I originally thought. I was meant to see it opening week but then I literally just pushed it back, week after week and I almost thought it wouldn’t happen. But luckily I saw on Friday last week and now I’m gonna review it so please keep reading! 😀

When it comes to the story it can be summarized like this:

“The 2013 version of The Great Gatsby is an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbour, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby’s nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await.”

This film really unfolded very differently than what I was expected. I didn’t expect there to be such a focus on Nick Carraway and his perspective, I knew he was part of the film but I didn’t expect his character to get as much screen time as he did. But I did like the story for the most part, it started out interestingly enough, but I don’t think it was until Carraway came into contact with Gatsby that the film really gets interesting. What follows is a good amount of mystery, drama, love and misfortune. There’s a lot of secrets and lies going on in this film and I love that focus and how it unfolds. I’d say that the film starts to slow down and get a little question in the romance between Gatsby and Daisy but eventually things pick up again after that.

When it comes to the cast they are really the people that bring the film to life especially when it comes to the main cast. Let’s start with Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby. I dunno why I never liked DiCaprio before Shutter Island came out, either way after that he’s made several films I’ve seen that’s all been good for the most part and his performance in this film is also very good. Gatsby is a very friendly yet mystery character and no one really knows him besides Daisy and Nick and I loved how he interacted with people and his reasoning behind his parties. DiCaprio gives a lovely and powerful performance and I love seeing him freak out in films because it’s just totally cool.  Then there’s Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, I thought Maguire was awesome, this probably his best role since his appearance in Brothers. Sure most of us will remember him as Peter Parker in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, but he really is a great actor with talent and knows how to handle dramatic films. I loved seeing the film from Nick’s perspective and how he was getting integrated into this lavish lifestyle and what kind of crazy and unexpected events go down.

Now let’s talk about Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan. I haven’t seen too many film with Carey Mulligan in them, but she was very good in the film. You could see that Daisy as character was complex and her history with Gatsby was an interesting one to find out about. Though when you look at her character over the course of the film she really is a bit of a bitch, leaving her cousin as the third while when she’s hanging with Gatsby and totally messing with the emotions of the men in her life, so cruel. Also Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan is really good in the film, I had heard great things about his performance prior to seeing this film but around halfway to two-thirds into the film you see why. His acting is impressive and I like how bitter and complicated his character gets once Gatsby comes into Daisy’s life.

Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker was nice, her character was an interesting, posh and likeable person who for some reason took a liking to Nick and became part of the story through knowing Daisy and Gatsby. Debicki was awesome, hot and acted very well in her role. Jason Clarke as George Wilson was good too, I was surprised to find out how his character tied into the film and for the most part I liked him. And lastly Amitabh Bachchan as Meyer Wolfsheim was good as a friend of Gatsby, but also had a sort of shady and questionable persona.

When it comes to the presentation there was a lot of CGI used and I seriously wasn’t expecting that much to be in the film but it was used when necessary for a lot of cool establishing shots, wide angles, transitions and memory sequences. Now when it comes to the soundtrack this is where things will get a little questionable. At first I so surprised by how much of a hip-hop and R&B sound the film had, then I remembered that the soundtrack was handled by Jay-Z and that’s when everything started to make sense. I love Jay-Z’s music and while I would have preferred more music reflective of that time period, the way Jay-Z handles his catalogue of music and scatters it across the film is nice, impressive and surprising. There’s a point when a rendition of “Crazy In Love” by Beyoncé comes on and that was the most random if somewhat pleasant surprise I came across in this film.

In conclusion The Great Gatsby while it wasn’t what I was expecting, it was still some impressive stuff. I really liked uncovering the mystery behind Gatsby life and the performances from the cast really make this film worth watching. The film didn’t blow me away but I still enjoyed what I watched immensely and I can easily recommend the film even if most people have seen it already haha.

Rating: 8/10 (A pretty impressive film with fine performances all around)

So what are your thoughts on The Great Gatsby? Did you like it or hate it? Leave me your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next film review yo. 🙂