Who is the Audience for This Movie?

People who like movies set in the WWII era.

What I Liked About This Movie

Empire of the Sun was the first major movie Christian Bale starred in. It is interesting to see how far he has come in the movie industry considering he started at such a young age. His acting in this movie is nothing short of impressive. Nowadays he is well known for his intense demeanor and even as a kid he was able to pull it off. Throughout the movie his character makes drastic changes to his behavior; Bale handles them all quite well. While still on the note about first major movie appearance Empire of the Sun also happened to be Ben Stiller’s first.

The best aspect of this movie has to be its swift precise start. It is both hectic and emotionally involving. With strong use of extras it is obvious that this was an expensive movie. Spielberg really takes advantage of the money he had to create his vision in some of the more intricate scenes.

What Didn’t Work For Me

Even if you don’t know before watching the movie that it is directed by Steven Spielberg it won’t take you long to figure out it is. He has made a lot of great films but his one signature aspect is emotional scenes set to ethereal music. Used in small doses it is very effective in Empire of the Sun though I felt it was used way too often. As the movie nears the end it starts to get very crammed in order to deliver the feel good ending you would expect from Spielberg.

Should You Watch This Movie?

It’s a solid movie.

My Rating (Out of 13)

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