REVIEW: DISCLOSURE DAY
THE GIST
A great but somehow disappointing middle of the road film.
THE REVIEW
!!!SPOILERY!!!
EXPECTATIONS
Steven Spielberg said in an interview “The movie doesn’t stop until it stops, it comes out of the gate really fast and it just keeps moving”.
Now that sounds like a movie I am into.
But I still had doubts going into this. The trailers were good but not riveting to me and I felt they revealed too much, like the whole story had been laid out and the movie would just be the long form of that.
I also heard an interview years ago with Steven Spielberg saying something like UAP’s/UFO’s are actually humans from the future. And I can’t help but think that maybe the big plot twist. I hope it isn’t.
But my hopes were still high.
I saw it June 10 at a night before screening at Matakana Cinemas.
RATINGS SO FAR:
3.5 on Letterboxd.
87% (Fresh) Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score.
Average overall ratings are sitting at 7.8/10 so far. This will move, it just depends on what direction. At the moment the ratings are similar to that of Munich and Lincoln, which are also great movies verging on being an epic.
If I am not wrong, I think this is Spielberg’s 35th feature film he has directed. That’s impressive. If going by overall average ratings he has:
1 Masterpiece (Schindler’s List);
13 Epic films;
12 Great films;
6 Good films;
1 Average film;
1 Below Average film.
That’s an impressive body of work to admire. It’s probably why Tarantino wants to retire after directing 10 films, he knows getting a streak like that over that many movies is a monumental task.
Will Disclosure Day end up being Great or Epic?
CONTEXT
In April 2024, it was announced that Steven Spielberg's next directing project would be a UFO film based on his own original idea, with David Koepp, who worked with Spielberg on multiple films, writing the screenplay. Spielberg was inspired by the 2017 article "Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program", published in The New York Times, which he described as having rekindled his interest in the subject.
THE PLOT
As a massive government conspiracy unravels, a targeted whistleblower races against time to bring about the extraordinary event that will change human history forever: the day of ultimate alien disclosure.
THE EXPERIENCE
It was a good movie on the level of A.I, Minority Report, The Sugarland Express, The Terminal or Ready Player One. But it is not one of his epic culture changing classics.
At no point during it did I feel moved. It kinda just plays out.
Someone said this is some of John Williams best work. It really isn't. It's not memorable. I barely even noticed there was a score in this film.
The CGI was awful, especially with the animals(aliens), really takes you out of the film when it is that noticeable.
On the plus side, the performances were all solid to amazing, especially Emily Blunt and that guy who looks like a kid who wished he was big.
I really wanted to like this and I still want to, I mean it's Spielberg....and Aliens! But all I can do is shrug my shoulders and flippantly say "yeah it was great movie" while reluctantly rating it as high as a 7/10.
Go see it though, get your own take on it.
THE MEAT
Emily Blunt: I think it’s time Emily collaborated with someone the likes of director Paul Thomas Anderson. Embrace those acting talents that are currently firing on all cylinders. She even did the alien voice for real. That’s freakin’ awesome. This movie really does showcase her talents. If anyone else was in this role, the movie could have been a disaster.
Guy Actor: Ok so I figured out his name is Josh O’Connor. On the movie poster he looks like Aaron Taylor Johnson. Also a wonderful performance. I think he was in the latest Knives Out film. Him and Emily both played convincing roles as adults reliving childhood trauma amongst everything else going on around them.
Steven Spielberg: He has made at least one scifi movie a decade since the 60’s. My favourites are A.I., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Jurassic Park. Disclosure Day will not be added to that list. I am in no way putting down Disclosure Day or Spielberg’s rich tapestry of work behind him. I am merely moving Disclosure Day from the Epic category, to the Great.
The Pacing: When Spielberg said “The movie doesn’t stop until it stops, it comes out of the gate really fast and it just keeps moving”, in terms of pacing, I was thinking of films like The Dark Knight or The Departed. It wasn’t like that at all. Yes the film moves along but at a moderate pace. It was no thrill ride, just a series of unfolding events.
CGI:
John Williams/The Score: The 30th collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams. Their first was The Sugarland Express over 50 years ago. William’s had retired from film scoring and suggested Spielberg use another composer. Steven insisted and John eventually agreed. Spielberg should have got someone else. This movie was missing a huge, loud and unique score. Hats off to William’s, who I admire so much, for coming out of retirement, but he has given us enough. I hope he enjoys his remaining years in peace knowing that he has touched so many people with his beautiful music.
David Koepp: some of my favourites he has written are Toy Soldiers, Jurassic Park, Secret Window and Ghost Town. He is an immensely talented writer. In saying that, he has also written ones like Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Mummy (Tom Cruise one), and Jurassic World: Rebirth in recent years, so the Disclosure Day story could have gone either way. While the concept of the story had vast potential, he kind of played it safe. Maybe it read better on paper and just didn’t translate to film well?
SUMMARY
It’s not a perfect film, it has its flaws. And when I say that, I don’t mean it’s a bad movie.
I can’t help think that a combination of high expectations, still grieving a loved one, and having to find a new job soon affected the way I experienced it. High expectations can be a good way of letting yourself down when seeing a film, plus, the world is crushing me at the moment, so my take on things may be a bit more grim.
I get the feeling if I saw this as a kid, I would have loved it.
