my review of Everything Everywhere All at Once [EEAAO].
*** SPOILER ALERT !!! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS !!! ***
SCRIPT / STORY : overall, EEAAO's story feels underdeveloped & superficial; it lacks real human emotionality—characters feel like cartoons rather than flesh-and-blood humans. i've heard this movie be described as original. traveling & switching universes, dimensions or worlds is not an original idea; it's been around for a long time. EEAAO could have provided a new perspective, new understanding and new version of that idea... but it doesn't. moreover, in my view, EEAAO's concept of switching universes contains unanswered questions. let's look at this example: if A1 is a person in one universe and A2 is another version of that person in another universe.... when A1 is switching to A2, what happens to A1's body? does the body remain vacant until the "soul" returns? and... what happens to A2's "soul" when A1's "soul" takes over? which aspects of a person switches universes and which aspects of them remains? EEAAO's concept—and portrayal—of switching universes seems to be based on surface-level and simplistic understanding of the theory of multiverse.
in addition, story arc of EEAAO is predictable; it lacks any suspense or any surprises. almost from the very beginning, while watching it, i had a feeling that the central character will switch to other universes yet come back, in the end, and choose to remain where she started. it's a relatively common formulaic story arc in fictional works.
CHARACTERS : to me, the character of Evelyn comes across as unlikable. i'm not sure whether that was all due to the writing or the performance, or a mix of both. at the beginning of this movie, she is portrayed as a grumpy parent who is uncomfortable with her daughter's sexual orientation. in addition, she doesn't seem to be doing her taxes properly and can't pay attention during her visit at the IRS. presenting the central character in such unfavorable light, if it's intentional, is a counterproductive choice, in terms of grabbing and holding audiences' attention. did the creators of EEAAO assumed that all audiences will admire and connect with the central character just because she is the central character? if so, then that wasn't a sound assumption. main characters (i.e., protagonists) can have flaws but they should also possess some likable traits—such as innocence, for instance—so that viewers root for them. i feel that the central character, Evelyn, has no redeeming qualities. in fact, i felt more connection and more empathy towards Deirdre, the IRS inspector, who is in a villainous role. at least, Deirdre feels more like a real person who is just trying to do her job. Evelyn comes across as only a victim of her circumstances—merely "going through the motions"—without any charm nor enthusiasm.
PERFORMANCES : supporting actors, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu and James Hong did an outstanding job ! bravo ! unfortunately, i can't say the same for Michelle Yeoh; to me, her performance feels underwhelming and unmemorable. i don't feel that Michelle brought charm, depth and vitality to the role, which could be due to how her character was written; it may not be her fault. i don't know how much freedom directors of EEAAO gave actors to adjust, shape and change their characters. it's been said that the central character was initially written for Jackie Chan. i wish we could see him in that role ! maybe in another universe, if there are infinite universes, he plays the central character of EEAAO. ha!
EDITING / VISUAL EFFECTS : visual effects are cool & interesting ! the editing, in general, is impressive, considering how much work went into it. however, the speed of editing cuts are too fast and too jarring for me. as a result, it was difficult to follow the story, especially in the beginning. the pacing of the entire movie is too fast, in my opinion. i wonder if the first draft of EEAAO was very long and therefore they had to make faster editing cuts in order to shorten its length—i don't know.
GENERAL COMMENT : although, generally, i wasn't impressed by EEAAO, i do respect all of the work and enormous amounts of effort that went into it. it has elements that i enjoyed. supporting actors' performances are excellent ! cinematography, costumes, hair and makeup—as well as production design—are great ! however, while EEAAO contains a lot of entertaining visuals, it lacks real and relatable human emotionality. in addition, it has a predictable story arc, unlikable central character and a lot of jarring editing cuts.
CHANGES : what could have been done to improve EEAAO? at the very least, the pacing of the movie should have been slower. in addition, even though EEAAO is presented as a feature-length movie, it may have been better as a series, consisting of multiple separate episodes. also, the focus should have been on only 1 or 2 other universes, giving audiences time to understand and connect with those other worlds, instead of going back-and-forth between bunch of universes at fast speeds—providing short and superficial views of them. furthermore, alternate universes that are included should only have few differences—instead of big differences, such as the one where characters are simply rocks. in my opinion, above-mentioned changes would probably make EEAAO a more interesting, more relatable and more grounded story.
