Three separate reviewers on http://www.rottentomatoes.com called Moulin Rouge “weird” and “compelling”, so I figured they must be on to something. (OK, one of them said “bizarre” instead of “weird”, but close enough.)
Now, I know weird, but I don’t know compelling. So I did a quick web search, which revealed:
[ul]
[li]Computer-generated movies are not compelling.[/li][li]Medical thrillers are compelling.[/li][li]Medical dramas are compelling.[/li][li]Sharon Stone holding a cigarette is sexually compelling.[/li][/ul]
Therefore, without even seeing the movie, I know that Moulin Rouge is not computer-generated, has a medical aspect, and may involve cigarettes. But what kind of review is that? Today’s movie fans demand absolute certainty… so I dug a little deeper.
I realized I’d been concentrating too much on “compelling”. I had to look at the whole picture, and that meant bringing “weird” back into focus. X-Files is weird. It’s also live-action (which means compelling), and a major character smokes a lot of cigarettes.
In fact, I have seen Moulin Rouge, because Moulin Rouge is X-Files. Now that I’ve seen it, I can give a proper review:
Moulin Rouge has been through its ups and downs. It was starting to degenerate into silliness, but the addition of Agent T-1000 has spiced it up a little. I’d have to say that my favorite Moulin Rouge was the one where the guy turned himself invisible, got hit by a truck, and became an invisible corpse.
The verdict: **** (4/5 stars)