the change in aspect ratio could not be more indicative.
feels like soderbergh’s unintentionally commenting on his own half-past-it back-to-the-well with oceans thirteen.
amazing to have a ‘sequel’ this aggressively about failing to be the first adventure. being an expert based on a success in a certain area is a very particular topic but its specificity makes it a rich one. there's some self-reflection from soderbergh in there too, as a director who had one giant success, then failed, then…

bale and jackman perfectly cast - in multiple senses. 
johanssson miscast even with what she’s asked to do. 
caine is the glue that gives this gravitas. 
nolan is finding his mainstream feet but still with wpf so isn’t capable of what he’s soon to be - the messiness of this as a period piece about magicians is mostly brilliant, but there are moments where you yearn for some more iconography in shooting.
elevated even more on this most recent watch…

as ever with this, am slightly baffled. by its presentation of autism, by affleck’s casting, by its success, and now by the fact it has a sequel that i’m rewatching this in preparation of seeing. o’connor is also fascinating - a combination journeyman and consistent-to-his-style filmmaker who i recall being an outspoken character in interviews and commentaries.
affleck trying to find his bourne. but he’s working so hard to make an iconic character and avoid all of his actual instincts…

yes it’s muddy and messy and overwritten and stagnant and up it’s own arse. 
but it’s also sincere and idiosyncratic (albeit wilfully so) and has moments that are delightful. 
watching on a sofa on a sunday, which feels like a better delivery system for it than a cinema might have been. i actually got invested in the story, enjoyed being in the world and found some of the scenes properly singular. 
bale so charming (though he seems to be doing…

for a movie that keeps talking about going deeper, this is revealing itself to be startlingly shallow on the first rewatch in a long time. 
dicaprio is just stating circumstances and invented adages. 
i hadn’t realised how similar tenet was to this. in his popcorn movies, he really does go boring with his leading men (bale’s wayne, here, washington in tenet) in search of cool. 
hardy is a fucking electromagnet in this. 
there’s a thinness that’s hidden by aesthetic that…