Very worthy

Rating: Null/10 (14 April 2013)

I've been anticipating this film for a very, very long time. I read the script a month before its release date, not being able to help it. I'm a huge fan of the original trilogy, and the trailers for this were absolutely amazing. Then when it came out and many seemed to have almost passionless responses to it (including may critics) my expectations lowered a bit. The film basically hit my lower expectations, if maybe not quite hitting them.
Some of the dialogue here is clunky, especially the first time we meet the core five. It feels like necessary on-the-nose exposition. But still, I got over it. I want to say that I definitely did like this, but there's just something creatively missing in all of its execution. Truth be told, I expected some truly amazing horror pieces when I read the script, but if anything Alvarez never really goes all the way. I don't want to say much of it feels half-baked because I liked it a lot more than simply giving it that description, but I think much of it holds back. And maybe it's because of the pre-release talk of it being outrageously gory and brutal, but while there's definitely a lot of it to be found, it just never really has a truly effective impact.
Again, always being disappointed with hugely anticipated films makes me come off a lot more critical, but I definitely did like this. It's completely entertaining, and while it's true that the brutality doesn't make as much of an impact as I wish, it's still pretty great to experience. The make-up here is amazing and the effort pays off, and the cinematography is quite brilliant, especially notable for a mainstream horror like this. The acting is hit-or-miss. Fernandez has a huge task and while he's never outright bad, he also doesn't have much screen presence and comes off bored. Blackmore as his girlfriend is easily the weakest of the cast and I think it's good that her character is very under-developed and has limited screen time before her craziness starts. Jessica Lucas is quite good in her small screen time, but the two who really make an impact are (unsurprisingly, since that's what consensus says) Pucci and Levy. The former is quite a hoot and he does his character more than enough justice, making up in charisma what Fernandez lacks. Levy is the star here and she delivers a truly chilling performance, completely believable in all aspects. She hits all of her notes with ease and while this is the first time I've seen her in anything, I'm already a fan.
There's definite craziness and horror goodness here to satisfy many people. While it's true that my expectations were too high and it just hurts the film when it doesn't reach them, this is definitely still better than what horror remakes tend to be and it stands on its own as not just a mere remake. I also want to note that I was pleasantly surprised by the film's humor. It definitely doesn't really take itself too seriously and there's a sense of goofiness that comes with it (which is pretty much why the original managed to be funny and as the decades have passed has been lumped into being a horror/comedy when it actually never was).