London Mums Magazine was invited to review ‘Digger’ and this is what I thought of it. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu is back with his original film DIGGER, and he’s bringing Tom Cruise with him. But forget everything you think you know about a Tom Cruise movie. This is something else entirely.
The story
Cruise stars as the most powerful man in the world, a man on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s saviour before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything. It’s a high-stakes, edge-of-your-seat story that only Iñárritu could tell.
Cruise leads a phenomenal cast, including Oscar winner Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons.
Iñárritu directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Oscar winners Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman. The story is by Berman & Iñárritu and Jez Butterworth. The film is produced by Iñárritu, Oscar nominee Mary Parent, and Cruise, with Joshua Grode executive producing.
Behind the camera, Iñárritu has assembled an extraordinary team of previous collaborators: Oscar-winning director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki; editors Conor O’Neill and Oscar winner Stephen Mirrione; Oscar-nominated costume designer Jacqueline West; Oscar-winning makeup and hair designer Alessandro Bertolazzi; Oscar-nominated casting director Francine Maisler; Oscar-winning production designer Dennis Gassner; production designer Richard Johnson; Oscar-winning prosthetic makeup designer Kazu Hiro; and composer Cosmo Sheldrake.
The verdict
Digger feels like a movie designed almost entirely for men who enjoy explosions, shouting and watching extremely serious people stare at each other before someone inevitably starts running.
It is aggressively male-oriented, with barely a moment to breathe before another confrontation, speech or testosterone-fuelled action sequence kicks in. Everyone seems permanently angry, everyone is shouting, and subtlety appears to have been left somewhere outside the cinema.
Tom Cruise throws himself into the role with his usual commitment, but even his energy can’t hide how exhausting the film becomes.
There is only so much yelling, posturing and dramatic intensity you can take before it starts to feel less like entertainment and more like being trapped in an argument you never asked to join.
The story doesn’t help. It’s predictable, over-serious and far more interested in macho spectacle than developing interesting characters.
The supporting cast are largely reduced to stereotypes, while the women feel particularly underused, making the whole thing feel stuck in an old-fashioned action-movie mindset.
Even the action eventually loses its impact because the film keeps shouting at the audience that everything is VERY IMPORTANT. Not every scene needs to be louder, bigger or more aggressive.
A noisy, macho action movie with far too much shouting and nowhere near enough subtlety. If you enjoy testosterone, explosions and people yelling “GO!” at each other, you may have found your film. Everyone else might want to bring earplugs.
London Mums’ rating: 2/5
The trailer
I am a mother of two teenagers and a London Mums magazine’s contributor. I review attractions, movies, restaurants, toys. In my profile picture, I am together with my partner in crime and London Mums’ editor Monica Costa.
