It may be because my expectations were seriously low thanks to critics' reviews, but I enjoyed the movie. The horror aspect was surprisingly good; I wasn't prepared to feel scared, which is always a nice surprise. Although there were some pretty lame scenes where even I could have delivered the lines better, the story, the visual effects, and some really funny dialogue made up for it.
That being said, I don't know why Chris ended up as a ghost/zombie when every other undead being was physically touchable, beatable, visible, and non-omnipresent. Besides, why did he start out as a mindless zombie that tried to kill even Nick, if his sole purpose was to serve Ahmanet and he knew Nick was her chosen one? And if he was going to be a mindless zombie, why did he change into a ghost that was all BFFs with Nick again? Also, I don't think it made sense for Nick to make a sacrifice of that magnitude for Jenny given how his character was portrayed and their ridiculously short relationship history. And I'm sorry, but you can't have a money crazed crook take back control of his body and mental facilities from "Satan himself" (Dr. Jekyll's words, not mine). Is Nick gonna turn out to be the bastard son of a Celestial as well? Please.
As for the acting, I think Tom Cruise had no chemistry whatsoever with any of the other cast members, and -maybe because of that- he looked like he was trying too hard. Annabelle Wallis looked like someone had dropped her into the scene and she'd barely had time to look at her lines; she sounded that fake and out of place. Luckily, she was somehow wayyy better in the second half of the movie than she was in the first half. Russell Crowe looked like he was wearing someone else's clothes, figuratively speaking, so I hope he grows into the role more in the upcoming movies. Sadly, I thought Jake Johnson's role as the comic relief failed miserably, despite his great, natural performance.
I hope the failure of this movie doesn't mark the end of the Dark Universe as I'm still kind of looking forward to seeing it explored, but this should be a lesson learned for everyone involved in the upcoming productions. It's no easy feat messing up a movie this badly when you have all the time, money, and resources in the world not to mention great actors.
That being said, I don't know why Chris ended up as a ghost/zombie when every other undead being was physically touchable, beatable, visible, and non-omnipresent. Besides, why did he start out as a mindless zombie that tried to kill even Nick, if his sole purpose was to serve Ahmanet and he knew Nick was her chosen one? And if he was going to be a mindless zombie, why did he change into a ghost that was all BFFs with Nick again? Also, I don't think it made sense for Nick to make a sacrifice of that magnitude for Jenny given how his character was portrayed and their ridiculously short relationship history. And I'm sorry, but you can't have a money crazed crook take back control of his body and mental facilities from "Satan himself" (Dr. Jekyll's words, not mine). Is Nick gonna turn out to be the bastard son of a Celestial as well? Please.
As for the acting, I think Tom Cruise had no chemistry whatsoever with any of the other cast members, and -maybe because of that- he looked like he was trying too hard. Annabelle Wallis looked like someone had dropped her into the scene and she'd barely had time to look at her lines; she sounded that fake and out of place. Luckily, she was somehow wayyy better in the second half of the movie than she was in the first half. Russell Crowe looked like he was wearing someone else's clothes, figuratively speaking, so I hope he grows into the role more in the upcoming movies. Sadly, I thought Jake Johnson's role as the comic relief failed miserably, despite his great, natural performance.
I hope the failure of this movie doesn't mark the end of the Dark Universe as I'm still kind of looking forward to seeing it explored, but this should be a lesson learned for everyone involved in the upcoming productions. It's no easy feat messing up a movie this badly when you have all the time, money, and resources in the world not to mention great actors.