Reviews

Too dark, and slightly incoherent in the middle.

I have no problem with characters accessing the website. What kind of moron would really believe that simply accessing a web site would set you on a path to a death you couldn't prevent.

Which leads onto the fact that you will find many of the ideas in the film "Ring" and from X-File episodes. Which makes you wonder why two highly rated and popular ingredients produced such a low rated film.

Too much sheeping me thinks. It ain't a good film, but it certainly ain't too bad.

This was one of the worst films I have ever seen.

I usually praise any film for some aspect of its production, but the intensely irritating behaviour of more than half the characters made it hard for me to appreciate any part of this film.

Most common was the inference that the bloke who designed the building was at fault an avalanche collapsing it. Er ok.

Also, trying to out ski an avalanche slalom style is not gonna work. Running 10 feet into some trees is not gonna work. Alas it does here. As mentioned before the innate dumbness and sheer stupidity of some characters is ridiculous. In an enclosed space, with limited oxygen a four year old could tell you starting a fire is not a good idea.

Anyway, about 5 minutes of the movie redeems itself and acquires some appreciation. However, if you have a modicum of intelligence you too will find most of this film hard to tolerate.

It pains me that so many quality stories go unproduced and yet someone will pay for things like this to be made.

Oh, did I mention the last five minutes? Well to give you a hook you have to keep watching in order to see the latest in combative avalanche techniques. Absolutely priceless.

A lot of people seem to be misreading this movie. Though it has been excessively advertised as a horror movie, those who get their thrill from the big scare will find horror fare too scarce in this piece.

Elements of plot may have been used before, but I mentally engaged with the characters and their motivations. Except the odd occasion of walking or straying with a potential murderer round the corner.

The direction was good. A little to jerky with the last act, making it a tad difficult to follow who was where and doing what. But that closeness and reality were there. Like the way you felt you could reach out and grab a handful of dirt in Saving Private Ryan.

For me the humans infected with 'The Rage' where part of the setting, the environment, and not the essence of the story. People operate from a realistic point of view in this film, if you're angry you exact vengeance. It's human nature. Why do we demand punishment for our criminals? justice? reform? hardly, it's revenge. These are opinions this film is not afraid to make. However, advertising this film as horror will attract a lot of folk who care little about morality and thus will be disappointed that there is a short changing of shock. And let's face it. With this premiss we could have had 90mins of horror tension.

I did feel a little cheated of 'scare', but was pleasantly surprised at the depth in what I was led to believe was the scariest horror movie of the year.

PS Obvious comparisons are made to Vanilla Sky with the bare streets, but it's not about the implied meaning, more amazement that so much of London was shot abandoned, when it hums 24/7 and you can't shut any of it down to shoot. One up for reasoning with the public, and good looking ladies stopping the morning traffic by standing in front of cars. :)

The art of tension is creating high stakes, and then dancing on the edge of disaster until the climax.

When the audience is cringing at the plethora of ridiculous scenarios spewed onto the screen in front of them, tension is not achieved.

The basic premiss is not too bad. We've seen these virus films before, and the potential is there for a couple of programmer spods to do effective battle with a virus. But you have to truly research the subject, and you might realize computers can't fire guns, sign cheques, take showers... any of which would have not seemed out of place in this dross.

There is little grace in the action. They pull over to have domestic conversations. Insert irregular and obtrusive dialogue. We might as well put a colour coded bar on to denote main and subplots.

All that said, if you are the kind of person who doesn't know how to wind up your sundial, then you'll probably love this film.

Not surprisingly a short about a girl in a lay-by.

Not a lot to it really. A few interesting camera angles or setups to jazz it up a bit. I get the inkling there is some deeper experiences behind the story. On the surface it is about realizing that if you want something you have to actually do something about it yourself.

The length of it was just right in my opinion. The lack of any braincandy would soon of had me getting bored. I didn't find it inspirational or poor... a bit middle of the road.. (ho ho)

Short story about: A receptionist sits a lonely life with her plants.

It is a sweet little story, but it just didn't click with me. I can see how the script would have inspired a reader. However the visual tale is a bit to easy to see coming, and thus you're at the end before the film.

There will be plenty who like this quirky fable, and maybe relate. Unfortunately not me.

Short story about a fishmonger who battles with the big corporate fish merchant for local fish produce.

I loved this story. I can't remember anyone speaking in it, but every emotion is conveyed brilliantly by the actors. For me it creates a steady balanced progression that brings a big smile to the face when the finale arrives.

A short story about the effect a skip arrival has on the local residents.

Not wishing to give away the ending I will leave it at that, but to say I enjoyed this little tale, and found it quite amusing. Its a cleverly thought out piece, and suitably directed.

