Beatles fans should be ashamed

The standard line on this movie seems to be that if you're a fan of the music you'll love this movie, but I have to say that nothing could be further from the truth. What offends me most is that this movie could be put forth as a worthy addition to the Beatles' cultural legacy. To be honest, I saw nothing of the spirit of the Beatles in this movie--none of the intelligence, wit, childlike wonder, or trenchant humor that made the Beatles so appealing in the first place. The renditions of Beatles' songs bring nothing new to the table, and retain none of the spirit of the originals. Sure the songs themselves are great, but a cover needs to be particularly inspired in arrangement or performance to ever really rival a Beatles original. And none of these versions were particularly inspired. Much of the time, in fact, they were downright embarassing. If you love the songs so much go and listen to one of their 14 albums. Or go watch Help!, A Hard Day's Night, Let It Be, etc.

As anyone who takes them seriously as a band knows, songwriting was only half the genius of the Beatles. The other half was how they played together as musicians, and their boundless creativity and curiosity in the studio. Taking away the latter elements and replacing them with lackluster performances does a disservice to the music and is an insult to anyone who holds these songs in high regard.

And don't even get me started on the characters or the "story," both of which lacked any semblance of consistency as they were only there to set up the musical sequences, and as such, were completely devoid of appeal or any possibility of emotional investment. You could tell me you liked the song versions and I actually might believe you, but if you say you cared about the characters or the story, you're lying through your teeth.