Update: Owen Gleiberman of EW writes positively “Like the original ‘Wall Street,’ it’s a darkly exciting steel-and-glass vision of piranhas in the water, of ruthlessly wealthy, nattily dressed men doing whatever it takes to make themselves wealthier. Stone, working from a screenplay by Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff, conjures that same breathless atmosphere of dramatic liquidity, of a plot that hurtles along at the speed of information.”Update: Michael Phillips of The Chicago Tribune, in a confused state, writes: “Weirdly — and this may hurt the film’s chances this fall — ‘Wall Street 2’ goes soft on its main reason for existing. It would’ve been dull seeing the same old Gekko, to be sure. But his matchmaking duties this time out, however shadowy, defang the man. And wouldn’t this character at least betray a teensy bit of envy for all millions made by the hedge-fund wizards who came up after him? That’s the irony: So many legally sanctioned Wall Street gamblers made their hay after buying, wholesale, the glamorously unscrupulous image put forth by the original “Wall Street.”Update: David Gritten of the The Daily Telegraph lays it down: “The film’s emotional relationships feel awkward and forced. Carey Mulligan does her best in the role of Winnie, who is meant to be pivotal – the battleground between Gekko and Jacob. But she’s essentially a liberal cipher, and somewhat passive. (This is, of course, primarily a film for and about men.) LaBeouf is just about old enough to play a smart young trader, and does so efficiently, if not particularly interestingly. “Variety has small issues, but overall seems to agree that it’s surprisingly good. “‘Money Never Sleeps’ finds Stone at ease in a way he hasn’t been in years, his camera moving assuredly from high-powered charity banquets to the Federal Reserve Board’s inner chambers to de rigueur shots of the trading-room floor. Stone also seems well aware that the last thing most moviegoers want is a depressing dramatization or comprehensive overview of what has become a grim everyday reality. Thus, one tycoon’s suicide by subway train notwithstanding, the overall mood is brisk, light, even playful.”
Update: Todd McCarthy‘s review at IndieWire has finally arrived and he’s not loving it. “The script feels like a pasted-together hodgepodge of elements that co-exist without credibly blending together, topped by a climax that feels particularly hokey in its effort to leave audiences comfortable rather than disturbed by what they’ve just seen. It’s surprising for Oliver Stone to propagate an air of complacency about the financial state of things, but that’s the effect of the outrageously false feel-good ending. There are moments that bare more teeth than ‘W.’ did, but they’re mostly in the first couple of reels.”
THR is impressed out of the gate saying the picture “is that rare sequel that took its time — 23 years — so it not only advances a story but also has something new to say. The film overheats now and then but blame this on filmmaking passion. One senses a fully engaged filmmaker at the helm, driving the movie at a lightning pace as if in a hurry to get to the next scene or next aphorism that further illuminates this dark world.”
The Guardian’s Xan Davis gave the film a thumbs up with small caveats, “Even if this rather runs out of steam beyond the halfway mark, it remains a brashly entertaining yarn from the frontline of the financial crisis,” mentioning that the film is very obvious but “no one ever looked to Oliver Stone for nuance and subtlety. The director is the maestro of the broad brushstroke, the bold (and sometimes garbled) polemic, and ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’ is a film that leaves no tub unthumped.”
Anne Thompson from Indiewire was unimpressed. “The movie follows so many threads and characters that none of them is fully-fledged, somehow. I wanted more of LaBeouf and Mulligan and Douglas, who lost his father early in life and cares deeply about his old lion boss (Frank Langella) and seeks a relationship with Gekko, who manipulates him effectively. Stone throws distracting cameos into the movie, from himself wearing a diamond stud and Charlie Sheen, who encounters Gekko at a party, to Vanity fair’s Graydon Carter, Sylvia Miles as a real estate broker and New York press agent Peggy Siegal as part of a Metropolitan Museum fund-raiser packed with women loaded with heavy jewelry. The movie pops in and out of satirizing and referencing itself and trying to create an authentic drama. And yet it moves along entertainingly, even if the resolution seems Hollywood pat.”
Critic Aaron Hills tweeted bluntly (though how many other ways can you tweet) and negatively, saying “2.5 hrs of bullet-point speeches about $$$. Mulligan cries, Langella hams, Sheen cameos, Shia lebeoufs.”
Sasha Stone from Awards Daily makes a strong, early opinion, tweeting, “I know it’s nucking futs but wall street 2 is my fave of the fest so far. And not just b/c my fave talking heads song closes it out.”
Movieline is underwhelmed.
The easy-to-please crowd generally love it which makes it sounds like crowd-pleaser.
Total Film, the geeks who frankly love everything and are not much of any critical barometer, say that it was “absolutely brilliant” in a short video review. They laundry list: “The performances are all uniformly excellent. Michael Douglas still has that twinkle in his eye, Carey Mulligan shines, Shia is perfectly cast, the soundtrack is excellent, the script is fantastic, it’s got lots of one liners and is funnier than you’d expect. I’d give it four cannes.”
/Film‘s Peter Sciretta is the only geek writer who dissents tweeting, “Was left disappointed by Wall Street 2. Not a bad movie but just nowhere near as good as the first.”
There you have it “Wall Street 2,” maybe a good slice of absorbing entertainment. Though as per usual, we recommend you wait to your hear it from your neighborhood friendly Playlist before you truly believe what’s what. 😉