Oh dear, what a disaster.

So we have a bunch of gargoyles shipped over from Yorkshire. They have a talisman serving as the blue touch-paper. Use blood to light. The gargoyles break out into little beasties that will devastate a chosen town as some kind of retribution for collective sins. Spawned in Medieval times using black magic. Oh yes. And let nobody ask for any more detailed information than that, as we only spent 10 minutes on back story.

Billy from 'Neighbours' faffs about with his poor accent. Though I shall go easy on the lad. Aussie talk is English with a twang. US talk is a different twang coupled with over pronunciation. Still, Selina from 'Home and Away' manages quite well.

Oh, the film. Starts ok. Beastie gets free, whole movie plummets. It becomes slow, we all know what's going to happen. Scenes are crowbar'd in to explain stuff. Subplots are thin and awkward. Beastie vision is like looking through a pint of snakebite'n'black. Beastie will viciously wolf down sausages and cooked meat, but kills dogs with a slight graze of the belly and leaves them.

Just once in one of these movies I want a crazy character to rant and rave about totally implausible demon, and the other guy not spit on him and call him a drunk loony, but instead just randomly help him hunt his demon as they've got nothing better to do.

I shall blame the director for the excessive cheese factor towards the end. People just don't behave in the way that is filmed here. A mild recovery is made in the last 10 seconds, which makes me think the story was told from the wrong point of view.

The plot had potential, which is probably why it is now a movie. But it needed more thought and filling out. About 70% will laugh at it, 10% will love it. 20% will be checking the skies for flying... what's that.. aaaaggh.

You wonder how stupid a film has to get before you call it a spoof. You could easily have made this film twice as good by employing Leslie Nielsen to open the door to the cockpit and say "Good luck, we're all counting on you".

For me the suspense in these films is made by the realism. Intelligent people doing the sensible things that just don't go right, or the sensibly designed equipment is just not up to the job.

Here we have stupid people doing idiotic things, the laws of physics are completely ignored. Ropes pass through overhead cables. And quite frankly I think I designed a safer locomotive when I was 12. A bird with precise bowel movements could have shorted out this train.

In fact I recommend you watch it backwards, that way you can go from the obvious outcomes to the hilarious and unpredictable reasons that got them into that outcome.

I loved the concept of the film, and the script is probably a fantastic read. But I have not read it, so I will not be so fatuous to cast praise or aspersion.

The main flaw in this film is the ease with which it confuses people. From reading reviews many people seem totally clueless as to what the film is about.

The journey that Cassie takes from denial with subconscious guilt to acceptance and despair is well thought out and interesting. Unfortunately there is a lot of rubbish thrown in to contribute to Cassie's confused state of mind. This only serves to confuse the viewer. And these are major plot red herrings too. Like thinking this is a horror film. If you are a sharp cookie and can hold multiple thoughts in parallel you will be able to decipher the film and get something from it... most likely you will like it. If you do not concentrate however, you will drown in a sea of confusion and feel you have just wasted and hour and a half.

Oh, and the first ending was sufficient... what that last bit was supposed to achieve I have no idea, but after a tough mental challenge the last thing you need is a tacked on, serves no useful purpose, post shoot, I'm gonna make you think this film is stupid, ending. Have they any idea how difficult it is to explain to a friend what the film is actually about and how they have completely missed the plot?

Such a shame. Clearly a good budget, great locations, wardrobes and potential. Everything looks really good, and then... aaagh. We seem to be using that old formula. Protagonist who is honourable and decent, with a shady past as his negative. Antagonist as evil and merciless as we can get away with, somewhere just shy of stamping on bunny's for the fun of it. And plot wise... the old classic I've been wronged, I shall have my revenge.

I was hoping for a gripping intricate mix of war, treachery, divided loyalty, cunning, ruthlessness, compassion and bravery. Unfortunately we got a bland obvious and very unimaginative tale of revenge.

It is all too easy to pull the film down in its realism. The actions of army personnel I cannot comment on as I was not there. But they do seem to have amazing shooting accuracy with incredibly inaccurate weapons. The slave issue clearly portrayed in a bit of an embarrassing way so as not to offend. I guess the question is: why set a story in such a time if you have no intention of recreating it accurately?

A point about this films set in history. I make a point of assuming, other than the arena in which it is set, that the rest is completely fictitious.

I suppose one truth is displayed, that revenge is the excuse of the evil, and only leads to more death and suffering. We seem to understand this yet cannot overcome our need for it. So much could have been explored in this film, yet they leave it out for the old classic formulas. I'm afraid I'm not that easily satisfied.

