1 in 20 movies that start off great, have great, unique, and unpredictable endings

Rating: 9/10 (9 February 2005)

This was not one of them. I will give this movie a (generous) 9 because i did like it and found it, as an artist, very inspiring. Darko is a movie that sucked me in and i found myself on the edge of my seat while watching it. The intro of the dark bunnie in the golf course was twisted and awesome and the movie did a great job of retaining its dark, morbid and twisted feel.....until the end. Well, let me switch gears and say that i have found that one, it is hard to be creative or find a movie that is halfway creative and even harder to be original and unpredictable. Darko did a great job of being both original and unpredictable (in the beginning). Yet, soooo many movies suck you in for the first half, then have a totally disappointing and predictable ending. A masterpiece movie that comes to mind is Pulp Fiction, where as the movie is playing, you're thinking to yourself, what the heck is going to happen next? It's like being on a rollarcoaster. The difference, and the reason Darko is not a masterpiece, is because the ending crashed and burned, as do the vast majority of movies that start off great. The major turning point and downturn was the moment Frank the Bunny removed his mask. This most evil, twisted and mysterious character and ingredient in the movie, was a simple (goofy/dorky) human who was no longer scary or suspenseful. The ending also brought to mind 'Jacob's Ladder' where the main character (Tim Robbins) is critically hurt in Vietnam, he survives, returns to America and his life is played out until the very end, he is projected back into Vietnam at the pivotal point where he can either fight to live or let go and decides to let go.