Just got back from the theatre and saw
The Ring, though I was really looking foward to that Veggie Tales movie. Heard the CGI was kick-ass. But, serioulsy (or at least as serious as I get) on to the review.
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Naomi Watts
Martin Henderson
Brian Cox
David Dorfman
Lindsay Frost
This isn't your normal little the killer is behind you with an axe movie. It is more along the lines of building up suspense as you go on a dire journey of discovery with the main character. Though, the movie does break down from actually scaring you and rather goes for the quick heart pumper by bringing the sound down and then blasting your ears with a sudden loud noise to make you jump. The movie is done very well. I'd give Gore (what the hell kinda name is that?) kudos on pulling it off. It's definitely a way out there flick that requires some imagination. In other words, I'm recommending you folks to go see it.
The basic premise of the story (no there won't be any spoilers in this) is that when people see this video in seven days exactly they die. So, if you don't hear from me after next Sunday, you know what happened. An investigative reporter tries to run down the source of this tape and crack the mystery. If she only had an old hippie van, four kids, and a talking dog, she coulda done it in half an hour.
It's a good unraveling the mystery and putting the puzzle together movie. Sad thing is, some of the pieces aren't there. I don't know if they're planning on doing a sequel like the original Japanese film did or what, but there was a lotta stuff missin'. The orgin of the tape isn't fully explained. Seems as though someone was doing a little cut'n'paste with the script. A few of the attempted scares in it were somewhat cliche and predictable. But there was some good building up some of the plot points. There are some good, quick flashes in some points to act as little reminders for you during the film as to let you keep up and try and figure out the mystery along with the characters. I like how the tape was characterized by one of the characters as a "student film." Not only do I agree with this discription, but I can also tell you exaclty who that student is.
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SPOILERS *******************
I'm still trying to figure out many of the things that were left for dead in the film. Why was the mom so fucking crazy? What was the deal with the suicidal horses? (If they started going crazy after the girl died, I would understand; but that was never really made clear) Did the dad cause the mom to kill the girl; and if so, how and why? How in the hell did the psycho-tape get made in the first place? Did it just possess an old
Golden Girls tape that was laying around? Why was the girl so damn mean and evil?
I wasn't too happy with the whole bit of the kid comunicating with the little girl. It's just been done wayyyyy too much. This film does nothing to seperate it's "I talk with dead people" kid from any other film's "I talk with dead people" kid.
The way the clues unravel throughout the film was very well paced. You get to decipher the clues along with the characters as they notice things. Noticing the house on the horse farm, the chair the little girl sat in, the tree, and the well that she was dumped in. I also like the ending. It made it feel like they were talking about those in the audience. The whole seeing the video as the finale was pretty much expected, but I'd been disappointed if they didn't do it.
[ 10-21-2002, 12:51 AM: Message edited by: thedoctor ]
