Nicolas Cage tries to get back on track with an intense sci-fi thriller that starts strong, but finishes with a fragmented and drawn out ending that is less than spectacular.

This movie doesn’t take long to establish its spookiness and brooding sense of impending danger on the audience… living up to its PG-13 rating, but some images like the gruesome firsthand accounts of the tragedies may be too intense that may even leave some adults with nightmares.

(Spoiler-free !!)

Two themes run through the movie, the title of “Knowing”… giving some hints throughout of what is really going on.  There is also a continual theme of “looking” – looking through things and at things with camera angles and moves and circles that the audience or the characters look through to see something.

The disaster motif is more real and believable than that of recent sci-fi/disaster flop remake “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (2008)… that was heavy on the effects and weak on the actual plot.

Nicolas Cage does pretty well as the overworked, overstressed, overprotective single widowed father taking care of his son… and trying to teach his students in the Astrophysics department of MIT.

His beliefs and feelings that life is random is challenged after finding a series of numbers written 50 years ago that seem to be predicting major tragedies.

Cage handles the material well, but his supporting cast is not as strong and while the kids have important parts to play, they are not as convincing as they need to be.  Cage does have a few scenes where he acts like the way he is often caricatured in that intense over-dramatized Cage acting style.

Rose Byrne as the female lead is the closest thing to support Cage has in this cast… with a strong performance, but limited screen time.  Her character Diana has one of the most memorable lines in the movie as she comes to grips with the movie’s premise and her own mortality: “we all die in the end, I don’t want to know what my future holds”.

The movie also throws irony at you that as they face the disaster, the children are more grown up than their parents give them credit for and this point is driven home as the scared parents crawl in bed with their kids.

THE BOTTOM LINE: (mild spoiler)

The action and tension is good, the character development is good, and the premise is easily spelled out and easy to follow, but the last third of the movie loses the full head of steam that the movie built up in the middle.  Even though I was not surprised or bothered by the movie’s last few sequences, they were a little over-the-top and I felt less connnected than I felt for most of the movie.  So, in the end, what was headed towards an 8.0, in the end gets 7.0 out of 10.

 “Knowing ”

(2009)
(rated: PG-13 for disaster sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language. )
(2 hrs, 10 min)

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Chandler Canterbury, Rose Byrne, D.G. Maloney, Lara Robinson, Nadia Townsend, Alan Hopgood, Ben Mendelsohn

Director: Alex Proyas (”I, Robot” (2004), “Dark City” (1998), “The Crow” (1994))

Genre: Thriller/Sci-Fi/Disaster/Drama/Mystery

The Plot: A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son’s elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions — some that have already occurred and others that are about to — that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold. 

So what did you think?  Please post a comment!

“Knowing” poster courtesy Summit Entertainment

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Its been 57 years since the original doomsday alien invasion movie came out… and since then movie making technology has grown in leaps and bounds, and we’ve seen some pretty good movies in the sci-fi genre, including “The Matrix” that put Keanu Reeves – the main character of this movie – on the worldwide map.  ”The Day the Earth Stood Still” is pretty good, it just isn’t a GREAT sci-fi movie.

Visually, the movie is really good, but the storyline is not stunning.  It really shouldn’t be classified as a thriller, because although I was wondering what they would do next, I was never worried what would happen next – the movie was flat.

Reeves as the alien messenger Klaatu was typical Reeves in Sci-Fi – he’s good playing those stoic pale looks with limited lines and even though the movie starts with a sort-of backstory of his character, there still isn’t much depth to this character.  Reeves’ Klaatu is very similiar to the “agents” of “The Matrix”.

Jennifer Connelly is good as the female lead, scientist Helen Benson, but her performance doesn’t jump off the screen either… even as she tries to get control of her step-son played by Jaden Smith (Will Smith’s son).

The movie’s message is actually not as heavy handed as it could be and is actually lost at some point… that humans are destroying the environment and they must make a change before the earth dies.  Its a clearer message in the original for the people of earth to stop their wars and fighting.  And at the end of this version, Connelly points out how humans can change – but it doesn’t have anything to do with the environment… its more about human nature.

THE BOTTOM LINE: There are much better sci-fi alien invasion (”Independence Day” (1996), “Signs” (2002), “War of the Worlds” (2005)) or sci-fi disaster movies available (”The Day After Tomorrow” (2004), “Deep Impact” (1998))… I give it 6.5 out of 10… the visuals are great but the story and the acting and/or the writing just wasn’t amazing.

“The Day the Earth Stood Still”

(2008) (rated: PG-13 for some sci-fi disaster images and violence)
(1 hr, 43 min)

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith, John Cleese, Jon Hamm, Kyle Chandler, Robert Knepper, James Hong, Mousa Kraish, J.C. MacKenzie, Kurt Max Runte, Daniel Bacon

Director: Scott Derrickson – “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (2005), “Love in the Ruins” (1995)

Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller/Disaster/Remake

The Plot: A remake of the 1951 classic sci-fi film about an alien visitor and his giant robot counterpart who visit Earth.

So what did you think?  Please post a comment! 

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“The Day the Earth Stood Still” poster courtesy 20th Century Fox

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