It's here, it's big, it's bright, it's beautiful, it's MOULIN ROUGE! And if you haven't seen or heard the theme ditty, *Lady Marmalade*, with its video bursting with silicone, bad hairdays and teenyboppers dressed up as warbling prostitutes (actually, you can't have not seen that..), surely you've seen the frustratingly short trailers, or even the film itself?! (Admit it, you did! YOU DID, you cheeky little monkey!) Either way, there's no denying that it had a big hype thing going on. But was it all worth it?
Why not ask the director, mad Aussie Baz Lurhmann (purveyor of gems such as Romeo & Juliet and Strictly Ballroom)? After all, he was the one that woke up one morning and thought, *strewth mate, let's venture outta the bush and find a really bonzer way to waste money.* And after a lot of head-scratching he thought, *hey, I know, why not make a film, I did one once I think, though it was a long time ago though..what about a film about the Moulin Rouge? And while you're at it, throw in some babes in corsets and some Pommies to play the dumb or slightly evil characters, but make the main babe a fellow Sheila*. And after a lot of phonecalls and worried people checking to see if Spielberg really wasn't available, it was decided that Moulin Rouge was to be made.
What do I think of it? Do you really want to know? Why yes, of course you do, don't be silly, I RULE! Frankly I think it could have been better. There again, it could have been worse, but only if it was Pearl Harbor 2..oh, heck, it's not THAT bad, it's just kind of pointless really. Yeah, the costumes are nice, and it's an excuse for all you horny guys to see Nicole get her kit off, which is great if you couldn't handle Eyes Wide Shut, but frankly for us normal people, and females, there's not much in it. Ewan McGregor is supposed to make up for there being no hunky leading man to speak of, but well, he's just some scrawny spotty Scot, and none of us ever really got over Trainspotting anyway, so it remains to be seen why they bothered.
It's a story about love (we are reminded of this constantly through the film), and follows the affair between cancan girl Satine and writer guy Christian. Basically it's love at first kick-your-legs-in-the-air-and-show-us-your-knickers sight, but they were not to be..Satine's sadly promised to this yucky Duke guy, by this scary freak with a very interesting moustache. And there's not really much more to say, I won't bore you with the ending, I'm sure you've guessed it anyway.
Nice and kinda cute, but not a patch on Romeo & Juliet. Better go back to the bush, Baz..
5/10
