Review: Descent (2007) [Reviewed By Clifford Kiyabu]

Directed by: Talia Lugacy
Written by: Talia Lugacy and Brian Priest
Genre: Drama / Thriller
MPAA: Rated NC-17 for a brutal rape.
Released: 10 August 2007 (limited)
Starring: Rosario Dawson, Chad Faust, Marcus Patrick, Christopher DeBlasio.

Plot: A promising college student becomes bent on seeking revenge after a shocking act of violence is committed on her.

Review: 5/10

My Thoughts: In today’s age it’s very common to hear in the news of young woman being violated or date rapped at collage parties, what you don’t hear is many of the victims don’t ever get the justice that they deserve, many of the rapist manage to go by unpunished, and some are simply never caught. Now most of you who’ve known me for quite some time know I have a somewhat hatred to those who commit rape, I have a strong standing on sex between two individuals always remaining consensual between two parties at all time, and from time and time again I have been known to have a somewhat violent side to those who have committed the evil deed of rape, no matter who you are: if you’ve rapped someone once in your life, you’ll never have get an ounce of respect from me, call it a form of prejudice if you will, but I seriously hate people who rape, so you can understand how I must have been feeling while watching Descent,

I decided to give it a shot despite hearing bad things about it because as a film critic I stand by my word to never pre-judge a film, that before I give out an opinion I should see it from start to finish. Well what I got was a very strong mix feeling here, on one hand I couldn’t understand why it’s rated NC-17 by the MPAA, until I saw the climax ending which I go into detail in a little bit, first of the film starts off rather slow, but begins to show some potential of becoming a good film building up to a very nail biting rape scene in which Rosario Dawson’s character “Maya” is violently rapped by Chad Faust’s character “Jared” this of course was very hard for me to watch because all I could do was feel angry at Faust’s character because what was being done, however it did show one good point to the viewers, that a ripest is not an angry womanizing ass who hits woman and is built like a tank, no this type of guy we all see as a typical rapist is a stereotype, a rapist can be anyone of any race, religion, profession, and socioeconomic group; they are of varying ages and gender. The rapist in this is not built, and has a mellow attitude to everyone; he’s smooth to the ladies and as well a little shy to those who call him out, and defiantly not a fighter.

But still, he is a violent rapist, aside from showing you that people who do such acts of horror cannot be characterized, the film lacks greatly on storytelling, it seems after the rape scene was over the film take a very dull take on the storyline. Knocking out the villain of the film from sight, introducing some new characters that aren’t of any importance to the plot except for one maybe, and in this second act also lacks greatly on the dialog which was very flat, and somewhat meaningless to the plot, and this of course remains like so until the third act which finally builds up to yet another horrific scene, more so then the rape shown in the beginning which from here on out the film losses all its integrity and gives way to the blatantly overextended finale, which I can’t stress enough will have you hating the victim and feeling some form of sympathy for the villain, if you don’t want to know how it end then I highly saddest you stop reading and fast-forward to the next paragraph right now… alright if you are still reading then I must warn you Warning Spoilers Ahead. The villain in this flick gets what’s coming to him, and much more, “Jared”, in returns gets violently rapped by “Maya”, after she has him tied down she rapes him with a really large stick, than after she’s done having her fun, she has her friend, ”Adrian” (Played by Marcus Patrick) rape him and while doing so verbally abuse him by calling him a F**got, or being gay for taking it up the A** like a P***y, overall the scene was so horrifying to see that I can tell you know it will remain in your head for quite some time, and it made me very angry with the character, Maya, in the end film, because as much as the character, Jared deserved it, we didn’t learn anything from the matter, she ended up becoming just as wrong as he was, ultimately I felt the ending was why too negative and a little cut short, what I mean by cut short is the film just ends, with no explanation of where do they go from here, I mean what happens after she’s done getting her revenge? It was indeed very disappointing for me.

