Moonage Daydream is my jam. Being a David Bowie fan, I was very excited about this film and it didn’t disappoint. A touching tribute to Bowie, Moonage Daydream is a movie that is insightful, emotional and just a blast, even if it overstays its welcome. Music lovers will eat this one up.

Moonage Daydream, named after Bowie’s song of the same name, is essentially a giant fan edit with clips from throughout his life. As we follow Bowie in this film, it is often intercut with Bowie performing some of his most famous songs live. The movie shows us what it was like for Ziggy Stardust off the stage and a look into the real life of David Bowie. We see him traveling around the world as well as his life at home. The pacing for this was great and director Brett Morgen did a good job making sure that the audience wouldn’t be bored. 

The visual and audio choices are something that I really loved. This movie is meant to be seen in IMAX with Dolby surround sound. To put it frankly, it’s a dream come true for videophiles and audiophiles. I cannot remember the last time I was so mesmerized and immersed in a movie’s visuals and sound. The audio work especially is great. Some Oscar-worthy stuff there.

Since it’s a Bowie movie, you knew his music would be in there. We hear songs like “Space Oddity”, “Modern Love”, “Let’s Dance” and more. My only complaint is that my favourite song and one of Bowie’s best, “Starman”, was only played in the credits. I was mildly disappointed but other than that, I loved the song selection.

The movie sadly overstays its welcome. Multiple critics in my screening, myself included, were duped by seemingly multiple false endings and everyone was on their phones for the last 20 minutes or so because of how long it was. The movie shouldn’t have been longer than 100 minutes. Pushing it beyond the two-hour mark left a sour taste in my mouth.

Runtime issues aside, Moonage Daydream is a David Bowie acid trip that fans will love. It’s very ambitious, trippy and overall incredible. It’s one of the most unique and creative films I have ever seen and one of the best music documentaries ever made.

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