Mar

26

Is “Knowing” everything?

Posted by Movie_Maven

March 26, 2009 |

So, Mr_Movie_Maven and I just returned from seeing “Knowing” and I have to say, it was, um, interesting.  It’s difficult to review this film without giving away a lot, so I will offer a long pause before I pounce on all the spoilers and problems I found. 

I really enjoyed the first third of the movie.  The whole time capsule element was well done and the acting was decent.  The mystery of the number code was, at least to me, quite intriguing and there was some great guffaw-inducing dialogue.  But then the movie quickly deteriorated into a, well, for more information, read the spoilers below.

Lara Robinson (Lucinda/Abby) is a terrific little actress; however, I enjoyed her portrayal of the creepy 1959 Lucinda better than the modern-day Abby.  Chandler Canterbury (Caleb) was equally endearing and had some of the best lines of the film, bearing a strong intellectual and sarcastic resemblance to my 8 year old daughter.  (By the way, Chandler Canterbury is a great name, dontcha think?!?)  Nicolas Cage was, well, Nicolas Cage, and seemed to look as if he was getting ready for some impending “National Treasure“-type action scene.

At any rate, if you haven’t seen the film yet, do not read anymore.  If you enjoy my sarcastic wit and unique criticism, please scroll down.

 

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

**IMPENDING SPOILER ALERT**

 

**PREGNANT WOMEN AND INDIVIDUALS WITH NECK OR BACK PROBLEMS OR MOTION SICKNESS ISSUES SHOULD EXIT NOW** (whoops, got sidetracked!)

 

**OK, HERE BE SPOILERS**

First of all, for a supposedly brilliant astrophysics professor at MIT, nonetheless, Cage’s character was not very bright.  Let’s see, there’s the flaming remains of a plane crash in close proximity to an oil tanker filled with jet fuel and he runs TOWARD it.  Next, there is supposed to be some sort of disaster at a New York City intersection so he enters the subway and chases who he believes to be a terrorist only to find himself (at Universal Studios on the Earthquake portion/subway set of the tram ride) smack dab in the middle of a multiple casualty train wreck from which he emerges virtually unscathed.  If I knew of an impending NYC disaster, I’d go to Disneyland on the OTHER side of the freaking country!!  Finally, the world is supposed to end in the morning and he does not ”get it on” (for presumably the last time ever) with the beautiful distressed woman in his house.  NOT very bright, if you ask me. 

Next, once the “whisper people” entered the plot, the movie quickly lost all enjoyment and credibility for me.  What began as an intriguing thriller eroded into an alien film with heavy religious overtones and I felt my eyes begin to roll uncontrollably.  As for these “whisper people”-aliens-angels-whatever the heck they were, if they had the power to transform into any form, why choose to resemble anorexic, albino, German models?  Further, when they were ready to transport the kids to the new world-promised land-Garden of Eden, why change back into glowing alien form and then reach out to a couple of 10 year olds?  I would imagine that they would be less afraid of humanoids than of glowing aliens.  Maybe that’s just me.

Finally, the filmmakers must have had an enormous CGI budget.  Holy smoke!  That was the most CGI effects I have ever seen in a film.  The effects were quite good; however, the end of the movie was ridiculously overdone, putting even ”Armageddon” and “Deep Impact” to shame.  Even Mr_Movie_Maven thought it was getting too predictable toward the end and, trust me, he usually loves all action films, even those I believe to be terribly flawed.


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