The story is about Maya (Dawson), a beautiful young girl who enjoys working as a construction worker, and loves attending college alongside her friend, but during a college party she meets Jared (Faust), a fellow college student who confesses to her that he secretly admires her, being a girl that never really dated before and somewhat shy to members of the opposite sex, she decides to give him a chance, their courtship seems harmless and somewhat pleasant, that is until the night he wanted to take their dating to a whole new level and she didn’t, Maya is violently rapped by Jared, after the horrific rape was done Maya is through into a state of shock, during the course of some months she drifts in denial becoming the easy slut she feared of ever becoming, that is until she meets, Adrian (Patrick) a man who helps those who can’t help themselves, shows her the error of her way she over comes her state of shock and embraces the new her, now will this new found her rise above her past or will it be her ultimate downfall.

As for the acting: Rosario Dawson is a fantastic actress and a wonderful individual, and I have to say, I feel her acting was a little dull, and the talent she’s capable of is wasted her, this of course is coming from a big fan of hers, I feel there should have been more work done on her character, I’m not saying she did a bad job, no sir, I saying the characterization was poorly handled in this film and her character above all lacked the most, in the plot as well as the advertising, it all proclaims how her character goes through a dramatic change, however the change is not clear enough for the viewer to notice, and she appeared to be unsure of herself in this role, almost as if she wasn’t okay with how the films was going, or maybe I’m just reading her body language wrong. You decide. Chad Faust did okay, well half okay that is, he aced the soft and sweet guy approach dead on, but I wasn’t feeling the violent rapist part from him all that well, it just wasn’t in him, but I will say the performance he gives in the climax ending is without a doubt fantastic, and I will give him kudos for taking such a very daring risk in this film by going fully nude, not many actors and actresses out there will go Full-Monty for the sake of art, aside from that even though you’ll hate his character, you can’t help but feel some form of sympathy for him at the end. Marcus Patrick was… not so bad, however he isn’t all that good ether, to be honest I can’t really say if he’s done better in this or in previous roles because there isn’t any other work of his I can compare it to, I will say he give it his best, but his best just wasn’t really agreeing with me that much due to the fact there isn’t much of his character to begin with for the viewer to know and understand the character and because of this you can’t really feel anything but hatred for his character and the his role in the end game of this flick.

Final Say: I really wanted to like this movie, but could not get into it no matter how much I tried, which is sad because I really wanted this to be Rosario Dawson’s breakthrough film, too long has her career been overshadowed by mainstream Hollywood. I guess you could say I wanted Descent to be for Rosario Dawson what Taxi Driver was for Robert De Niro. But in the end I was left so very disappointed. I cannot recommend this film in anyway, but as always: if you still want to see this movie than watch at your own risk.

TCW
© The Comic Whore 2008

Review: Kung Fu Panda (2008) [Reviewed By Tony-D]

“Kung Fu Panda”
Release: 2008
**** out of ****
Director: Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
Cast: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie


I don’t know what it is about animated films, because aside from their animation, nothing about them really seem to impress me. Aside from last year’s “Ratatouille” and “Paprika,” (and not including “The Simpsons Movie”), many animated flicks are meant for kids. And let’s be honest, they are (except for “Paprika”). When it comes to me reviewing animated flicks, I’m the big bully on the school ground and I’m picking on your movie left and right. Case in point: “Horton Hears a Who.” One very big problem fucked the entire movie up for me and it also fucked up the entire movie’s plot.

“Kung Fu Panda” is an exception. Of course, it can’t beat “Ratatouille,” but it has certainly beaten every single movie released this year so far. It is now my favorite Dreamworks Animation movie. It is now my favorite Jack Black movie. And this will be the only review for a movie that Dan Fogler is in that I will give four stars… I can’t believe it either.

In the Valley of Peace, a noodle-serving panda named Po (Jack Black) is the laziest and probably the biggest fan of kung fu to ever live. When he hears that they are announcing the new Dragon Warrior at the Jade Temple, he rushes out there but, as a result, doesn’t actually get to go to the ceremony in time. Instead, he gets fireworks and blasts himself over the Temple fence, in which a turtle named Oogway (Randal Duk Kim) declares him the next Dragon Warrior. This would be great news to Po, but even he knows that he has no experience in kung fu what so ever.

The news that he has no experience offends the Furious Five, a group of animals (Tigress – Angelina Jolie, Monkey – Jackie Chan, Mantis – Seth Rogan, Lucy Liu – Viper, Crane – David Cross) that are under the wing of Master Shifu. (Dustin Hoffman) In order to run out Po from being the Dragon Warrior, they put him through tasks that demand a kung fu warrior’s strength, which he obviously doesn’t have. When that doesn’t run him out, will the news of a snow leopard (Ian McShane) ravaging through the city do so?

