Across the Universe

The Beatles already survived one attempt by Hollywood to turn them into kitsch -- 1978's infamous Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band -- and so you have to wonder what they did to deserve Across the Universe.

It's more than a nostalgia trip. The real pleasure lies in Taymor's ability to make it all seem brand new.

...the long and winding road that is Julie Taymor's opulent, eye-filling, and disappointingly uninvolving musical extravaganza...

Across the Universe will have ardent defenders, but in the long run, it will do nothing to infuse life into the current minirevival of movie musicals and is as soft-headed as the wishful refrain All You Need Is Love.

Across the Universe isn't beholden to any stage incarnation. It owes its vision to the vibrant imagination of its director, who created a musical that reminds us how cultural-political events can change our tune.

[A] visionary attempt to wed a story of young love and 1960s war protest to the Lennon-McCartney catalog.

It didn't have to be like that. [Full review in Spanish]

Across the Universe proves to be a strikingly relevant experience...

Imagine that an eminence of creative surgery kidnapped the love of his life to return it transformed into an exact replica of what they hate most. [Full Review in Spanish]

Boring and at times soporific. [Full Review in Spanish]