Slumdog Millionaire :: Yeah, I'm Reviewing It After It Won

"Terrible."

"Appalling."

"One of the worst movies I have ever seen."

These are words I used to describe the movie Step Up 2: The Streets as I was waiting in the theater to see Slumdog Millionaire. Unlike SU2:TS (pronounced sue-toots), Slumdog is a revelation; a throwback to movies from years passed that not only entertained us, but were of the highest artistic quality. It touches on general themes like love, brotherhood, and pride that are accessible by all, while telling the story in a setting that is familiar to few outside its borders.

Our hero Jamal finds himself in the hot seat on the television game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," with destiny asking the questions, the answers to which have something to do with major events from Jamal's past. How Jamal wound up on the show in not entirely explained, but his motives for being there are not solely monetary. Jamal's brother Salim and fellow orphan Latika play major roles in how far Jamal gets on the game show and ultimately play more of a role than he does in the outcome of the game.

Danny Boyle won a well-deserved Oscar for his direction of Slumdog. Shot in his familiar indie-guerrilla style, he takes us on a wild ride from the slums of Mumbai to the Taj Mahal to the lights and cameras of a TV studio. As is his custom, Boyle challenges us to watch at certain points by mixing a few scenes of horror and disgust into Jamal's story.

The Bolly-rock (just made that up) soundtrack by A.R. Rahman is incredibly unique and has a dirty-yet-polished feel to it that matches perfectly with the visual provided by Boyle and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (both Mantle and Rhaman won Oscars for their work).

While not as timeless as films like Forrest Gump, from which Slumdog borrows a lot, the film belongs in the same category as films like City Of God which offer unflinching but not gratuitous visions of urban life in second and third world cities. What's to love most about this film is its use of characters, both human and geographic, to tell a story as old as cinema itself in a refreshingly new way.