“Kung Fu Panda” is great because instead of only appealing the children, it appeals to teenagers and older people as well. I believe that when I saw it, I was the only teenager in the entire theater. Everyone else had to be ten and younger and were accompanied by a parent. Not that this disappointed me the least bit, but it meant that I thought that they were going to disrupt my movie-watching and critiquing. But to my amazement, “Kung Fu Panda” didn’t just hold the interest of me, but everyone else. The only peep that I heard from everyone around me was laughs and applauses. If I’m wrong, I got about a hundred people to vouch for me.

It may just be me being a kung fu fan, but I insanely loved the many kung fu references and homages here and there. The best scene in the movie, hands down, is the scene where Po and Shifu have a chopstick fight. You heard me correct, and don’t think that it is the least bit corny or cutesy. It takes a lot for a battle like this to hold my attention, and goddamnit, this held my attention twenty minutes after the fight was over.

The animation for this film was perfect. The animation crew has to give themselves a pat on the back for the stellar animation. Like “Ratatouille,” I actually thought that while I was watching the film that this is a real kung fu movie. All that I can say is that if “Wall-E” wants to win the Best Animated Film award at the Academy Awards next year, it has a lot of fierce competition.

I know I guess it would be kind of hypocritical to say this, but people don’t see animated movies anymore because they are usually directed to kids. They won’t see it for the reason that they don’t want to be in the same theater with kids and babies. They won’t see it because why should they when a movie like “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan” is playing next door and “The Incredible Hulk” is playing across the hall. And to tell you the truth, I don’t blame them. I went into the film with probably the smallest expectations ever and I came out a happy man who just realized that the film he just watched with the same exact audience was the best movie of 2008 so far.

Review: The Happening (2008) [Reviewed By David Dominic DiMichele]

The Happening- *** Out of ****
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Release: 2008
Starring:Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo.


Nothing bares resemblance to M. Night Shyamalans’ previous morbid and dull thriller “Lady in the Water,” “The Happening” forgoes that film and all of the directors previous films to focus under a microscope a topic that relies relatively on nothing, an invisible antagonist, but on the contrary a topic that resonates deep into our world’s given situation. The result is a slowly building suspense film that binds reality and imagination in ways only a bedtime storyteller can conjure up.

And that is exactly what “The Happening” is: a surreal dream (at 90 minutes it stalls a tiny bit along the way). The way that Shyamalan captures the action of everyday people of the east coast frantically fleeing from an unknown evil is pure B movie bliss. The expressions on the character’s faces, the characters themselves and the feel of the movie can be regarded as a “campy” film that provides a good laugh when the occasion calls for severe seriousness. Even at times you might say the actors are acting poorly. But remember these people fleeing aren’t all superheroes or warriors they are your “everyday” people and act as though we would act in their given situation. Each character that meets each other along the way can possibly meet in real life. The casting is spot on (that hot dog guy sure is a hoot).

Above all “The Happening” thrives on the opportunity to excavate a commentary on our world out of a silly yet fascinating plot. The focus is on the death of man and the endless scenarios that add fuel to that fire. In Central Park an incident occurs that involve people stopping dead in their tracks, loosing their train of thought, walking backwards and mumbling phrases over and over again. Then they come to just kill themselves. In a haunting scene construction workers free fall from the top of a building plummeting to the ground with the sounds that make you cringe. Police officers kill themselves with their own pistols and those same pistols are picked up by pedestrians to kill themselves as well. An assortment of unsettling sites come by the boatloads such as dead men hanging from trees and a man settling himself underneath a tractor. At first this is all labeled a “terrorist attack” and New York City is then evacuated.

