Here Is My Movie Review of Water For Elephants
Now it comes to this film a lot of people really like the film and I never seen a single trailer to the film and their actors in this movie that I didn't even know were in it and so I watched the movie and i really enjoyed this film now it is very similar to Okja in terms of rewatch value because there are some really dark and intense moments in the film and it is based off of the book and it does follow the story really accurately even though they do change a couple things in the book the runtime of the film because some movies have to change a couple things so can be adapted.
Now the storyline is really accurate to the book because it revolved around this guy named Jacob Jankowalski who Tell his son the story of how he used to join the circus and fell in love with this girl named Marlene Rosenbluth who really cared about him and then there is this guy August Rosenbluth who is Marlene's ex-husband who then charge of the circus who tells Jacob that they have this elephant named Rose and he wants his circus to go well and so he can stay in power But Jacob figured out that August is a horrible person who essentially abuses Marlene and the elephant by hitting it in order to get to move and Jacob has to do everything in his power Take down August and protect the elephant while keeping his relationship with Marlene together. That is basically what the story is for the film and it really kind of reminds me of Dumbo 2019 because of the villain Who is very similar to VA Vandevere and they're both about people caring for an elephant.
The performances in this movie are incredible because the cast in this movie are really talented and I think this movie picked the right group of actors to play these characters even the actor that got to play the elephant was tremendous and everyone does a stellar job of giving some really emotional and some really intense performances as the characters and the acting is probably up there with the acting in Last Breath with Woody Harrelson as one of the best acted films.
Now let's talk about Robert Pattinson and because look he is one of the best working actress today he has given some tremendous performances whether it be in the Batman, The Rover the Lighthouse, The Devil All The Time, Mickey 17 and even something that I'm very mixed on like the movie Tenant he was terrific in that film as well. Now as for this film that is no different because Robert Pattinson probably give the one the most emotional and most beautiful performances he has ever given in his career because he does such a magnificent job of giving the character of Jacob JanKowalski So much heart and emotion it really does show in the more emotional scenes of the film. Now the character of Jacob Jankowalski Is incredible because you can tell that this is a guy who really cares about the circus and he really cares about Marlena Rosenbluth and wants to make her happy by the same time he also wants to protect the elephant from August Rosenbluth who mistreats the elephant and abuses Marlena. There are so many memorable moments with Jacob Jankowalski whether it is him falls in love with Marlene Or him caring for Rose the elephant it does lead to some really really beautiful moments in the film in particularly the scene evolving Jacob and Protecting Melanie from August Rosenbluth who is miss training her because he got jealous of her dating another guy and it does lead to some really powerful and some really beautiful moments in the film. The chemistry between him and Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz Tal is still incredible.
Now let's talk about Reese Witherspoon who is a really terrific actress. She is given some really captivating performances in some really incredible performances in films like Mud, Pleasantville, Monsters versus Aliens. But in this movie she probably gets one of the most emotional performances of her entire career as the character of Marlena Rosenbluth because she gives this character so much heart and emotion throughout the film. Now the character of Marlena Rosenbluth If someone you really feel bad for because she explains that she was mistreated in foster care her ex-husband August always trade her like garbage in the past and also in the present and she really cares about Jacob and Rose the elephant and she doesn't want anything bad happening to them. Now there's so many emotional moments with Marlena Rosenbluth Like her meaning Jacob for the first time and falling in love with him or her trying to stand up to August and tell him not to hurt the elephant and it does lead to some really powerful and some really nail biting moments in the film and the romance between her And Jacob is the strongest thing in the film because you actually buy the romance perfectly because the film develops that really well and the chemistry between her and Robert Pattinson is incredible.
Tal Plays the elephant Rose and she did a Stella job because rather than you didn't CGI for this elephant they actually trained her to do stuff on set and it was really amazing and and really fun and you can tell that Robert Pattinson bonded with the cell phone really well and the character of worlds you kind of feel bad for because August constantly beats the crap out of her and telling her to move and just treats the animal like garbage That's why the film that they glorious job of making you feeling bad for this poor elephant because it's getting mistreated by August who in the ringmaster of the circus. The scene where she goes on rampage is very intense but it was justified because the ringmaster August treats her like garbage by using her and not training her really well at all. Also the bond between her and Jacob is the strongest thing in this film. Also how ironic is that this movie uses a real elephant well Disney decides to CGI the crab for their new Moana remake rather than put in Jermaine Clement in a Motion capture suit so that just proves that this movie puts the modern-day Disney movies to shame with its effects because there are no special effects it's all done with practical effects and some of the actors did their own stunts. So that just proves that Disney failed with its special effects.
