Fairy Tale Spotlight: Flatland [2007 Movie Review]

[I spoil major parts of this movie.]

I wanted to get this review out a little earlier. The problem was that I wanted to watch it with someone, but nobody wanted to see it with me. I just ended up watching it on my own. Honestly, I was really excited to see it because it was a full length movie.

"Flatland" is a movie from 2007 which is based on the book of the same name. It is also Americanized. The book had a more Victorian feel to it. So how does it stack up to the book and also that weird short film from 1965?

This movie actually does a surprisingly good job covering all the parts of the book. And with it being an hour and a half long, it damn well better have. It even included Lineland and Pointland which is really what I had hoped for. But there is a bit more to analyze here.

For one thing, this movie does things that might make people a little squeamish. For the first half of the movie, you seem to be looking at the world of Flatland from the perspective of possibly the Sphere, and if you have read the book then that means that you technically should be able to see the insides of the people of Flatland. And you do. You spend the first half of the movie seeing the guts, brains, and intestines of all the characters on the screen. It actually made me a little sick at first, but I got used to it. Also I like that it is accurate to the book.

In fact, this movie takes a lot of stuff from the book even to the point of being delightfully politically incorrect. They deal with the Chromatism Conflict which is where a faction of the Flatlanders colored themselves. It is a bit similar to fads happening in America right now. Also the women were stupid... just like in the book! Yeah, they got that right. The women are overemotional crazy people in the book, and the movie just sort of ran with it.

I was actually surprised with the amount of content they doggedly pulled from the book. In fact, they did so much of it, I was a bit worried people might see this today and not understand what they were seeing. I checked the comments people had for this movie, and, sure enough, most of them found the movie too confusing. But it isn't. It's all really straight forward. I think people are just getting dumber.

Like I said, the movie really does borrow from the book a lot, but there are major differences, and I do need to address them. Nothing is really all that bad or unwanted here though. It's just that if I don't say them, I'm going to be doing you all a disservice.

The movie is the same as the book, but it tried very hard to connect itself to the book of "Revelations" from the Bible. Now, it doesn't go too far into religious stuff... I mean no more than the book did. Let's be honest here... going from a two-dimensional world to a 3D one would likely seem like you were meeting God in Heaven. But this whole film is predicated on that one line in "Revelations" about wars and rumors about wars. And boy does it strike home!

Actually, in many ways, this movie is a bit depressing because of those themes. The concept of war crossed with the internal conflict of a nation is everywhere in this movie. Well, not in Lineland and Pointland, but in Flatland and Spaceland, it is a huge problem. And folks... I relate to all of it. It's scary times we live in. If you wanna feel like the world you live in is constantly on the brink of disaster, this movie will give you that feeling.

This slight alteration to the narrative does change the ending of the story, but it wasn't bad. I didn't mind it. They basically just replace a lifetime of imprisonment with a nationwide disaster. It's the end of the world, and still nobody will listen to anybody!

The only other thing I should mention is that there are these little text thingies that keep popping up throughout the movie. They are kind of there to hold your hand and explain to you what you're seeing. I actually like this. I thought they added a little humor to what was clearly a very dark movie.

Oh, right. The CGI. I should mention that too. Yeah, the 2D world looks like it should, but Spaceland is like some of the most rudimentary CGI I have ever seen. I know this movie came out in 2007, but they clearly borrowed CGI from the mid 90's. It wasn't all bad. It had a charm to it, and I loved the Sphere. Just look at the cover to the movie. That's a fairly good representation of what the CGI is like.

I am officially recommending you see this movie even after spoiling it. I just think it's one of those things that people should see. It is the most accurate adaptation of the book so far, and the voices aren't damn weird! It will disturb you though! I'm serious. Get ready for some emotions you didn't want to have.

This blog was written on February 10, 2023.

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