Shyamalan targets a society whose main attribute is panic, and only panic. Our hero is a Philadelphia school teacher, Elliot Moore, played totally out of the ’tough guy’ character that Mark Wahlberg is known for playing. Elliot is a man trying to deal with his wife Alma’s (Zooey Deschannel) trust, constantly reassuring his friend Julian (John Lequizamo) that his wife is safe and Julian’s daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) that her mom is safe. It turns out that he is, along with everyone else, a citizen living in a state of panic just trying really hard to conceal it. All of them are on a train, with other’s who have no clue what is going on, heading for Pennsylvania but there ride comes to a halt when the bizarre evil might be ahead of them and everyone is left stunned because they have no clue what they’re fleeing from.

Maybe the entire East Coast panics because of the infinite number of power plants that puff out black rings of smoke or the fact that we are quick to point the finger at the terrorist attacks that transpired on 9/11, which we still aren’t able to shake. Then there is the issue of blaming everything that happens on the government or heck, even saying “the president planned these attacks.” Each one of these issues are exploited and while Shyamalan never really sides with a certain one he makes us feel that it can be everything.

This may not be the conventional summer film people are looking for but it does contain the most indestructible villain this summer and the anecdote to heavily drenched CGI films. The landscape, which is captured so beautifully by Shyamalan, is a character in and of itself as our characters try to escape its sterile, barren and windswept surroundings. The scares and chills come in in these terms and the terms of the camera panning closely to a character’s blank expression and how people effected with the evil are drawn to just kill themselves. It’s almost as if the victims are saying “I’m fed up with the world and I’m not going to take it anymore!” The world may just be saying the same thing. This maybe Shyamalan’s only movie that can in fact happen. “The Happening” doesn’t make you ask the question: can this happen, but makes you ask: when is this going to happen?

Review: The Incredible Hulk (2008) [Reviewed By Clifford Kiyabu]

Directed by: Louis Leterrier
Written by: Zak Penn and Edward Norton (uncredited)
Genre: Action \ Fantasy \ Sci-Fi.
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence, some frightening sci-fi images, and brief suggestive content
Released: 13 June 2008 (USA)
Starring: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell, William Hurt, Christina Cabot, Peter Mensah, Lou Ferrigno, Robert Downey Jr.

Plot: Fugitive Dr. Bruce Banner must utilize the genetic accident that transforms him into a giant, rampaging hulk to stop a former soldier that purposely becomes an even more dangerous version.

Review: 8/10

My Thoughts: Finally Marvel has seen the error in their ways. For well over 30 years Marvel Enterprise has been producing and creating adaptations of their comics from book to live action, but none of which has ever been able to grasp the very essences or sometimes the magic that the book held, there have been a few exceptions though that may not capture the full trueness of the comic but still remained worthy on the big screen (Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, X-Men, X-Men 2: X-Men United) but still the big problem that all these Marvel heroes tend to have on the big screen remained the same, they were not under Marvel’s full control, and therefore could not be made by the right people who’d know how to give these superheroes the justice they rightfully deserve, one of the biggest disappointments for me (aside from Elektra, which I hold as the worst comic book film ever!) was Ang Lee’s Hulk, which I had find to be a snooze-fest and taking itself way too seriously, after viewing it I had lost all hope in the Hulk franchise, and a part of me was disappointed in Marvel Enterprise overall for allowing such a horrible thing to happen to one of their heavy hitters in the mainstream comic world.

That is of course until I heard about a Hulk reboot, much in the Batman Begins was to its franchise. I must say that I had mix feeling toward it, because I was happy to hear it may have another chance at being done right, and then I felt it may be a little too soon for a reboot Hulk film, because after all the Batman franchise waited eight years before a proper reboot was done, as where Hulk got barely five, and if you ask me five years is hardly enough for the general public to just forgive and forget, and even though I had my socks rocked off me by Iron Man I still had great doubt about The Incredible Hulk and went into it already with some feeling of disappointment coming my way, but what I got was FANTASTIC! It was everything I dreamed a Hulk film should be and more that I sat forward in my seat the whole way awaiting every minute wowed in awe of how enjoyable it was, director Louis Leterrier puts hope back into me for the Hulk, and Marvel Enterprise has pulled themselves out of the rubble this year and showed the all mistakes deserve a second chance to correct themselves.

