‘Three Thousand Years of Longing’: George Miller’s $60 Million Misfire [Capsule]

George Miller‘s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” is a 21st century riff on “Arabian Nights. This unusual love story, budgeted at a ridiculous $60 million, has Tilda Swinton‘s English writer and Idris Elba‘s romantic Djinn striking a few nice romantic chords. The problem is that Miller decides to concentrate the bulk of his movie, not on his talented two leads, but on the Djinn’s century-spanning history, which has no tension or surprising elements to it. The film is also devoid of any of the eye-popping visuals Miller is known to create. This is a CG-swamped romance that goes from the mundane to the impenetrable. The disappointment is only more crushing when you realize that this is Miller’s first movie since his triumphant “Mad Max: Fury Road.” [D+]