this movie certainly throws a lot of fancy golden spaghetti at a wall, and although there's a decent portion of it that doesn't quite stick i came away feeling pretty positive.

it's really oddly paced, jumping through time at really odd intervals and almost playing like a highlight reel of a four episode miniseries about getting a band together at times. by trying to introduce us to ten otherworldly beings who all have to have distinct lil plots within the major plot to set them apart, as well as some brand new cosmic level drama, the machinations of a huge space dad god and some evil noodly lads it definitely spills over with stuff it tries to get done in a way that leaves a lot of it underserved. it gestures towards addressing themes of family and the greater good but doesn't really drill down enough to say anything.

on the other hand though, there are a lot of really nice visuals (chloe zhao's knack for big, naturalistic landscapes on show throughout), an overall pretty good job from the cast with some particularly enjoyable performances (angelina jolie had me hooked into an arc that would not have worked in lesser hands and lauren ridloff's charisma really lifts a character that gets pretty much fuck all to do) and ultimately the fact that it takes a punt at something interesting makes it worth a watch, it's just that there's probably a better movie in there somewhere if it had been refocused and the scope had been pared back a little.