Now let's talk about Christoph Waltz who plays our main villain August Rosenbluth And his performance is probably the darkest performance of the the entire film because he is essentially playing that's really cruel and disgusting ringleader who enjoys having his circus be the way that he wanted to be and he has no problems of beating up an animal and raising his voice to get what he wants. That's how terrific Christoph Waltz´s performance was in this film. Now the character of August Rosenbluth it's probably one of the most viral and one of the most disgusting characters in this film because this guy he enjoys running his circus he has no problems of beating up people who get is way and he has no problems of whipping and elephant to get to go and he is very similar to VA Vandevere in Dumbo 2019 because both of them abuse elephants they both own a circus and they wanted to make a lot of money. The scenes with August Rosenbluth are probably some of the most brutal moments in the film especially when it comes in hits his ex-wife Marlena Rosenbluth because he doesn't want her to get in the way and the fiend of him whipping rose the elephant with the stick telling her to go it also really brutal because you can tell that this guy doesn't really give a shit about anyone else he wants everything to go his way and that scene alone of him almost killing his own ex-wife with the poll that was really brutal and the movie does Incredible job done making you hate this asshole and you really want something bad happen to him and when he gets hit in the head with the pole By Rosie and he did deserve to die at the end because of how disgusting and horrible he was to Jacob and Rose and his own ex-wife so when he died he don't really feel bad for him you're happy that August dies because of how horrible and just downright irredeemable He is. So how funny is it that this movie does the stiller job of making you hate a villain well Disney is too scared to make their own villains this hateful and despicable so once again this movie puts the newer Disney movies to shame with its villains. The chemistry between him and Robert Pattinson is incredible.
However the best thing about this movie is the directing by Francis Lawrence. Now this guy has directed some really great movies like The Long walk with Mark Hamill and Constantine with Keanu Reeves. Both of them are really fun and really entertaining. Glad to say his direct in this film is incredible in fact I think this is his best directive film he had ever done because he does a Stellar job of developing all these characters especially the character of Jacob who really cares about the circus and he falls in love with Marlena Rosenbluth and wants to make her happy and wants to protect the elephant Rose. I also like how he develops the character of Marlena By making it be really try to cow she was mistreated and a lot of foster homes and her husband August always mistreated her when they were together. So I think he does an incredible job of making you feel bad for this character. I also like how he actually shot this film on location rather than doing CGI because he actually filmed the movie in Tennessee for a good majority of the filming location that was the place they used and he did have to switch to a different location sometimes but most of it was in Tennessee i find that really interesting and once again this film Put the Disney the shame because this film is shot on location well Disney what they do is go the lazy route and just say oh we're going to film everything with CGI and that's why all their films mainly their live-action remix look like garbage. I also like how he did a Stellar job and make you hate August and the villain like right from the start you know this guy is a piece of garbage and add the film progresses you just want something horrible happened to him And something does the elephant hits him in the head with the Paul and he dies and like how he somewhat develops August as the villain because in the book it mentioned that he would abandoned by his family and that's why he was at the circus and even though they don't show his backstory in the film they kind of allude to it by mentioning that he was in the circus for a very long time. Also again this also puts Disney to shame because they make their villain the lame well a drama film makes its villain really scary and really intimidating. So overall I think he did a stellar job directing this film.
So in conclusion I still really like this film because of the really powerful and emotional storyline revolve around Jacob falling in love with marlena enjoying the circus and protecting the elephant Rosie and preventing august from trying to kill them and the storyline is up there with the storyline in Swan Song with Awkwafina as one of the most emotional story lines in a film. Also the acting is tremendous and the big standout of the film is Robert Pattinson who probably gives one of the most powerful one of the martial performances other than tire career as the character of Jacob JanKowalski and you can tell he's having a lot of fun. Reese Witherspoon also gives a really beautiful and emotional performance and the character Of Marlena Because you can tell that she really enjoyed playing this really tragic and emotional character in the film. Also Christoph Waltz plays a really tremendous and really disgusting villain as the character of August and you can tell that he is having a lot of fun as this character. Also the film does a tremendous job of developing all the characters, especially the romance between Marlena and Jacob. I think that is the strongest aspect of the film. Now the film doesn't you're the one CGI relies on Practical effects and that's the best thing about this movie the actors do their own stunts and they actually use real animals instead of CGI ones so again this movie puts Disney to shame because all Denny does is use CGI well this movie You're this practical effects and the actors Are doing their own stunts Rather than just rejoin to a CGI double they're actually doing it on their own. I think this film is up there with The lighthouse as my favorite Robert Pattinson movie. So I highly recommend you watch this film Especially if you like really dark and really emotional films like the Rover which also stars Robert Pattinson. I give this movie a 10/10.