I assume that this was written after The Matrix and Tomb Raider, though that's not always the way. At first when this chap keeps harping on about finding "the one" the focus was wavering. Then the "Illuminati" aagh, Fatboy Slim tunes diving through my head. Stop it, stop it.

So that aside, from the first 20 mins we managed to get the idea of a master "magician", who was trying to find a replacement for himself. The reason for the magician: to fight for the good, against the evil. What was the threat from the evil?... well there isn't really much direct 'evil people' doing 'evil stuff'. They seem to push some drugs or castor sugar, but other than that all 'badness' was blamed on them without screen evidence.

So we have a sister as plot device and a few philosophical view points, which given credit, elevate the story from sheer nonsense. The effects were fine for the budget. The acting was not laughable, but some of the dialogue was hard to shift without creating a smirk on the viewer.

I feel the main problem with the film may lie in its similarity to other productions, which were made much better, thus this film comes off with a cheap laughable feel. There is no real passion from the characters, (or at least, is was not conveyed to me). Which promotes a lack of caring.

So to stop rambling, and conclude, I'll tell you... Kimberley D looks good, but the film is a tad poor. I'm sure a few will love it, but most will find it hard to feel worth their while.

I was pleasantly surprised at how realistic the characters felt. For once the leading lady was not head cheerleader/prom queen but an average girl with a good intelligence.

There were some divisions in pupils, but there were no spotty nerd characters who did nothing but play with computers and watch Star Trek. They actually had an alternate respectable social world.

I was annoyed that our sporting hero seemed to be the only guy who scored for the basketball team, but you can't have everything.

The relationships were slightly more believable, impulse attractions were short lived, and dormant attraction and friendship was re-awakened in a smooth and acceptable manner. The subtle conniving women were enjoyable to watch.

I was expecting a really poor and tacky American High School comedy, but found a quite refreshing change from all the other movies that have been listed in these reviews.

And a word of advice... if you hate high school comedies then don't watch it. Personally I can't stand those movies with that old cliche of boy and girl attracted to each other. I mean puleeze.

So you're on the runway ready for take-off. Woah the engines kick in and the movie lurches forward, first minute we are into the air. The story starts building altitude.

The movie is inclining at near 45 degrees here. Twenty minutes in and a whole load of story has happened, this can't be. Your gripping your seat sure the movie will stall. Do they realize the better you make the start the further you have to fall when you stall.

Maybe if you have the finance or a big enough engine we can keep this up. Enter Kristina Malota... this little girl makes the movie for me. She adapts the character through the movie brilliantly. Either the director nursed a great performance or this girl has natural talent.

The story is good, the subplots are supporting but not intrusive, the balance of the story is good, not letting any of the story lag and break the flow. This really is a bizarrely good movie.

Or at least I thought so. I have watched a lot of these afternoon cheap romantic/drama movies and this is the only one where I did not look at the clock to find out how long until the interesting conclusion happens.

It's a quick on the way in and fast on the way out. It does not have clever twists or turns it's just good story telling.

Oh yes, and we plateau'd at a high altitude, then coasted in for a solid landing.

This is a small 'country' drama. Not saying New Zealand is small. I mean it involves a few people in a remote area. The story revolves around the mother of a young boy and an american pilot.

Not too much is surprising in this film. The stolen money subplot can be solved quicker than it starts. The outcome of the main story... I hate to give people even hints as to the story or resolution of a film but needless to say, once you have watched the first 10mins you'll know that there will be no Shyamalanian ending to this little puppy.

Nothing is particularly interesting about the film. Of course you want to know how it turns out. It wouldn't have been made otherwise, but this film will really only appeal to the drama lovers. Who will revel in the sad moments, love story and the 'listen to me tell you how bad my life has been' speeches.

I was rather surprised how well Dean Cain fitted into this role. He seems to be growing from the caped avenger days and actually developed some good acting ability.

The effects in this film looked about as good as they cost. The plot was not thick, and information was crowbarred in occasionally. This film does do the No.1 job of keeping you interested.

It's by no means a clever plot and not a craft of film work, but it does the job for 90 mins.

This is a very interesting film. If you watched it without any knowledge of what the storyline was then you should have been intrigued by the slightly twisted world the lead character lives in.

That is about as much as I can describe the film without ruining it by telling you more.

In terms of a film despite living in England my whole life I do tend to prefer cheerier sets than those seen in this film. I find them depressing to be honest. Some people will probably find that adds to the film or its message.

My strongest post viewing thought was, I wish they had crammed more into the film to push the story along. There is some good stuff here, but I fear that many viewers will just be lost or lose patience; if you don't feed a dog he won't be your friend.

