Cool Effects, Bad Movie

Rating: 5/10 (12 February 2005)

This movie had moments to enjoy, but was mostly lifeless and cryptic overall.
I've always believed Keanu Reeves to be one of Hollywood's worst actors (along with the likes of Kevin Costner perhaps?), and this film definitely proved my hypothesis. Keanu Reeves is basically Keanu Reeves in this picture. He talks as though he is stuck in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and does nothing more than speak the lines as if he is reading them from a cue card. The only standout performance was from Djimon Hounsou, who played Midnight.
Much of the plot didn't even make any sense. Without attempting to sound pretentious, I saw this movie at a preview at a prestigious university, and most of us came out of the film shrugging our shoulders-- What just happened? I'm guessing that many will have the same experience. Some of the lines were inaudible, and the ending seemed like the writers didn't know where to go with the movie, so just randomly summed it up in the last 10 min.
Some redeeming qualities were that the effects were quite interesting, although at points it seems like the effects were just to show they could to them--rather than a vehicle to tell the story. There were also a few suspenseful parts that made the audience gasp.
This movie might be worth watching just for effects sake, but don't expect another Matrix.