Saturday, September 12, 2009
Movie Reviews: THE UNBORN
ON DVD
THE UNBORN
Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) hated her mother for leaving her as a child. But when inexplicable things start to happen, Casey begins to understand why she left. Plagued by merciless dreams and a tortured ghost that haunts her waking hours, she must turn to the only spiritual advisor, Sendak (Gary Oldman), who can make it stop. With Sendak’s help, Casey uncovers the source of a family curse dating back to Nazi Germany—a creature with the ability to inhabit anyone or anything that is getting stronger with each possession. With the curse unleashed, her only chance at survival is to shut a doorway from beyond our world that has been pried open by someone who was never born.
Cast: Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman, Cam Gigandet, Meagan Good, James Remar
Director: David S. Goyer
Opened January 9, 2009
Runtime: 1 hr. 28 min
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images, thematic material and language including some sexual references
Genres: Thriller, Supernatural Thriller
Review:
The Unborn is a hodgepodge of a horror film. Writer Director David Goyer seemed to be trying desperately to create something wildly original but instead just gave us a blended version of any recent Japanese horror remake, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, The Thing and just for the hell of it Denzel Washington’s The Fallen. Sprinkle liberally with a Kubrick like oddities ala The Shining with a dash of underwear exploration and you have The Unborn. It’s surprising that Goyer’s script is so terribly unfocused yet over done at the same time. Certain aspects of the story are over explained but others seem to just appear and disappear without notice. As a horror movie it strives for something different or disturbing but always ends up relying on the classic fright moments to get a cheap scare. As shown in Blade Trinity, Goyer as a director doesn’t have much of a talent for bring out anything discernible from his cast, the same is true here. Odettee Yustman headlines and spends the first 3rd of the movie walking slowly through darken hallways and bathrooms in some incredibly tight underwear. Once that passes she’s require to act and then things get a bit more dicey. Yustman delivers lines with all the conviction of a first year drama student and it doesn’t help that her character makes massive logical leaps for no apparent reason. It might help Yustman if the script had built more 3 dimensional characters to surround her with but she doesn’t and we are given two flimsy stock characters that are dispatched with zero impact. The smaller supporting roles are surprisingly well cast but terribly underused and underwritten. Gary Oldman and Idris Elba both have small roles and walk in and out of the film as if they were passing by to pay a ticket. Once Oldman leaves the film rushes to a swift conclusion with a twist that supposed to comes out of leftfield but was terribly obvious.
D+
Showing posts with label Odette Yustman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Odette Yustman. Show all posts
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Movie Reviews: CLOVERFIELD
Friday, January 18, 2008
Movie Reviews: CLOVERFIELD
IN THEATHERS
CLOVERFIELD
Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David) has just gotten a new job, except he's going to have to move from NYC to Tokyo to take it. On the eve of his departure, Rob's brother Jason (Mike Vogel) throws a surprise going-away party that's interrupted when a giant monster attacks the city. Receiving a panicked phone call from his ex-girlfriend Beth (Odette Yustman), Rob races through the destruction with several of his friends to save her.
Cast Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller
Director(s) Matt Reeves
Writer(s) Drew Goddard
Status In theaters (wide)
Genre(s) Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Release Date Jan. 18, 2008
Running Time 90 minutes
MPAA Rating PG-13 - for violence, terror and disturbing images
Review:
The genius of Cloverfield is not its point of view shooting style, done before famously in both The Blair Witch Project and Cannibal Holocaust, but instead in using that style to make well worn conceits seem fresh and new. Cloverfield is a gripping, at times thrilling, ride of a film that uses its 90 minutes of celluloid to its fullest effect. Matt Reeves, doing J.J. Abrams leg work here, gives the audience just enough character development to make the players in this horrific fun ride more than just faceless cut outs. Once we are introduced to the cast of characters and the monster makes it's appearance there are a few scenes that strike eerily close to reality especially considering the New York setting that maybe upsetting to some still overly sensitive to the events of 9-11. Once those moments pass we are subjected to a first person trek through a nightmarish, occasionally claustrophobic, suburban labyrinth with a monster or monsters lurking around any corner. Matt Reeves gives the audience just enough glimpses of the main beasty to placate most curiosity and maintain a solid sense of realism and sense of urgency. It doesn't quite have the sincerity of The Blair Witch Project as this feels more staged and some of the acting is down right laughable. It doesn't help that the characters make brain dead decisions pretty much throughout. That being said the characters are never the main point of emphasis instead it feels more like they are scurrying around in the background of a monster movie we never see. Plot wise, Cloverfield is derivate borrowing heavily from monster movies and borrowing a classic zombie movie ending, in other words there is nothing that will shock you if you were to read a synopsis but the actual experience is so much more enjoyable.
B+
Movie Reviews: CLOVERFIELD
IN THEATHERS
CLOVERFIELD
Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David) has just gotten a new job, except he's going to have to move from NYC to Tokyo to take it. On the eve of his departure, Rob's brother Jason (Mike Vogel) throws a surprise going-away party that's interrupted when a giant monster attacks the city. Receiving a panicked phone call from his ex-girlfriend Beth (Odette Yustman), Rob races through the destruction with several of his friends to save her.
Cast Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller
Director(s) Matt Reeves
Writer(s) Drew Goddard
Status In theaters (wide)
Genre(s) Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Release Date Jan. 18, 2008
Running Time 90 minutes
MPAA Rating PG-13 - for violence, terror and disturbing images
Review:
The genius of Cloverfield is not its point of view shooting style, done before famously in both The Blair Witch Project and Cannibal Holocaust, but instead in using that style to make well worn conceits seem fresh and new. Cloverfield is a gripping, at times thrilling, ride of a film that uses its 90 minutes of celluloid to its fullest effect. Matt Reeves, doing J.J. Abrams leg work here, gives the audience just enough character development to make the players in this horrific fun ride more than just faceless cut outs. Once we are introduced to the cast of characters and the monster makes it's appearance there are a few scenes that strike eerily close to reality especially considering the New York setting that maybe upsetting to some still overly sensitive to the events of 9-11. Once those moments pass we are subjected to a first person trek through a nightmarish, occasionally claustrophobic, suburban labyrinth with a monster or monsters lurking around any corner. Matt Reeves gives the audience just enough glimpses of the main beasty to placate most curiosity and maintain a solid sense of realism and sense of urgency. It doesn't quite have the sincerity of The Blair Witch Project as this feels more staged and some of the acting is down right laughable. It doesn't help that the characters make brain dead decisions pretty much throughout. That being said the characters are never the main point of emphasis instead it feels more like they are scurrying around in the background of a monster movie we never see. Plot wise, Cloverfield is derivate borrowing heavily from monster movies and borrowing a classic zombie movie ending, in other words there is nothing that will shock you if you were to read a synopsis but the actual experience is so much more enjoyable.
B+
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