Sweet: I have to defend the writer of the film who did manage to get a certain amount of emotional situations into the film. I found the acting to be Ok. It is always difficult to act or judge acting in fictitious films of this nature. How do we know how people would cry about dying relatives etc? I know I've never been in a situation where 50% of the world population was dying. But I have seen people distressed crying and they would be deemed unrealistic in a film.

Bitter: Most of this film is embarrassing. Despite being English I know that America has tighter security on its president than we do on the Royal family and the PM put together, so the whole island, planes, terrorist bit really made it difficult to take any of this film seriously.

Sympathy: For the people who were conned by the, "I've got a great film where a deadly virus sweeps the planet, the president is caught between his job and his family who are desperate to help the suffering. This woman is fighting for a cure but ends up quarantined from her daughter who resents her mother being away from her after her fathers death."

"Hey this has real dramatic potential... no wait, wait, who filled it out with this pile of....

Incase you don't know what is about, then it is about a married couple and their best friend. It is not a love triangle as such, but a drama of emotions, played out to the setting of injuries, police officers and ice hockey.

The film is good in part and poor at times. The anger I feel when people behave irrationally, but you have to convince yourself that people may react in that way. Still I will not point out exactly which bits I am referring to, you can enjoy that for yourself.

At the half hour point I was beginning to get quite annoyed with this film, but it did improve near to the end. I did find that some emotional content that was enjoyable to watch play out. Many people will find this movie dull and uninteresting. This is by no means brilliant or ground breaking, but it does have value if you ask me. 5/10... ooh I'm harsh.

This film went under the name of The Incredible Elephant when I watched it. Which turned out to be a little clearer in how the elephant was meant to be. The picture has an elephant in it, but not all the time. If you ask me, the elephant coverage was too much.

With two quality adult stars having a 'friends who care and a bit more' relationship, I would rather have watched this story than the one about the elephant. Further to this point the relationship between the boy and his father was reduced in exposure to put in more chasing elephant and some odd bully character plot. Whilst this would bring the movie into the kids corner, from my point of view there was some high quality drama missed out on.

This all results in an average movie failing to really excite the viewer. Maybe kids will like the child's perspective, and so the film will hit its mark there.

Tough in a lot of ways. To watch, its presentation, material, etc. This will be a much underrated film. Reasons: Firstly the fact that no time is wasted, you need to concentrate for the whole thing. Much of the story is told in looks glances and connecting dots. So immediately you have lost 50% of your audience who will only concentrate for 10-15 mins, miss something and be lost for the rest of the film declaring it as pointless or confusing.

If you can concentrate then the supposed plot twists are no more than just an intricate weaving of characters. You can work out from the start that everyone has their own agenda. The intelligent ones will play other people to get what they want and test each other. This also requires some nous from the viewer to see.

Finally it is nice to have a movie with no good guys. Ooops, just lost another 20% of the public who can't handle a movie without a hero. It's also a movie with gunfights that are not set to a thumping soundtrack, reflecting the loud and very violent realism that are guns. And some great comedy touches striking that balance.

On the acting side parts were played well, del Toro plays his intense twisted man beautifully, and Phillipe the slightly more innocent but really couldn't care less character also very well.

The only thing I would criticize is the voice over at the end, it would have been nice to just drift away. It is worth noting that McQuarrie writes not to please the audience or make a successful film, but to challenge convention and show people a different side...

This film will be fine craftsmanship to a narrow wedge of the audience, and a pleasure to watch. A large slice will find it acceptable and enjoy the acting, the gunfights or the intriguing plot. Leaving the final slice of audience to reel at the dead innocent public and be aggravated by the story they have to fill in, or the reason for such odd behaviour.

Under the guise of the Bermuda triangle, this film seems just like Event Horizon. Without the Sam Neill factor of course. Some interest in generated in who will survive, or will anyone survive. But a vague interest it was for me.

Some people will love this for the supernatural aspects, others will be annoyed and cast it aside as stupid.

The film ends up being rather basic. No emotion is generated, and the characters do not interact in an interesting fashion.

So we are left with a rather disappointing film which could have delivered more, maybe going all out scary action thriller, making a good film (now that special effects are good even with low budgets).

This looked like being a good movie about the dreams of a young boy and the relationship he has with his Grandfather. Unfortunately a disaster happens towards the end, in terms of story. When the vehicle for the drama (the rocket) becomes the focus with a crazy finale.

This resulting madness totally destroys any good ground work that was laid in the first part of the film.

My advice, watch it, and when people in suits show up in black cars, accidentally wonder off and imagine your own cool ending.