An amalgamation of multiple successes including but not
limited to: Fifth Element, Equilibrium, Battle Royale, In Time and Romeo and
Juliet with a twist of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror – Fifteen Million Merits, thrown in
for good measure. However this is not a recipe
for another success. It should be, all
the correct ingredients are there but sadly it fails. It reminds me of paella, a hodge podge dish
when done well is so tasty it always leaves you wanting more, but more often
than not it goes wrong… This film is a
paella gone wrong, lots of chewy prawns (terrible lines) and stodgy rice (bad
effects) with the tiny morsel of tasty chicken (stand out performances and
potentially good ideas – if you forgive the blatant plagiarism).
The direction is in parts experimentally trying to
synchronise shaky camera work with the emotion in the film to build tension but
more often than not is substandard bordering on overworked. It appears to be attempting shabby chic, as
in looking like it hasn’t tried and it cost nothing when really it costs a lot ($100,000,000)
and took ages yet still resembles a hobo, which may occasionally work in the
fashion world but not in the world of wannabe blockbusters or cult classics…
pick a side and stick to it!
Woody Harrelson as always never fails and delivered yet
another stand out performance, closely followed by Jennifer Lawrence and Lenny
Kravitz. It just a shame the script they
had to work with was so wooden and cheesy.
Perhaps I just didn’t get “it”, perhaps it had subtle
nuances, layers and subtexts that were beyond me. Yes it attempts to address certain
issues through metaphors blah blah blah but it tried to many things for any
real meaning to stick. The best part of
this film was the trailer for the upcoming Cabin In the Woods which appears to
be a cross between Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever and the Matrix… hopefully that’ll be
a successful dish!
