Wesley's There Will Be Blood Review. Kinda.

*Warning: Extremely minor plot detail spoilers. But nothing big at all. Really...I mean it. It's all vague*

I’ve been putting this review off for the past few days because I’m really not sure how to review this movie. It isn’t like anything I’ve seen in a really long time. I’m not even sure that I would call it a movie. It’s more like an experience.

So, I guess the main question would be is the movie any good? Yes. It’s very good. But it’s different.

Basically, There Will Be Blood follows one of the most frustratingly awful characters ever written around for two and half hours. And that’s not all. Everyone around him is pretty awful too. So, as an audience member, you don’t really have anyone to connect with. In that sense, There Will Be Blood is a very detached film experience. But it’s a very good one.

Much has already been said about Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance in this movie, so I’ll keep it short. Much like Javier Bardem did in his performance of Anton Chigur in No Country for Old Men, Lewis becomes the character of Daniel Plainview. It is something that is scary and awe inspiring to watch. He makes every line of dialogue stand out and every movement significant. He makes acting with a napkin on his face something to be inspired by. He makes slapping people around manly again. He makes the word “milkshake” dramatic. He convinced me that he could eat me and my whole family alive without breaking a sweat. His performance is really amazing to see happen on the screen.

Okay, I still really don’t know how to review this movie. It’s really hard to watch at times and it made me really uncomfortable. There’s not really anyone to like. But it still works. The directing, acting, and cinematography are all amazing.

Jonny Greenwood’s score is like nothing I’ve ever heard before. It actually makes the film even more dramatic and sinister. The first ten minutes of the film (which contains little to no dialogue) were heightened even more by his music. Just those shots of the hills while those violins were building in the background gave me goose bumps.

I haven’t had an experience like There Will Be Blood since 2001: A Space Odyssey. Yes, they are very different films, but in a way they feel similar. If Kubrick was still alive, I could see him directing this movie. With that amount of attention to detail, feeling and atmosphere…it felt like a Kubrick film. At times it was cold…almost too cold… but still, it somehow kept a strong emotional pull for me.

The ending is amazing. Don’t let anyone spoil it for you. It’s so out of left field and random but I loved every second of it. The last line is very ambiguous, but I loved that too. It’s perfect.

So, technically speaking, There Will Be Blood is the perfect film. It’s tragic, cold, emotional, and scary. The acting is some of the best I’ve ever seen. The attention to detail is astounding. The direction is very well done. It’s truly an epic of filmmaking. But I could still see how someone could really hate this film. It’s not for everyone. It’s not an easy film to watch. As you can probably tell by just reading this vague review, it’s not that easy to even describe afterwards. It’s something else. It’s There Will Be Blood. Just see it and feel how you feel afterwards. As for me, I still feel like I have to think about it some more. But for a review’s sake, I’ll put down a number for now. But see it.

9/10