Here film review: de-aged Tom Hanks can’t save soulless flop
Robert Zemeckis is known for his love of cinema innovation, using motion capture to make Jim Carrey into Scrooge, or bring to life The Polar Express. In Here, he takes some of Hollywood’s biggest names through the different stages of life. It’s about a house, and the people who have lived on that spot, from prehistoric man, to a post-war couple, and their son Richard (Tom Hanks) and his wife Margaret (Robin Wright).
A noble premise is crushed by a film that is more interested in effects than storytelling. Hanks’ character is de-aged back to his 1980s self, which is remarkable to see for a couple of minutes until you realise that’s all Here has to offer. A series of non-linear, mawkish scenes crash into one another, with every cast member awkwardly acting toward the screen so that we can see just how good the de-aging work is.
It all feels like a tech demonstration, or a cultural history show in a theme park. Paul Bettany does his best as Hanks’ father, a war veteran who grows bitter with age, and Hanks ably attempts to make the various stages of his role believable, avoiding the rickety movements of Robert De Niro in The Irishman. However, it’s all for nought In a film that seems too pleased with itself for simply existing.
What’s worse than dull spectacle? Dull spectacle that pretends to be profound. Beneath the rousing score and grand visuals is a film with nothing much to say. A waste of talent and resources.
• Here starring Tom Hanks is in cinemas from 17 January