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[DopeyFish]

The movie had good pacing up till about the halfway point. Right about there the movie blew all 4 tires and flew face first off a cliff.

The ending was awful. Climax literally nowhere to be seen.

They left too many questions, didn't do really... any backstory besides what was said (which is basically... nothing). Very little character development.

Basically as the credits rolled all I could just say to myself was "is that it?! what was the point?!"

Felt more like a shortfilm with a lot of unnecessary filler in order to make it feature length

edit: and people thought the sex and violence was nerve racking? How?! This was a fairly timid film. Sure there was a few over exaggerated deaths but it was nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

i saw the movie. it was ok. but i do have to say the sex scene on the stairs was the stupidest fucking scene ever to appear in a movie. me and my gf just started laughing out loud.

it reminded me of that SNL episode where tracy morgan was a bootcamp instructor, and christina ricci was a "bad kid", so they show the bootcamp vid and they're fighting on the ground and all of a sudden they start making out :lol wtf @ that scene, fucking stupid

 

[Timbuktu]

I agree about that sex scene and to an extent some of the violence. The film would be just as good without some of the gruesome shots. I'm talking about the aftermath of the fights, you can argue that it's more realistic or whatever, but the way it's cut together, those shots just seem to be lumped on at the end and a bit unnecessary. And Joey was just too good, he was never in peril. He's like Bond, but not as cool. I mean, Vincent in Collateral is just as badass as Joey, but there the director managed to convey skill, not invincibility.

 

[whytemyke]

In all honesty, I should be making a list of everyone who said this movie wasn't one of the best this year, so that I know never to trust their opinions on movies again.

"Dude, you should see Transporter 3 man, I bet it rocks."
"Well, you didn't appreciate history of violence, so uh, I'm sure you most definitely will love another transporter movie."

 

[Shogun]

In all honesty, I should be making a list of everyone who said this movie wasn't one of the best this year, so that I know never to trust their opinions on movies again.

"Dude, you should see Transporter 3 man, I bet it rocks."
"Well, you didn't appreciate history of violence, so uh, I'm sure you most definitely will love another transporter movie."

I think the movie is either deceptively simple, or else it really is quite simple. I am a lover of the cinema, but I didn't get what you got out of this movie. You say it's about the dissolution of the American Dream, I can stretch scenes and make that interpretation. Ebert quoted the director himself as saying the film was about survival of the fittest, I could see that too looking back at it, as an applied darwinism thing, and needing the brutal aspect to survive. But I just didn't read any of that sitting there and watching the movie, and for that it suffers in my opinion. I understand not giving much away, but I needed hours after this film to try and put a theme or idea on top of it myself. The skill in it's creation was apparent, but it just didn't say anything when I saw it. I understand if you won't take my recommendation to see Snakes on a Plane.

 

[Star Power]

Okay, so I saw this today.

The movie had good pacing up till about the halfway point. Right about there the movie blew all 4 tires and flew face first off a cliff.

I agree with this somewhat, but I do think it picked up again when

Spoiler

Tom/Joey went to Richie's house

, and I liked the ending. Subtle and vague. If everything went back to your normal, shiny-happy "American Dream" thing the movie would have lost credibility/come off as too sardonic/"ironic" or what have you.

I can't help but be a bit disappointed by this film, however. Maybe because I was so excited to see it, but it feels like it's missing something. I dunno. I'll get it when it comes out on DVD and watch it again.

 

[Star Power]

Anyone else feel like Viggo and Maria were snubbed? I'm not toally sold on the film as a whole, but they were both excellent. Surely Maria was better than Charlize Theron and Keira Knightley?

 

[etiolate]

Okay drudging this thread up because I just saw it.

Really liked the movie and feel Viggo needs some love. Mainly for the last scene. When he comes in and they focus on his face, you see Joey, but then he sits down and at the very end when he looks back up again, he is Tom.

There is certainly aspects of a dead American Dream, but I got more of the violence as a virus vibe. Especially with the young boy, who avoids violence early on, escapes it without knowing it a second time, then is finally trapped in a violent situation again and 'pushes the button' and let's it go. This proceeds to his dad slapping him, him running, being caught, a huge violent scene and then finally the boy taking the violence up a notch.

The stair scene for me was the most uncomfortable. At first I felt it was a bit unbelievable, but I found her final reaction believable, the disgust when reality hits her.

And also, there is probably a road you can go down in concern with the main character beign a super hero. Dual identities and the ability to escape overwhelming odds. He's just a super hero you don't like.