Reviews

This, I'm sure, is a great film... if it's purpose is to interest 12 year old girls in the martial arts genre, but personally speaking, I was sorely disappointed.

First off, most of the characters are simply annoying, although in fairness I wouldn't necessarily include 'Rin' in that category, but the general level of acting acting in this movie was also poor. In fact some of the characters may have come across far less annoying if some of the actors had put in better performances.

I quickly realised this was more of an odd kind of drama than an action film as it seemed to take forever before Rin's fighting abilities were even displayed. I kept waiting for a decent fight sequence. And waiting and waiting and waiting...

And when the moment finally arrived (after a whole hour) the choreography was disappointing to say the least, one could almost say laughable.

I realise this is not a movie that takes itself seriously but it would have been better if it had thrown itself fully into the Lacrosse aspect of the film which was more prevalant than anything else anyway, but it even failed to commit itself properly to that. It could have been to Lacrosse what Shaolin soccer is to... well, soccer. But in the end it was neither here or there.

As for the final battle, well, what can I say except 'Kung-Fu Hustle'!!! The last scenes were almost identical. Shamefully so in fact. Having said that, maybe Shaolin Girl should have actually borrowed more from the brilliant Kung-Fu Hustle and at least may have injected some fun into the whole affair.

Overall a real shame. I truly expected to enjoy it. It had potential and it did have it's rare moments, but sadly it was - as the saying goes - a damp squib.

My expectations of this picture were admittedly pretty low but actually, elements of it were not too bad and it at least requires the viewer to think about the possible meaning of what they are watching. While the script was lame in places, on the whole it was acceptable and the acting was pretty solid all-round (as in not obviously awful!). The worst aspect of the film for me was not the lack of explanation as to what was going on - something that I know annoyed a lot of people - but rather the fact that the monsters, ghosts, etc were representations of the members of the band Lordi. I know this was a Lordi film and it's pretty obvious why this was done but it made the film a lot less creepy than it could otherwise have been.

The end of the film was slightly disappointing for me, not because of what happened but because it's attempt at an explanation of the previous events was weak and half-hearted. If you're going to end a film in that way at least do it with some conviction and a little more clarity than was offered here!

Anyway, many seem to have struggled to understand this film and as much as I have tried to understand it, it doesn't actually make a great deal of sense to me either but for what it's worth here is my interpretation:

Bear with me!

The girl dies twice. The first time is in the machine at hospital. She then somehow returns to life and comes out of the machine in a critical condition, albeit unknown to the hospital staff. Her cries for the 'red crayon' represent her fear of death and the sense of danger and confusion which she feels. Her father later tucks her into a hospital bed (with no nurses present?!) at which point she dies (again) shortly afterwards. The following events take place, in my opinion, inside the girls head at the points between her two deaths, although triggered by her ultimate second death. Before her second and final death she is spoken to by Tobias although we cannot hear what he says to her. Tobias is also about to die, an event which she senses, due I suppose to her first brush with death. Confusing eh... The death of Tobias is imagined by the girl (in her own death-state)inside the elevator which stops, at the limbo point between floors 6 and 7. 6 representing Hell and 7 being Heaven. Time seems to stop at this point too, although it would make more sense if time stopped at the point before the girls death as she lay in the hospital bed. Anyway, upon exiting the elevator they head down the stairs and effectively descend (throughout the film) lower into the depths of Hell although the girl keeps breaking away from the crowd as she tries to lead them upwards rather down, only her own fear and confusion all the while is not enough to convince the others that she knows the way - I think! Anyway, Tobias is dead yet alive which explains his link to the girl who is in a similar situation - both of them kind of in limbo at this point I suppose. Events now overlap each other because in effect time has stopped and things are unfolding outside of time. The Lordi Monsters are demons who attempt to take the girls soul for their own and keep her in Hell. They try to trick the father into thinking he must let her go, but in the end the fact that he never gives up on her is what saves her. In the finale he leaves her in a safe place and goes to fight the huge demon in an attempt to save his daughter. As it turns out he never has to face the demon, the fact that he sacrificed himself for her is enough to save her - it is this act of love which gives her the strength to resist the clutches of Hell and escape the demon. She then enters life again at the point of her awakening from her first death. She now has conquered her fear and confusion of her impending death, comforted by the love she feels from her father and his selfless act of sacrifice - hence the 'blue crayon'. Blue of course representing calm and tranquility. We now hear what Tobias says to her - that he no longer feels cold - his way of telling her not to be scared. What I presume follows is that she again dies her second and final death in the hospital bed, only now she will make it to heaven. Her calmness will also put her father at ease after her death and make him feel she was at peace.

Well, that's about the closest I can get to making sense out of it anyway! Hope you followed my logic - however tenuous it may have been at times. I would have given Dark Floors a higher rating if it hadn't been for the lame monsters and also if it had been made slightly less difficult to make sense out of as I think it would have been to the films credit to so. While it is great to let the audience think for themselves and not spell everything out for them, I feel a film of this type really needs to meet it's audience halfway as the consequence of not doing so gives the appearance of a somewhat senseless and mangled piece of work. I'm just not sure one should have to work quite so hard to find the meaning in a movie of this nature.