莲花楼

3.5. Didn't quite get the overwhelming hate this film got. The satire here is not particularly intelligent nor incisive, but that seems fitting when reality is more mundanely grotesque than fiction: it's almost like the real world does not deserve to be treated in a more aesthetically profound manner. The sense of helpless anger and disbelief at the state of the world is quite genuine, and there are emotional moments that work quite well. It's a typically white and star-studded mainstream film, and that's okay.