Fahrenheit 451 Plot Summary:
In the not-so-distant future, firemen are tasked with burning books and limiting the flow of information not sanctioned by the US government. Up-and-coming firemen Guy Montag (Michael B. Jordan) once completed these duties with pride and enthusiasm but starts to question his responsibilities and the nature of his society. As these doubts grow, Montag is introduced to Clarisse McClellan (Sofia Boutella) and a group of revolutionaries determined to undermine the government’s destruction of literature.
The latest adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s classic novel, Fahrenheit 451 desperately wants to be relevant.
For all of the movie’s reimagining and attempts at relevance, there is something about the whole affair that feels hollow. HBO’s film updates the source material by incorporating social media, virtual reality, live streaming, etc. into this world of book-burning firemen, the resulting amalgamation is a bit of a mess.
Is the movie trying to criticize our culture’s reliance on Twitter and Facebook? Is the screenwriter/director suggesting that social media and other forces have already set us down a path towards Bradbury’s nightmarish vision of the future? Or, most likely, did the minds behind the movie decide that they needed to address these elements even if they had no coherent message?
Such questions reflect the potentially intriguing but ultimately weak changes made by the adaptation.
Given the current political discourse of fake news, alternative facts, and information warfare, a movie about censorship and thought suppression should be an immediate hit. While Fahrenheit 451 had the potential to build off of the original novel and make thought provoking, culturally relevant comments about these issues, the film complacently restricts itself to superficial additions.
Even the film’s impressive cast does little to bring life to this movie. After seeing Michael B. Jordan’s incredible performance in Black Panther, I was confident he would be a highlight of the film; unfortunately, though, the role of Guy Montag gives him very little to work with. Meanwhile, Michael Shannon is billed as playing Captain John Beatty, but the character is virtually indistinguishable from every other role he’s played in recent memory.
From a technical perspective, the film’s sets, wardrobes, and effects are solid; the world is recognizable and yet distinctly futuristic. The dialogue is not particularly memorable but is effective. Even the material directly pulled from the book is portrayed reasonably well. But nothing about the film makes up for just how disappointing the end result is. Though this is arguably the perfect time to adapt Bradbury’s dystopian novel with political and technological updates, HBO’s Fahrenheit 451 ultimately falls flat and fails to breathe new life into one of the most important works of the 20th century.
