The film adaptation of Ayn Rand’s novel, Atlas Shrugged: Part 1, was a jam packed theater experience. Our Cliff Notes review of the movie is: let go of your expectations, open your mind, and go see it! Now! What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for the theater to open? Go now! Okay, okay, please go see this movie at your earliest convenience.
The Great Satan, Inc. crew made the trek to Tempe’s Harkins Valley Art Theater to see Atlas Shrugged, along with Arizona’s Vox, team Sand Castle Scrolls, Exurban League, An Inconvenient Man, a candidate for Tempe city council, and some Rock Stars from the Goldwater Institute (okay, we didn’t sit with Shawnna Bolick and Clint Bolick, but they’re awesome and we’re name-dropping, deal with it!).
Back to the short-attention-span review, you could read a poncy, pretentious movie critique, or you can take our word. Atlas Shrugged is a good, dramatic movie, with a message based on your choosing. If you’ve read all 1,350 plus pages of the book, you will no doubt notice some deviation from the original story. There’s a bit of a love interest that should keep a slightly vapid date absorbed. There are numerous political themes playing out that should keep your armchair political quarterback friends riveted. Subtle, but important, details are revealed constantly to keep your thinking friends engaged. Finally, there is some great imagery to keep your visually amused friends hanging on for the next camera shot. Make no mistake, this is a sentient person’s movie, unlike Spider-Man 3.
Here’s a clue, take a look at this video of Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. trashing the Apple iPad . Unfortunately, you can only understand the gravity of the vilification of Steve Jobs and Apple if you see Atlas Shrugged.
Whether you think Big Business is evil and we should be protected from greed, or you think that phony conservatives in D.C. will protect you from socialism, you need to see this movie to grasp the consequences of the fashionable merging of Crony Capitalism with the warm hugs of business regulation, done for the Greater Good™.
Very few movies can motivate an entire theater to applaud, but Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 managed to do just that.
For additional reviews and views, peruse:
Atlas Shrugged at SandCastle Scrolls
Movie Review – Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 at Exurban League
Limo *Drink* – Atlas Shrugged spoiler by the lovely and talented Vox
