Set in LA at the end of the century, this morality tales showed again the main problem in the director's work: The great divide between simlistic plots and technical sophistication. Even so, it's one of a kind for its use of color, sound and motion
The ARTery
March 17, 2018
The movie went off like a landmine in Lincoln Center, traumatizing upscale audiences with its pulp semiotics and Bigelow's blunt-force filmmaking.
Once the premise has lost its promise, and Fiennes's brave attempts at characterization are sacrificed to pseudo-dazzle, everything appears awfully humdrum and, yes, distinctly dated.
Though the creators of Strange Days may well be interested in its dramatic and thematic elements, they do not have the same touch for these moments as they do for camera pyrotechnics.
Bigelow is so enamored of high-tech thrills, and so mesmerized by the violence she seeks to condemn, that her efforts at 11th-hour moralizing seem limp and halfhearted.
