'Ticket's There' – Irish and International Music Blog

The criteria for storylines and starlets has apparently lowered in Hollywood. Nowhere is this more obvious than in VIVA! Hysteria which bounds to cinema screens across the world this week. Offering nothing to any discerning viewer and relying heavily on its Def Leppard laced soundtrack and a live performance by the band themselves. Almost every hint of the movie’s intricate plot and diverse and interesting characters is diluted to the point of near non-existence thanks to the director’s obvious David Lynch influence and Darren Aronofsky delivery.

For 90 minutes the viewer is required to carefully study thousands of faces, waiting to pick up on the disappointingly weak storyline that brazenly focuses on ‘two ladies’ quest to hog monitor time before being eclipsed by the man only known as ‘I keep my arm on the ramp dude’. The quality of the actors is on par with any academy award winning nominee from the past thirteen years, made more surprising by the fact that all the stars are all new comers; however the intrusion of the background artists and camera work levels their role in the film to mere ‘attendees’.

On the plus side, you are treated to a full performance of Hysteria, the major catalyst in the story by one of the world’s most beloved and distinguished bands, Def Leppard. Joe, Rick, Viv, Phil and Richard all play a blinder and despite this being a complex communist spy / art-house / independent / drug culture / hammer horror homage to Charlie Chaplin in story, the music ends up stealing every minute. Def Leppard well done – but unknown director, you have wronged the movie industry. Next time try some character dialogue. Fortunately Joe Elliott used his opportunities to keep a few laughs coming.

9/10

This entry was posted on September 20, 2013 at 4:57 pm and is filed under Film Review, Music, News with tags Def Leppard, film review, Hysteria, joe elliott, Review, Viva Hysteria. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.