The action was fantastic, not to overdone while at the same time not too underused, it was just right, the special effects was outstanding, much better than I ever expected to be, and the design of the Hulk himself was downright breathtaking I was just blown away by how he was visually it defiantly puts Ang Lee’s Hulk design to sham, the sound effects were great, and the cinematography was spot on, in my opinion a movie’s cinematography is one of the most important things, because in a film each and every scene must also tells a small part of the story on its own, and with the right eye behind the camera a masterpiece can be made on looks alone, and as for the plot, it was fantastically done right this time around. Also the CGI done on the Hulk is impressive, he’s more smaller than the last film, but and much darker looking, as well as a darker shade of green, and unlike the other film he does show true anger which wasn’t really expressed all that well in the last Hulk film, I hate to compare both films together because they are both really different, but it certainly puts Ang Lee’s Hulk to sham.

Unlike the previous film it doesn’t bore it’s audience with overusing dialogue that’s only there to past the time, and it certainly doesn’t try to complicate the audience with a silly subplot within a subplot method, and it skips the whole slow and boring origins plot and goes right into the middle of the story with Banner already the Hulk, now don’t you worry because you wont of course be confused or anything because the movie does in fact gives you a quick rundown on his origins at the beginning and does so in a respectable manner, also even though it’s not an origins story for the Hulk, the film however does serve to be a somewhat origins story for Tim Roth’s character, Emil Blonsky AKA The Abomination, it shows as he starts off as a damn good solder with a somewhat violent attitude who’s always looking for the greatest challenge for his highly trained skills, slowly by slowly throw greed of power he becomes something entirely different, he becomes one of the Hulks worst villains, The Abomination. The movie pays homage greatly to the 1970’s T.V. show with some dialogue reference and a cameo done by Lou Ferrigno who played the Hulk back in the 70’s, and even the original T.V. score is played throughout the film.

Also I must point out that the plot has a much stronger romance take between Bruce Banner and Betty Ross which I found to be greatly pleasing because last time (the last Hulk film) it was a complete disaster, and the integrity and intelligence still remains strong, many people feared (me included) that to make this more action packed they would have to dumb down the plot, but this was not the case as it remained as intelligent as ever, while keeping it incredibly entertaining, overall this was a fantastic time at the movies, and I like how they throw in a few hints here and there to both The Avengers movie pan down for summer 2011, and to a possible Hulk sequel, it was almost as if one of my issues of The Incredible Hulk was coming to life right before my very eyes. My only disappointment with the film is the film on a few occasions tries to throw some humor into the mix as an attempt to lighten the mood of the film, which works on a certain degree, but one scene in particular showing Bruce Banner and Betty Ross in a cab together while the cap driver is speeding real fast, showing Betty losing her cool to the driver while Bruce tries to come her down. The scene was funny, but felt out of place with the film overall, frankly the film could have done without the scene.

The story is about a few years has pass since Dr. Bruce Banner’s (Norton) accident with gamma radiation that transforms him into the “Hulk” forced to live a life of solitude from the love of his life Betty Ross (Tyler) he works night and day trying to figure out a cure for his problem and must remain hidden for Betty’s father General. Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross (Hurt) who believes that Banner is nothing more than US military and will make way for whole new form military weaponry; to help him catch the Hulk the general hires Emil Blonsky (Roth), a British mercenary who witnesses what the Hulk is capable of and admittedly becomes obsess with taking down Banner, so much that he willingly volunteers to become a guinea pig for the military’s Super Solder project which was started in WWII, Blonsky become more powerful than he ever was, and becomes a formative foe to the Hulk, but as time goes by and Bruce Banner escaping the might of the US military, both general Ross and Blonsky become greedy and continue his super solder treatment, which begins to show a sinister side effect that will face off with the Hulk in a climax battle of the monsters.

As for the acting: Edward Norton was breathtaking, he has proven time and time again that he can fit in just about any role you dare him with, may it the hero or the villain, he can do it, may it be low budget or big budget he can do it, now there was some skepticism by critics about rather or not Norton was a wise choice for the role of banner, I myself even held disbelief and spoke out against the idea of Mr. Norton starring in it, however I was wrong, he gives the character the emotional and intellectual skill which was missing from the last film, and him alone saves the Hulk from the watery grave that it was dropped into in 2003. I hope to see Mr. Norton in a possible sequel or if not than the avenger’s movie. Liv Tyler was magnificent I really enjoyed her performance as Betty Ross, more so than Jennifer Connelly’s in 2003, however I did feel that Tyler didn’t quite do the female scientist role all that well, but she did however show an incredibly strong on screen romance alongside Norton which worked perfectly, one scene in particular involves her and Norton running into each other’s arms gripping each other so tightly that it becomes clear that they to not one to lose each other again, that and so many other scenes like it makes up greatly for her poorness as a scientist. Tim Roth is brilliant; he does the role of the villain so good that I honestly can’t see anyone else playing the part.

