Trite, Dull, Predictable

Rating: 2/10 (3 June 2009)

I'm astounded by the number of people proclaiming this film a masterpiece. It lacks suspense, engaging or fleshed out characters, pacing, or surprise. The entire film played out as expected by twenty minutes into it.
I began to be worried by the opening sequence. When literally anything can happen in a world created by a film, it's rarely very exciting or interesting when it does. It's much better to use a little more restraint so that when a large supernatural moment occurs, it really packs a punch. As it is, we're given everything here, including the kitchen sink, so the whole movie feels repetitive and uninspired. There seems to be no rules for all the things that occur--matter and objects acting on the film-maker's wishes, rather that acting in accordance with the world created by the story itself.
I guess I'm old school, but I find a film like "Rosemary's Baby" a million times more interesting than this juvenile drivel. Fantasy and dark fantasy are interesting genres, but they have to have emotional weight and multi-dimensional characters to make them worthwhile. As it is, this film is simply an exercise in style over substance designed to appeal to the junior set.