The Giver

This review may contain spoilers!

I think the number of inappropriate jokes to be made from Jeff Bridges announcing that he was the Giver will prove to be more amusing than the film I just watched. I would give The Giver a 4.5/10.

The Giver had a great story in terms of rediscovering humanity; basically the people are given injections and are taught to be like uncaring robots whereas at the end of the film they are taught to remember the emotions that come with humanity in one of the best scenes of the film. I also really enjoyed the editing of this film, the cutting between imagery of memories that represent a specific emotion as well as the shifting tones of colour were just fantastic. I also liked the effects, namely the flying airships, even if these effects were very minimalist.

Meryl Streep, who played Chief Elder, did a wonderful job as a restrained dictator of sorts; she was foreboding while very good at hiding behind a mask of leadership. Katie Holmes, who played Mother, did a very good job at being this harsh face of oppression within the film; I enjoyed the fact that she was so deep in the system that she allowed her son to be hunted. Taylor Swift, who played Rosemary, had a surprisingly decent cameo and it actually made me quite interested in this neglected subplot about her character. Emma Tremblay, who played Lilly, seriously needs to stay with whatever acting agent is representing her because this kid is in great films and doing a good job in them.

It was The Giver himself, Jeff Bridges, who did the best job in the film. His pain over the hostile memories within him and also at the loss of his own daughter was incredible to watch. I enjoyed how strongly he desired to change the system in place, his love for humanity and Jonas were very well portrayed and it was an outstanding performance from this title character.

However The Giver was a story rife with contradiction, there were some major plot issues that weren't addressed; such as how humanity reached this point or why there was a log cabin at the end of the film. What really bugged me was that it only took one receiver to fix the system and Bridges character had clearly wanted to do this all his life; so surely he could have gone to the boundary and fixed things whenever he liked. I also thought the cinematography wasn't very creative it felt lazy and unimaginative. The music followed the same path as the cinematography, falling flat on the ears and never really doing much to create atmosphere.

Brenton Thwaites, who played Jonas, is officially one of my least favourite actors out there now; he has been the low point in so many movies that he should consider a new career path. Alexander Skarsgard, who played Father, was a big disappointment; he showed a lack of engagement to his role that the other actors did and he seemed to be merely blundering through scenes. Odeya rush, who played Fiona, was so close to doing well in this; she had some major emotional arcs but could never quite reach the level of sincerity with her portrayal. Cameron Monaghan, who played Asher, was the worst actor in this movie and couldn't create an engaging role on a good day.