userwithnoname
Joined Mar 2005
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Reviews6
userwithnoname's rating
People were affected very differently by this movie. I first watched this more than a decade ago and didn't think much of it then. It had a shaky camera, true story, Blair Witch-vibe which was very popular at the time. I knew it was going for realism, but it never went beyond that. Now my life is different. I have a job and take regular vacations and adventure activities. Watching it again, i realised this was one terrifying and intense movie. Much of the horror comes from the straight forward, simplistic realism. No story is being told here, unlike its sequel Adrift (which i also like btw....just me, i have a thing for watery movies). There is no moral, no cinematography. Just straight forward representation of events. They call this a psychological horror, and it really is. The horror comes from your personal experience of the world and how much you can relate. Even if you don't dive, we all have experienced when things go wrong, when a fun activity takes a horrible turn, when the simplest becomes complicated, when the most unlikely takes place and only a second to unfold. Nothing was inherently scary in this movie. They were only stranded for a few hours, and even when the film finishes, it was only one night (humans can go for days without food or water). The sharks weren't big. The one that bit Daniel was possibly smaller than him. This was no monster movie. However, their situation was serious, dire and hopeless from the beginning, because of the unique circumstance. They were virtually impossible to find and after 7 hours, i was surprised they didn't freak out at the hopelessness of the situation as i would have. The worse for me wasn't the shark bite or one night drifting in pitch black stormy oceans but instead the realisation that there was no hope and no respite.
The trailers for this movie had me captivated and intrigued, but then i was disappointed with number of negative reviews this movie received which ultimately delayed my viewing of this movie. Having now watched this movie with little expectation i can say that the reviews though correct have massively overstated their case. This was definitely not a bad movie by any standards, but i can see where it falls short of being both a great movie as well as a big hit!
One of the strongest aspects of this movie is its premise. It might have been done before, and since i'm not a massive movie guru, i can't say whether the central premise is original. I do believe that this is one of the first mainstream sci-fis that explored the subject. However, as with many movies particularly sci-fi, the central premise is usually portrayed in the first 20- 30 minutes of the movie. Transcendence does this adequately though without much lasting effect, but perhaps the biggest problem at least for me, is that this entire premise was more or less revealed in the trailer. This therefore created a rather underwhelming experience.
All is not lost however, and this movie does have enough in store to keep viewers interested. In fact this is an understatement. It would be a mistake to say this movie had an underwhelming first and second act, and then went downhill from there. From beginning to end this movie had some powerful and thought-provoking ideas of consciousness, love, even transcendence itself. What this movie fails to do is develop them, flesh them out or present them in a way accessible to all viewers. It is therefore accurate to say this movie may be meaningful to some, not so much to others.
Many have criticised the underuse of strong cast, and here i again agree and disagree. Morgan Freeman, Bettany Hughes and perhaps many on the "RIFT side" of the movie were definitely underused and quite underdeveloped. In fact this is one of weakest parts of the movie, particularly given calibre of actors we are talking about. The "RIFT side", it aspirations, beliefs are not explored in a level of detail of depth that is needed. On the other hand, i actually applaud the screenwriter for not making this into another standard apocalyptic sci-fi. That said the alternative never seems to be quite there.
However, the same simply cannot be said of Johnny Depp and Rebecca Hall. Many commentators were skeptical of the two playing their respective characters and that much on screen chemistry could be found in this movie. I say this proved incorrect. The best and my favourite parts of this movie were those of Depp and Hall in a story of tragic love in unpredictable, unforeseeable circumstances. It is these moments that the movie's subtlety and almost lack of conviction seem to work and work well. The development of these two characters is such that they could have been central to the entire movie though this then would have been a different kind of movie with a much less mainstream appeal.
In all, this movie is certainly watchable and for many may prove to be much more. For these people, this movie does provoke the the themes and emotions that perhaps they had whilst watching the trailer. And though they won't be blown away they also won't be disappointed. As i was one of them, an extra star was warranted!
One of the strongest aspects of this movie is its premise. It might have been done before, and since i'm not a massive movie guru, i can't say whether the central premise is original. I do believe that this is one of the first mainstream sci-fis that explored the subject. However, as with many movies particularly sci-fi, the central premise is usually portrayed in the first 20- 30 minutes of the movie. Transcendence does this adequately though without much lasting effect, but perhaps the biggest problem at least for me, is that this entire premise was more or less revealed in the trailer. This therefore created a rather underwhelming experience.
All is not lost however, and this movie does have enough in store to keep viewers interested. In fact this is an understatement. It would be a mistake to say this movie had an underwhelming first and second act, and then went downhill from there. From beginning to end this movie had some powerful and thought-provoking ideas of consciousness, love, even transcendence itself. What this movie fails to do is develop them, flesh them out or present them in a way accessible to all viewers. It is therefore accurate to say this movie may be meaningful to some, not so much to others.
Many have criticised the underuse of strong cast, and here i again agree and disagree. Morgan Freeman, Bettany Hughes and perhaps many on the "RIFT side" of the movie were definitely underused and quite underdeveloped. In fact this is one of weakest parts of the movie, particularly given calibre of actors we are talking about. The "RIFT side", it aspirations, beliefs are not explored in a level of detail of depth that is needed. On the other hand, i actually applaud the screenwriter for not making this into another standard apocalyptic sci-fi. That said the alternative never seems to be quite there.
However, the same simply cannot be said of Johnny Depp and Rebecca Hall. Many commentators were skeptical of the two playing their respective characters and that much on screen chemistry could be found in this movie. I say this proved incorrect. The best and my favourite parts of this movie were those of Depp and Hall in a story of tragic love in unpredictable, unforeseeable circumstances. It is these moments that the movie's subtlety and almost lack of conviction seem to work and work well. The development of these two characters is such that they could have been central to the entire movie though this then would have been a different kind of movie with a much less mainstream appeal.
In all, this movie is certainly watchable and for many may prove to be much more. For these people, this movie does provoke the the themes and emotions that perhaps they had whilst watching the trailer. And though they won't be blown away they also won't be disappointed. As i was one of them, an extra star was warranted!
