Damien Chazelle’s Babylon hit screens worldwide on 23 December 2022. While early reviews of the movie were somewhat mixed, the latest reviews, which can also be read on Twitter, appear to have given an overall thumbs-down to Babylon.
The film was one of the most anticipated movies of 2022, especially since it is a film by Chazelle, an Academy Award winner, and has some of the biggest Hollywood names among the star cast.
Babylon: Plot, cast and run-time
The film has Margot Robbie playing the lead role next to Diego Calva and Brad Pitt. It is set in 1920s Hollywood when the industry was transitioning from silent films to talkies.
The film also includes prominent stars such as Jean Smart, Samara Weaving, Katherine Waterston, Li Jun Li, Jovan Adepo and Tobey Maguire.
It largely shows the unbridled decadence prevalent in the then industry, underlined by wild parties involving drugs and the rich driving their speedy vintage cars down the streets.
In other words, hedonism pumped by the era’s popular jazz music is on full display in Babylon.
The film is fairly long, with a run-time of 3 hours and 9 minutes.
Babylon gets negative overall critics’ consensus
Babylon’s first trailer, which was released on 13 December, was widely appreciated by viewers. Much of the praise was directed at Robbie.
Some prominent critics got to see the film in special screenings in the US in mid-November. While some of them praised the visuals in the earliest verdicts, others found the storytelling unimpressive.
As more critics delivered their verdict on the movie, the overall score of Babylon on Rotten Tomatoes fell from around 90 percent to just 59 percent based on 155 reviews (as of 23 December). Audiences, too, have apparently not liked the film. Based on 50 verified ratings, the audience verdict on Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an overall score of just 53 percent.
While nearly all criticism is focused on the execution of the movie, unanimous praise has been showered on Robbie and other stars for their respective performances in Babylon.
Of the five nominations the film has received at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, Robbie got a nod for Best Performance in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. She has also received a nomination for Best Actress at the 28th Critics’ Choice Awards.
This is why the Australian star is a strong contender for her third career Academy Award nomination in 2023.
Twitter reviews for Babylon
Babylon, Damien Chazelle’s 3+-hour epic about the decadent final days of the silent era, is impressively shot & packed w/ dazzling set pieces, but its commitment to bombarding the audiences w/ spectacle & excess means the characters & story get left behind.https://t.co/2r12UHwR5J
— Dana Stevens (@thehighsign) December 23, 2022
Buuuuuulllshit. https://t.co/FC0iG3ukLD
— Richard Whittaker (@YorkshireTX) December 22, 2022
BABYLON is Damien Chazelle doing the silent-to-sound era by way of early PTA. It felt warm and toasty to see him set fire to Paramount’s money: https://t.co/YSDZOGxz8r
— Scott Tobias (@scott_tobias) December 22, 2022
‘Babylon’ review: Damien Chazelle very nearly directs his way out of his own script problems, but… https://t.co/EDNK45NI3A
— Michael Phillips (@phillipstribune) December 20, 2022
Apparently in the small middle ground on a movie most people love or hate. Too robustly well-made to completely dismiss, too hollow to adore. Welcome to Babylon. https://t.co/1gLJSOWCxA
— Brian Tallerico (@Brian_Tallerico) December 19, 2022
Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt star in Damien Chazelle’s BABYLON, which – for my money – is one of 2022’s most exhilarating films. Just buckle up before you see it!
Read my review here: https://t.co/MH1i6lEwNN#BabylonMovie @babylonmovie pic.twitter.com/7ggsYUFog1
— Mike McGranaghan (@AisleSeat) December 19, 2022
Review: ‘Babylon’ is Damien Chazelle’s brilliant fever dream about old Hollywood https://t.co/3ePHRQPv1P
— Mick LaSalle (@MickLaSalle) December 18, 2022
The opening party is a stunner, and there are plenty more scenes to remember, but Damien Chazelle’s 309-minute maximalist BABYLON struggles to find a point of view among its characters, far overstaying its welcome. https://t.co/dXvzPNaOxA
— Peter Debruge (@AskDebruge) December 16, 2022
“An R-rated movie that plays like three PGs stacked on top of each other inside the trench coat of an NC-17…” @davidehrlich on Babylon in @IndieWire https://t.co/fMHHwm7Ijr
— Andy Hazel (@Andy_Hazel) December 16, 2022
Epic, messy, flawed but brilliant. Babylon review: ‘A cinematic marvel’ https://t.co/oI2cfqgixj via @BBC_Culture
— Caryn James (@carynjames) December 16, 2022
BABYLON: Damien Chazelle’s hot mess of sex, drugs, and silent films argues that the movies will live forever, it just doesn’t have any idea how.
the first hour is electric tho, and the last 15 minutes are a *wild* swing for the fences.
my review: https://t.co/jq8IgL2TIR pic.twitter.com/s6XptvyKTT
— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) December 16, 2022
“This is where your date, if you’re with the wrong one, nudges you and says, ‘Look, this is a single take!’”—one of several atomic-level dissbombs in @szacharek‘s must-read Babylon review.https://t.co/37yTcvsIET:
— Jordan Hoffman (@jhoffman) December 16, 2022
Point of order on some of these BABYLON reviews I’m reading: They are wrong; the movie’s terrific.
— Bilge Ebiri (@BilgeEbiri) December 16, 2022
(Main and Featured images: Scott Garfield/Scott Garfield – © 2022 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved./IMDb)
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Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
