Here was my F+ review of The Cell (2000). Spoilers.
Posted by
Qale
Sep 13 '19, 08:41
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Be wary, loyal readers, this review is gonna be a hard one to write for the film "The Cell" takes the depth of imagination and twists it. And then twists it further. But I'm doing my best at reviewing the film, not necessarily the subject matter.
Directed by a guy who's won awards for music videos, "The Cell" does for the big screen what music videos do for the little: Pushes the visuals to the extreme man! Hell, Jennifer Lopez, who stars as a child pyscholost, is even asked to carry the film's sane side and she's been in several wicked music videos. Nothing had prepared her for this though.
And I'm not really talking so much about the darkness that comprises the entire been there, done that enter-the-mind-of-a-serial-killer plot thank you Jodie Foster. I'm talking about the world of acting where one may need to reach inside oneself and not worry so much about how they look when they give their performance. Though doesn't she look fabulous in all of those umpteen different costume changes?
Since I did mention the dark as sin plot, I guess I should go ahead and admit to walking out of a scene where viewers get to participate in the violent fantasy visuals that comprise the reasoning behind why the pyscho killer is indeed a pyshco. What can I say? I can't stand to watch boys being so brutally harmed, be it real or fake. Others will object to the pyscho's sexual fixation on making his victims doll-like. Still others may object to the religious symbolism sprinkled throughout. It becomes obvious very quickly that the film doesn't know how to keep viewers thrilled, intrigued, and visually stimulated without disturbing a majority of moviegoers at the same time.
While a movie can survive without being for everybody, it cannot survive if it has basic problems with it. Over characterization of the one person you can't stand to hear another thing about, selling out reality by having most of the movie occur in a place where anything goes because it's not real, the odd attempt to victimize the antagonist even to the point of romanticising him, and finally diluting the idea on who the real victim is. Is it the girl who's trapped in his torture device, I don't know anything about her. Is it Jennifer Lopez trapped inside the mad man's head, I don't know anything about her, really. Is it the cop? The mad man who's justifying his murders because of his abusive father? You don't really know who it is because the movie is more doped up on truly superb cinimatography than making one bit of sense.
I got a theory on who the real victim of "The Cell" is: It's us.
The Cell Grade: F+
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