William Hurt is outstanding, many of you know how much I enjoy Hurt’s acting, and to be honest I at first didn’t think he could be up for the task of playing general Ross, however I was wrong, and thanks goodness for it too. Tim Blake Nelson was not so bad, I will say I didn’t care for him playing the role of Samuel Sterns, for those of you who don’t know who Samuel Sterns is, in the comic he is one of the Hulk’s big time villains known as “The Leader” and the way the film presence him is clear hint that he may very well be the next major villain for the Hulk to go up against if a sequel is made. Peter Mensah does pretty good acting alongside Hurt, and the two of them prove to be a nice compo. Lou Ferrigno does a nice cameo to pay homage to his character from the 70’s TV series, I also found it funny that he plays a Security Guard in this when he in fact played one in the 2003 version, coincidence?, also I must give him kudos for dunning the voice of the Hulk, which I didn’t even know until I did a bit of research. Hulk creator, Stan Lee has a small role in the film, so look out for that. And last but certainly not least. Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as Tony Stark, in a very short, but pleasing cameo, letting everyone know that both films exist in the same universe, and pretty much tells us straight out that there is going to be an Avengers movie.

Final Say: This was a very enjoyable film, and it may not have been as good as Iron Man was, it still is a fantastic film, and certainly worth viewing in theaters, I look forward to a sequel or if not than Avengers movie, whichever comes first, either way I hope Mr. Norton stays on. I highly recommend it.

Copyright 2008 TCWreviews.com
All Rights Reserved

Review: The Eye (2008) [Reviewed By Clifford Kiyabu]

Directed by: David Moreau and Xavier Palud.
Written by: Sebastian Gutierrez (screenplay) and Jo Jo Yuet-chun Hui (2002 screenplay "Jian gui")
Genre: Drama \ Horror \ Thriller
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for violence/terror and disturbing content.
Released: 1 February 2008 (USA)
Starring: Jessica Alba, Alessandro Nivola, Parker Posey, Rade Serbedzija, Fernanda Romero, Rachel Ticotin, Obba Babatundé.

Plot: Sydney Wells is an accomplished concert violinist who has been blind since a childhood tragedy. Sydney undergoes a double corneal transplant, and her sight is restored. But Sydney's happiness is short-lived as unexplainable shadowy and frightening images start to haunt her.

Review: 5/10

My Thoughts: Visual Sight, one of our main five Senses, many people see eyes as only an organ that produces images to the brain. But in some cultures it is much more than that. In some Asian cultures eyes contains the soul of an individual, in other cultures some believe that eyes can see more than just the visual images that can be seen by the human eye, some believe that there are those who are born with what a “6th Sense” the ability to see into the supernatural world, or in other words Spirits, some say it’s a gift while other say it’s a curse, no matter what it may be, one cannot deny it to be intriguing. I myself has always been somewhat attracted to the mysteries unknown to us, and because of this curiosity I have always enjoyed films that looked into this matter, one in particular was the 2002 Chinese horror film called Gin gwai, the film was an eye opener, and showed a different take on what some take for granted, the film was dramatic on many levels, and as scary as it was, it also had a strong emotional look at death, regret and how the tortured soul is forced to repeat ones death over and over again without finding any rest, this was surely a fantastic film that needed an open mind to Daoism belief (a Chinese religion).

