The world is a better place when there’s a new Steven Spielberg movie in theatres, and we just so happen to be lucky enough to be living in that glorious theatrical window right now amidst the release of his latest cinematic adventure, Disclosure Day — an all-new extra terrestrial Sci-Fi blockbuster from the man that brought us the likes of E.T., War of the Worlds, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Spielberg’s alien homecoming feels like the natural midpoint for what I’m calling the ‘Steven Spielberg farewell trilogy’. Kicking off with 2022's The Fabelmans, Spielberg’s most personal and introspective effort yet — detailing the most formative years of the filmmakers career in leading him to the path he would end up spending the rest of his life walking — followed up with this latest full circle moment that puts a cap on his extra terrestrial curiosities present in much of his post-Jaws work. All set to be rounded out with his upcoming long-awaited western movie, said to be in development directly from the horse's mouth. Now who’s to say if these will, in fact, be the final three movies in his illustrious career, but if they were to be, I think it’s fair to say it might just be the most apt conclusion possible.
But the big question going in to Disclosure Day was not just whether it could live up to Spielberg’s billing across this most recent press tour — a tour that’s seen the director continually reiterate this movies standing as the culmination of his life’s research into the subject matter — but also whether or not the father of movies still had that magic wow factor that has provided a contagious childlike wonder for millions around the world across the past 50 plus years. Safe to say, it was obviously stupid of anyone to doubt the master. It’s a Steven Spielberg alien movie, obviously it’s good. But that isn’t to say that absolutely everything works…
David Koepp is a screenwriter you might be familiar with. He wrote this movie, as well as a few others you might’ve heard of, but he’s not exactly a writer with a 100% batting average.
At his best (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible,* Spider-Man*) he’s pretty hard to argue with. Elevated by working with some of the most important American filmmakers of all time, sure. But undeniable nonetheless.
At his worst — which he has been a hell of a lot lately (Jurassic World: Rebirth, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Mummy (2017) — he’s a total disaster. Critically, and sometimes even commercially.
But given Koepp’s own admission that this needed to be the finest work of his career if not to let Steven Spielberg down on a project that meant as much time as him as this did, there was reason to be hopeful for a return to form. Unfortunately, I regret to report that after seeing this latest Koepp-penned project — one that clearly aims to leave the viewer with a head full of questions surrounding faith, the trust we place in the powers that be, and the state of the world we inhabit — I actually just have one: Are we sure David Koepp should still be writing blockbusters?
Koepp’s script continually fumbles over itself, failing to explore almost anything beyond the surface. Interesting ideas are raised, brought to the forefront of the screen, and then subsequently quietly placed under the bed to never be played with ever again. Plot conveniences are frankly out of control, and the dialogue, at times, is akin to that of a Wes Anderson comedy — which unsurprisingly does not work whatsoever in what is an otherwise very dramatic, very serious thriller. There’s a moment in particular where the most unfathomable, ohmygodmoviesaresoawesome moment that, if ever happened in real life, would be the single most interesting thing to happen to literally anyone ever, happens, and the characters respond with a comedically timed “Woah”. Are we sure George Lucas didn’t ghostwrite this movie, actually?
Thankfully, try as he may, Koepp’s shortcomings as a screenwriter are not enough to totally nullify Spielberg’s direction, which is as magical as ever. You aren’t likely to see blocking this good for the rest of the year, nor are you likely to hear a score soother on the ears than 94-year-old John Williams’ here. The boys are indeed back in town, and still running rings around their contemporaries. Janusz Kamiński, too, has never missed a day in his life, and once again proves himself with his cinematography on this movie to be one of the finest to ever pick up a camera.
The movie’s central performers: Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russel, and Eve Hewson, are utilised to varying degrees of success.
Emily Blunt has never been better, completely stealing the show with a performance that’s asking an awful lot of her — chief among it the necessity of speaking perfect Russian and Korean. Josh O’Connor is similarly brilliant, as has been the case with everything he’s graced his presence with across the past few years. But Domingo, Hewson, and especially Russel, all feel criminally underused, whilst Firth’s Noah Scanlon — the movie’s central villain — is terribly underdeveloped, though he’s doing his absolute best.
This underdevelopment of characters, paired with the movie’s disinterest in digging beneath the surface, results in a final product that, whilst entertaining, does ultimately fail to deliver on its promise of revealing any profound truth about humanity, or what may exist beyond. Inoffensive, by the numbers, and perhaps just a little bit normal, but entertaining and exceptionally well-made nonetheless.
Not quite Spielberg’s best movie of the past 20 years, like some others may be suggesting, but a fun time at the movies, if nothing else.