[quote name='camoor']meh.
It's fine to not like the movie, I just think it's stupid to dislike the movie because it wasn't true to Christian mythology.
I believe that the devil is mentioned a whopping two or three times in the Christian bible, which means that most devil/demon movies are cut out of whole cloth. Not to mention that the movie never said it was the devil - just one of the characters. The movie was not advertising itself as another Prophecy, it was more of a neat little thriller like Fallen or Frailty, a tight story with a small circle of characters that gets summed up with a bow by the time the credits roll.
Also I'm not sure how a thriller that takes place almost completely in an elevator is generic - I've only seen a few other movies (Speed, Phone Booth) that manage to keep the tension up in such a small space which is not an easy feat.
What can I say - I don't like many movies so when I see a comment I disagree with I'm going to speak up.
All right, rant over, diverting power to flame shield
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My note on how directors should handle the super natural more convincingly was broken away from my paragraph about the real issues with the movie -- it was a ranting afterthought and I should be able to throw that out there in a thread that's
for casual ranting. I'm not a movie critic (I do try to write game reviews, check 'em out!), and I came here to spend 30 seconds sharing my thoughts on the last movie I saw. At best that should prompt some discussion, at worst I guess it calls for personal attacks. If you want to get defensive over a movie you like, by all means, but it shouldn't take the form of "the pacing was good, you have shitty taste in movies."
Anyways, I'm not angry with the movie because I walked in expecting serious Christain mythology, I even stated I love when people take
different angles with it. Some trickster playing a game with people in an elevator does sound pretty unique, that's why I wanted to see it.
The pull of the movie for most people then, I imagine, is the question of who is going to die next and how, and which one is the demon? So I bring up M Night because the twist is totally his, as in, it's awful. The bedtime story is about the Devil taking human form, and the movie follows this premise for its entire length. But at the big reveal? No, sorry audience, we just wanted to give you some death scene eye-candy and lead you on with meaningless character backstory.
Because the demon is the old lady (my first guess actually, because everyone knows the white guy will make it through, the douchecanoe will die, the black guy will die, and the woman looks too nice to kill off early). But her most valuable disguise isn't her human form, it's the fact that she can remove herself from the entire movie and decide to come back at the final minutes. What.
I'm sure they were really circle jerking at the story board with this one -- "ohhh they'll never see this one coming!" No, I wouldn't see it coming, because it's bullshit. Twists work because when they are revealed, your mind immediately draws a powerful connection to something in the past that you missed -- there's meaning. There was nothing to miss here, the old lady was a non-factor, she didn't exist. The cinematography and screeching violins just lead you on, and at the big moment, the movie decides on what power the devil does actually have -- pretending to be dead. Even the SAW films are better than this.
Can't I just enjoy a cheap thriller? Sure, and remove all the feigned foreshadowing and white noise script, and you have probably 10 minutes of a mildly entertaining film. But it
wanted a story, one with a message it was proud of. It comes across crystal clear in the final scene where we learn about the power of forgiveness, in the most melodramatically delivered line I've heard in a while too. Doesn't get preachier than that.
The last movie I'd think to find myself discussing at length about :lol:
ing adorable
