Knowing (Nicholas Cage)

Meh. I wanted to see it until I read the spoiler for the end. Now, there's no way I'd waste my time. When I first saw the previews, I thought it was a remake of the movie Timescape, which I liked when I was a kid... no such luck

I really didn't like it, and I'm a fan of director Alex Proyas. But this whole movie, from the storyline to the dialogue to the acting and finally inconsistent effects, was a complete letdown.

Exir said:

but the ending... It was such a cop-out, and so unoriginal. And it seems to have dropped the whole theme of the movie out of the window.

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Exactly.

And they ended up in the Elysium of Gladiator.

It was great up until the reveal of who the strangers were and what it was really about, then it just fell apart. Still, the final scenes are really spectacular SFX.

maestrowork said:

It was great up until the reveal of who the strangers were and what it was really about, then it just fell apart. Still, the final scenes are really spectacular SFX.

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That's why I stayed. Because there was this one moment where I started laughing and then wanted to get up and leave.
But maybe those spectacular scenes were worth staying.

Such unfulfilled promise and so many dead ends. What was the point of the whole "predetermination vs. randomness" theme that filled the beginning of the movie? It was never really addressed or resolved.

And the acting from all involved in the final act was just horrible. Its sad when the best actors on the screen are the Strangers, because all they have to do is stand around and look menancing.

Ebert was on crack when he gave this four stars.

Prozyan said:

.

Ebert was on crack when he gave this four stars.

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His reviews have been questionable, at best, for the last couple of years.

I felt this was one of the best movies of the summer. Go ahead, hate me, but it really was. I saw it five times.

I happen to blow off most movies, as I did Star Trek and Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen. I have particular taste.

If our magnetosphere goes down (like it will when our magnetic poles reverse - anytime now up to 2,000 years from now, according to many scientists), and we are hit with a coronal mass ejection (CME) from our Sun (or a long past, far away supernova), we are goners.

Some UFOlogists speculate that before every mass extinction, ET (who planted us here to begin with) will come back and try to save as many of us as they can (if we are still able to reproduce). SPOILER - In the movie, they took only the small children. END OF SPOILER. ETs? We are their children. We resemble them. They are responsible for us.

The movie was very realistic with its portrayal of the CME devastating Earth and killing everything off. I guess I like realism. No matter how much it hurts.

The problem with Nicholas Cage is that, no matter how much muscle he puts on, he still looks like Nicholas Cage. It's a tragedy.

Kurtz said:

The problem with Nicholas Cage is that, no matter how much muscle he puts on, he still looks like Nicholas Cage. It's a tragedy.

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Not only that, but somehow--be it because of the horrible roles he's taken (The Wicker Man) or just something natural about his features that can't be helped--he has developed a face that I (and many others I presume) just can't take seriously anymore. I mean look at this. It's a still photo and it nonetheless come across somehow as bad acting.

Jcomp said:

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There's a funny joke here about the plane being Nicholas Cage's career but I just don't have the energy to make it.

Also: How did this film get made? Not that I'm bitter because it's pure 'so bad its the funniest thing ever'

Kurtz said:

Also: How did this film get made? Not that I'm bitter because it's pure 'so bad its the funniest thing ever'

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The Wicker Man is without question the worst big budget, major studio film I've ever seen. It's worse than any of the horrible Eddie Murphy comedies, worse than Batman & Robin, worse than anything. It's the only movie where I completely can't see how they might have thought the movie would work as intended. It's the only movie that I seriously think could be one big practical joke played on the viewer.

I do not care for Nick Cage, but this movie was terrific. I think if you don't understand everything that's going on, you might have a problem with it. (Of course, I do not mean you guys.) The movie was plausible.

The movie was not perfect, of course. What movie is?

It had both a horrifying and beautiful ending. SPOILER - The mother of the little girl - making her die prematurely was cop out writing. SPOILER END

Good movie until it turns out to be an overlong episode of the Twilight Zone.

Jcomp said:

The Wicker Man is without question the worst big budget, major studio film I've ever seen. It's worse than any of the horrible Eddie Murphy comedies, worse than Batman & Robin, worse than anything. It's the only movie where I completely can't see how they might have thought the movie would work as intended. It's the only movie that I seriously think could be one big practical joke played on the viewer.

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totally agree. I kept hoping it would get better, but... no such luck.

It was so bad it was entertaining. Most of the sets looked like left-overs from other movies (Proyas really does like round windows) and the whisperers looked like rejects from Dark City.

I watched it this last week and thought the concept held great ideas. The whole movie put the major part on the wrong parts...IMHO.

SPOILER.ALERT.Too much time spent on a drinking dad...(took little acting to show that.) Too much time on why dad was not into dating.... To me all the timeeeee they spent 'acting out all these parts' made them rush through all the interesting parts. Then last 20% of the movie appeared to be slapped together and brought to an end because they were running out of time for us to sit through it.

I had such high hopes for this movie. I'm glad I only rented it and didn't go see it in a theater.

I thought it was a mess. Unlikeable and/or cliche characters. (The drinking bitter widower, the dimwitted people not believing things in the face of hard evidence, the single mom carrying her parents' emotional baggage... ugh.) Add a plot that was painfully predictable (except for the numerous nonsensical parts) and a finale that redefines the word "pretentious" and you have - well: definitely not a 4/5 star movie.
I can't believe the genius behind Dark City produced this.

I really felt like I wasted my money on this movie. Bad acting and tons of plot holes. Phooeey.

Exir said:

Not necessary poor directing skills -- maybe you'll have to blame the screenwriting.

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This is true of course. But the big question is: why did he agree to direct it?
Similar to "how did Christian Bale end up in Terminator 4 and Ben Kingsley in Species?"

I saw it in theaters soon after it came out. I became SO convinced that the writer's were about to make something really original. I kept on thinking, "Something really shocking is going to happen, something really shocking is going to happen." And then the credits came on. *sigh.* What a waste of ten dollars.