Oliver Stone! Collapsing buildings, terorrists and Government conspiracies!  What can possibly go wrong? Everything.

Surpised by that? So was I. I never thought that Oliver stone, the king of conspiracy, could make a film about such a big subject and make it quite so dull, so uninvolving, so tedious. Quite frankly, It was boring.

Starting off as a intertwining, overlapping story of an ordinary day at work for New York cops, the opening 40-45 minutes are immaculately done. People get up, go to work, do their everyday things, all with a sense of an ominous sense of foreboding creeping in the second you see the Two towers in the sky. Knowing what will happen is what makes that so ominous. The reports come in, the police rush to the scene, and go into motion.And justlike the participants of that day, Most of the action happens off screen, reported secondhand. We never see the planes hit, never see the towers collapse  collapse. Its all about suggestion and confusion, where things are unclear, much like it would be on the day there and then. We see the shadows of a jet on the side of a building on its way to lower Manhattan; we see clouds of smoke and debris rushing through the concourse, people rushing away to survive. They don’t know whats happening, neither would we. There’s some beautifully and meticulously reconstructed CGI shots of the towers, flames and smokes billowing , which are quite stunning, all immaculately well done.. But its easier to admire the way its done than to like. But its all ticking down to the moment of disaster, one that we all know is coming.

Sadly, once the towers fall down, all momentum stops. The Film grinds to a sluglike pace, where nothing happens. The next hour and a half basically consist of the following:-

I)watching people watch television and cry (this happens a lot)

ii)two guys trapped underground trade quotes from action movies. (This is by the far the most boring part of the movie.)

iii)Some dumbass marine saying “We are Marines, You are the mission, huh!”, the testosterone dripping off the screen while the ghost of john wayne patriotically salutes in the distance….before then promising that “They're gonna need some good men out there - to avenge this.". (This is by far the most dumb, macho part of the movie. At one point, where he’s spouting out phrases like that,  you might even salute. Its that dumb, that much of an insult. )

Literally, that’s it.

Being most remisicent of the the recent Spike Lee new York movie ‘The Inside Man’ in its utter new yorkness,  but the comparison ends there: that film at least had style. This does not. Its emotionally flat, movie of the week family melodrama set to the backdrop of death of thousands, unexciting, uninvolving, emotionally unengaging, yet oddly feels forced. Emotional moments come and go, forced on you by a drippy score and obvious emotional manipulation. You’ve just watched the death of thousands, yet you feel nothing. Its Oliver stones least personal, least interesting, most formulaic, flat movie so far. There’s no style. It could be just about anyone directing here, such is the treatment of the material.

Focused on small scale characters, it’s a huge disappointment. Sure, the first forty minutes are very very well done (Check out just how the first plane crash occurs offscreen) and the effects brilliantly realised, but after that, you just get bored, and want to hurry things up. It gets very boring, very quickly. About the only trademark Oliver Stoneism is when one of the trapped men starts to hallucinate or dream about Jesus, all that potent Oliver Stone-esque dream imagery ala The Doors and NBK. But without that, it could be anyone behind the camera.

A film about the biggest calamity of modern American history, from an inflammatory film maker? This is just a horrendous misfire on pretty much every single level. Honestly. World Trade Center commits the one crime that a film about this subject never ever should commit: be tedious, boring, uninvolving, dull and impersonal. Whilst that at the same time, its obvious emotional manipulation and dumbass heroics are cheap beyond belief.

World Trade Centre is sadly, nothing more than cheap emotional gestures written big all over a canvas of the biggest tragedy in American history, and nothing less than an insult; Boring, tedious, unengaging and dull, it’s a horrific disappointment, and nothing short of being the worst film Stone has ever made.  If you are thinking of seeing it, don’t bother.

Words can’t describe how unworthy this film is.

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