So it comes to no sock to me that such a fine piece of Asian cinema would be remade for its western viewers, which usually consists of putting a big name actor or actress into the film, and throwing a few extra more million dollars into its budget than the original had. And what you get as a finishing product is a cheesy remake that lacks the integrity its Predecessor had. With the 2008 remake The Eye Staring Jessica Alba we get that very thing, the film tries to do a play by play retelling of the original story but at the same time it also tries to bring in its own brand of horror. Problem is the filmmakers try to incorporate one cultures beliefs into another’s, the result is a complete disaster, not to say incorporating different cultures is wrong, I think people understanding others cultures and religious beliefs is great and educational that all should go throw at one point of another in one’s life, however the manner that they try to do it not only doesn’t make but it leaves way too much things in the plot unexplained, not to mention they messed up the two subplots that was in the original Chinese version, I won’t go into details because that would give away too much of the film, but the first subplot is missing parts from it that leaves the viewer asking questions that don’t get answered, meanwhile the second subplot which had a mixture of sympathy, chills and thrills in the original “Gin gwai” is almost cut out completely, and what they do show leaves viewers left with no explanation ever given to them, all and all The Eye was a downright mockery to the original Chinese masterpiece.

And I strongly feel that both Directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud should apologize for ruining this film, they had a chance to do what other filmmakers have failed to do time and time again with remakes, but they ended up relying on cheap thrills that aren't frightening to the mature moviegoer and instead they drop the ball and settled for mediocre, you probably can tell by now that I am not happy with this one. You would too if you saw the something great and original manhandled by someone else and rip-off in such a sad way it’s beyond repair. Oh wait, most of us have seen this happen already, it was called “The Grudge” which was another disaster if I may add. But I won’t go into that because that for another time, also the biggest problem for me was none other than the ending, Problem here is Hollywood: you see the Hollywood machine has this thing about endings, where everything must be fine and dandy, injecting such Idiocy as ”the good guy must always win” or “someone who was weak must find inner strength to save the day!” frankly I’m getting quite tired of this hypocritical ideology that it’s starting to give me a headache every time I see it in mardren day films, sure it’s good to see such Ideals presented in films, however with every single new remake that comes out, You have just got to be kidding me, I’ll make it clear folks, the eye, as well as 90% of every horror remake (Especially those that are based off of Asian horror films) in the last ten years or so haven’t ended the way they are supposed to, instead of giving of the bittersweet ending that’s originally intended, they give us this we beat the odds type of B.S. frankly I’m just tired of it all already.

The story is about Sydney Wells (Alba) a young, blind violinist who is given the chance to see for the first time since childhood through a miraculous corneal transplant. As Sydney adjusts to a dizzying new world of colors and shapes, she is haunted by frightening visions of death itself capturing the doomed and dragging them away from the world of the living. Terrorized and on the brink of insanity, Sydney must discover whose eyes she has inherited, and what secret visions they have held.

As for the acting: Jessica Alba is a smart and beautiful actress that in my opinion has a lot of potential, however she has yet to really show it, some of it was hinted in the last film I saw her in before this one “Awake” and even in that she showed some potential, but like her other films before it she never quite shines, she gives a somewhat straight to the point style acting that shows no real emotion in her words and a somewhat fake facial expressions that seems like she’s reading her lines off a cue card, I hate to be mean, I really do, but here is a woman who has a chance in this time and point of her career to be a triple threat in Hollywood, but throws it away with half A** acting, I really like her and think she could be great, but she has to do something about her acting skills and soon, because once that pretty young face of hers fall victim to father time, her career will just be another speck of dust in the wind, here today, gone tomorrow. Alessandro Nivola was fantastic, one of the few actors in this film that did exceptionally well, if you’ve seen his other films you’ll know he’s an actor that works hard in becoming the roles he acts in. Parker Posey was okay. I’m going to be honest with you, I am not a fan of her acting, just about every film I seen her in has been disappointing, she’s one of disappointments to “Superman Returns” and she downright irritated the heck out of me in “Blade: Trinity” so I think you understand how I felt about her acting overall in this film, but I will say she at least didn’t irritate me as much in this one, she was a little okay this time around. Fernanda Romero was not at all bad, she was a tiny bit flat, but still showed much potential, I’ll most certainly be looking out for her in future films.

Final Say: Perhaps I was too mean to this film, and didn’t give it a chance, maybe so, but I stand by my word when I say The Eye should have never been remade, or at least not this soon, the original was and still is the better between the two, and if you are interested to watch this film based on its plot, then you should see the original version not this one. But if you still plan on seeing it, than all I can say is watch at your own risk!

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