© 2023 simon benjamin
*** SPOILER ALERT !!! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS !!! ***
SCRIPT / STORY : overall, EEAAO's story feels underdeveloped & superficial; it lacks real human emotionality—characters feel like cartoons rather than flesh-and-blood humans. i've heard this movie be described as original. traveling & switching universes, dimensions or worlds is not an original idea; it's been around for a long time. EEAAO could have provided a new perspective, new understanding and new version of that idea... but it doesn't. moreover, in my view, EEAAO's concept of switching universes contains unanswered questions. let's look at this example: if A1 is a person in one universe and A2 is another version of that person in another universe.... when A1 is switching to A2, what happens to A1's body? does the body remain vacant until the "soul" returns? and... what happens to A2's "soul" when A1's "soul" takes over? which aspects of a person switches universes and which aspects of them remains? EEAAO's concept—and portrayal—of switching universes seems to be based on surface-level and simplistic understanding of the theory of multiverse.
in addition, story arc of EEAAO is predictable; it lacks any suspense or any surprises. almost from the very beginning, while watching it, i had a feeling that the central character will switch to other universes yet come back, in the end, and choose to remain where she started. it's a relatively common formulaic story arc in fictional works.
CHARACTERS : to me, the character of Evelyn comes across as unlikable. i'm not sure whether that was all due to the writing or the performance, or a mix of both. at the beginning of this movie, she is portrayed as a grumpy parent who is uncomfortable with her daughter's sexual orientation. in addition, she doesn't seem to be doing her taxes properly and can't pay attention during her visit at the IRS. presenting the central character in such unfavorable light, if it's intentional, is a counterproductive choice, in terms of grabbing and holding audiences' attention. did the creators of EEAAO assumed that all audiences will admire and connect with the central character just because she is the central character? if so, then that wasn't a sound assumption. main characters (i.e., protagonists) can have flaws but they should also possess some likable traits—such as innocence, for instance—so that viewers root for them. i feel that the central character, Evelyn, has no redeeming qualities. in fact, i felt more connection and more empathy towards Deirdre, the IRS inspector, who is in a villainous role. at least, Deirdre feels more like a real person who is just trying to do her job. Evelyn comes across as only a victim of her circumstances—merely "going through the motions"—without any charm nor enthusiasm.
PERFORMANCES : supporting actors, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu and James Hong did an outstanding job ! bravo ! unfortunately, i can't say the same for Michelle Yeoh; to me, her performance feels underwhelming and unmemorable. i don't feel that Michelle brought charm, depth and vitality to the role, which could be due to how her character was written; it may not be her fault. i don't know how much freedom directors of EEAAO gave actors to adjust, shape and change their characters. it's been said that the central character was initially written for Jackie Chan. i wish we could see him in that role ! maybe in another universe, if there are infinite universes, he plays the central character of EEAAO. ha!
EDITING / VISUAL EFFECTS : visual effects are cool & interesting ! the editing, in general, is impressive, considering how much work went into it. however, the speed of editing cuts are too fast and too jarring for me. as a result, it was difficult to follow the story, especially in the beginning. the pacing of the entire movie is too fast, in my opinion. i wonder if the first draft of EEAAO was very long and therefore they had to make faster editing cuts in order to shorten its length—i don't know.
GENERAL COMMENT : although, generally, i wasn't impressed by EEAAO, i do respect all of the work and enormous amounts of effort that went into it. it has elements that i enjoyed. supporting actors' performances are excellent ! cinematography, costumes, hair and makeup—as well as production design—are great ! however, while EEAAO contains a lot of entertaining visuals, it lacks real and relatable human emotionality. in addition, it has a predictable story arc, unlikable central character and a lot of jarring editing cuts.
CHANGES : what could have been done to improve EEAAO? at the very least, the pacing of the movie should have been slower. in addition, even though EEAAO is presented as a feature-length movie, it may have been better as a series, consisting of multiple separate episodes. also, the focus should have been on only 1 or 2 other universes, giving audiences time to understand and connect with those other worlds, instead of going back-and-forth between bunch of universes at fast speeds—providing short and superficial views of them. furthermore, alternate universes that are included should only have few differences—instead of big differences, such as the one where characters are simply rocks. in my opinion, above-mentioned changes would probably make EEAAO a more interesting, more relatable and more grounded story.
© 2023 simon benjamin