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Review: 'Where to Invade Next' shows us how to make a better world

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Michael Moore is the flagbearer in “Where to Invade Next.” (Shaw Organisation)

Marcus Goh is a Singapore television scriptwriter. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. He Tweets/Instagrams at Optimarcus and writes atmarcusgohmarcusgoh.com. The views expressed are his own.

Secret ending? Yes, surprisingly.

Running time: 120 minutes.

“Where to Invade Next” is a documentary about how other countries handle social issues, such as education and incarceration. It focuses mainly on European countries, and makes many comparisons to America. It features Michael Moore (the filmmaker), Claudio Domenicali (CEO of Ducati), Krista Kiuru (Finnish Minister of Education), Time Walker (Finland teacher), and Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (former Iceland president). It is rated M-18.

“Where to Invade Next” caught my attention as being a sarcastic but thought-provoking title about USA’s foreign policies. It’s crafted as part satire, part travelogue, and shows us just how little we know about the rest of the world (even if you’re not American), and how little the world knows about USA’s less popular policies. It’s not just a film about righting USA’s social issues, but about how the rest of the world could stand to have better, kinder, and more humanitarian policies.

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Leaders of the country in “Where to Invade Next.” (Shaw Organisation)

Highlights

A human story for each country

While each country has a specific government policy that Michael Moore features, it’s not just about how it works to benefit the country socially and economically. There’s also a person at the crux of each policy, a face that humanises what might otherwise be a cold, unfeeling number crunching exercise, which lends emotion to the story. Granted, all these policies have a fantastic economic benefit, but it’s the fact that they touch lives which makes them all the more cogent.

Eye opening perspective on social policies

We’ve all heard of the amazing education system of Finland, so that might not come as a surprise, but how about the incarceration policies of Norway? The prison system is never a popular topic, since it has to do with our safety and other unsavoury issues, and it’s a daring move to actually feature this aspect of Norway in a positive way. “Where to Invade Next” also looks at other gentler and more ethical perspectives of governing society, all of which are surprisingly intuitive yet boldly original (in comparison to what we’ve been exposed to).

Not just about America, but about humanity

The film is purportedly about how USA needs to amend many of its policies and rely less on commercialism, which is a stance that Michael Moore constantly reminds you of. Yet if you’re not American, the film is still relevant to you, because it shows us a kinder way to treat our fellow man. It conveys the message that society should be about people, and not commercialism, and that we mustn’t forget about humanity in our pursuit of efficiency.

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Michael Moore reflects on his actions in “Where to Invade Next.” (Shaw Organisation)

Letdowns

Agenda is very thick

Michael Moore really doesn’t let up on his agenda, and constantly shows America’s policies in a ludicrous light. While that may be the motivation for the documentary in the first place, the film changes gear later on, and becomes more about how the whole world can learn from other countries. Yet the America bashing continues, and it grows very tiresome towards the end.

Sarcasm doesn’t always work

“Where to Invade Next” tries to be as sarcastic as possible at how America handles education, finance, and incarceration, but it works only about a quarter of the time. The rest of it comes off as a whiny complaint about how ineffective these systems are, and belabours the point far longer than it should. Without the futile sarcasm, the film could have been shorter and punchier.

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Michael Moore learns about other nations in “Where to Invade Next.” (Shaw Organisation)

“Where to Invade Next” show us how we can heal the world and make it a better place if its agenda doesn’t put you off.

Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.

Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? No.

Score: 3.0/5

“Where to Invade Next” opens in cinemas 28 April, 2016 (Thursday).