The movie has everything everywhere all at once that today's younger audience might want from movies: it's frantically paced, crazily plotted and doesn't follow any of the traditional notions of clarity or coherence. As science fiction, it makes Star Wars and Star Trek seem like outdated museum pieces. It has the feel and look of an endless video game - a movie where rules don't apply and there are no real consequences for anyone, anywhere.

The only ingredient that registers with any brain that might be in the audience is the talent of the performers who, as professional actors, remind us of what better movie roles hopefully wait for them in the future.

Try to imagine trivial, mindless entertainments from the past, like Blazing Saddles or Animal House, winning the Best Picture Oscar; or even higher quality sci-fy movies like Alien or Zardoz - once upon a time, it seems, there were standards. The votes this received for Best Picture must surely have been cast by members who think the Academy has reached the end of the line.

Sadly, maybe it has.