Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor star in Steven Spielberg’s new sci-fi thriller, Disclosure Day. Photo: Universal Studios.
If there is one thing that legendary director Steven Spielberg knows how to do, it’s make a movie about aliens.
He started with Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977. He made his magnum opus ET: The Extra-Terrestrial in 1982, and now, for the first time since War of the Worlds in 2005 (I’m electing to ignore that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ever existed), we have his newest sci-fi film, Disclosure Day.
The premise of Disclosure Day is simple. If you had proof that aliens were real and that the government was covering it up for decades, would you share it or join in on the cover-up?
In this case, Daniel (Josh O’Connor), a former cybersecurity expert for a branch of the US Government, uncovers the information that aliens are, in fact, real and, with the aid of other whistleblowers, including the former high-ranking official Hugo (Colman Domingo), looks to show it to the world.
Meanwhile, Margaret (Emily Blunt) is a weather reporter in Kansas City who has a mysterious seizure while live on TV. Her episode sparks many who know about the aliens to seek her out, including Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), the head of the Wardex Corporation, which has been keeping the information under wraps.
There’s a lot of cool concepts, fun visuals and great acting in this film, but unlike Spielberg’s aforementioned works at the top of this article, it’s not a genre-defining masterpiece. To be honest, I don’t even think it’s in the best five alien movies of the decade so far, those being A Quiet Place: Day One, Alien Romulus, Nope, Prey and Amazon’s War of the Worlds (IYKYK).
So many components of this film are top-notch, which makes it frustrating that a few key decisions hold it back.
First, the acting is great. Blunt and Firth are the standouts, but O’Connor and Domingo are also excellent. They each make the most of starring in a big-budget Spielberg epic, but unfortunately, the script doesn’t always match the performances.
Margaret (Blunt) is the most interesting character of the bunch, yet for so much of the second act, she’s missing from the action. Hugo, who is presented as knowing everything that’s going on, is left purposefully dangling carrots in front of the audience, only to pull them away before they can take them.
It’s a shame this is the case, because when Disclosure Day dials it up, the results are awesome. There’s a set-piece involving a train just before the third act that was simply mindblowing in IMAX.
The last 10 minutes are also easily the film’s best. Unfortunately, getting there wasn’t half as interesting.
It’s worth noting the score by composer John Williams. He crushes it yet again. While not as iconic as some of his other works, the music is clearly and distinctly his. It makes the good moments great and helps pull the audience through the duller moments.
The problem with Disclosure Day is this: it’s 2 hours and 25 minutes long, but there’s only really 2 hours worth of interesting stuff.
Instead, what we get are great bookends and a slow second act.
Disclosure Day isn’t Spielberg’s best effort, but even his disappointing works are worth seeing.
Disclosure Day is showing in cinemas across the country.
Original Article published by Jarryd Rowley on Region Canberra.
