For my movie review, I chose “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”. I had been hearing about it the past couple weeks, and I had been wanting to watch it. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp is based on the Hunter S. Thompson novel of the same name. This movie is about two friends who drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back. Indulging in an incredible amount of drugs at all times, the pair wreak havoc on everything they lay their hands on, including a concert which they are dragged out of, a dinner party in which Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) hallucinates a lizard orgy, and their hotel room, which they didn't remember destroying.

I definitely enjoyed this movie, but it is not without its shortcomings, and this is what I will begin with. The biggest issue for me is its sheer lack of plot. The whole movie takes place over the span of around three days, with the most eventful happening being the intake of even higher quantities of drugs. Now that is not to say the persistent drug use and the effects of said drug use do not make for some hilarious scenes, which it absolutely does. The movie starts right off with Raoul muttering to the audience about all the bats he sees flying around, exclaiming that they needed to leave “Bat Country” stat. And just about all his narration is hilarious and just as nonsensical.  It's just that the movie never really gets going or has any noticeable purpose. But at the same time, that might be what makes it so magical: The movie has no aim or story arch because the characters have no aim either. They are too lost within their drugged up heads trying to avoid all the vicious bats flying around. One thing I really liked about this movie is the use of visual effects to portray the characters’ trips, which they did a fantastic job executing. For example, Rouel, during his attempt to check in to the hotel, began hallucinating the lady at the front desk morphing to and from an electric eel, or all the colors in the rug swirling around each other. These are some of the most beautiful shots of the movie. The crew used different cinematic qualities to portray the different drugs consumed, via camera angles, lighting, post-production visual effects of course,  The music is mostly psychedelic rock, which is both fitting on paper and in execution. White Rabbit, by Jefferson Airplane, is a notable song in the soundtrack.

I would recommend this to a friend, but it definitely would not just be any friend. There is absolutely some quality film making that makes this film worthwhile, as well as some beautiful shots, and some hilarious scenes and characters, but at the same time, I believe it is easy to dismiss that movie as pointless, which it could be perceived as. I really think I need to rewatch it to truly understand the movie, which at this point I do not.