The Reel Easy Review

WELCOME TO MARWEN; Population .... Many Dolls. 

      Here’s my review on 'Welcome To Marwen.' A film that may have slipped under the radar for many of you so here's my two sense on it so you can decide whether or not to give it a go . 

      Now I can't say I didn’t like it but then again I can’t really go as far as to say I liked it either. I had no expectations when going in and found I’d gleaned very little on my way out.

      It was a nice enough film, Steve Carell can do very little wrong in my eyes at the moment and his portrayal of Mark Hogancamp was sweet and just the right amount of creepy to keep the plot moving and to keep you guessing. I think the transition between worlds was done very well, with each character point brought up in the model world then justified later in the real world. I just wish it had been stop motion animation rather than heavy CGI. I think Stop motion would have been more endearing to the 'Indie' old fashioned aesthetic this film has, whereas CGI being the modern paintbrush that is, didn’t marry well with the tonality for me. 

     I wasn’t sure about the message of the film either. (Spoiler) At the end of the film Mark denounces the drugs that had taken control of his life for the last few years. However the other characters in the film made it very clear on doctors orders that he needed to take one a day, and yes he was taking far more than that so it’s good that he stopped, but I’m not sure the message should have been stop all drugs, just listen to your doctor would have been a better message in my opinion. 

    I would give this film 6.8/10. Watchable but I wouldn’t rush to the cinema to see it. 

    Shorter review today, sometimes it’s nice to keep things succinct. But if you want to hear more on Welcome To Marwen, Sam and I talk about it in our first episode of The Reel Easy Podcast which is to be launched soon! Let me know what you think and comment any recommendations below.

   I've been Christopher Whitmore, thanks for reading.