2/3rds Excitement and suspense, 1/3rd lazy unimaginative ending!.

Rating: 7/10 (6 October 2009)

Aliens.....why oh why is it always bloody aliens. Second only to 'it was all a dream, in the cheap ending league table. Don't get me wrong, its a really good idea for a suspenseful and engaging story and is just that for most of its 1hr 40mns running time. Nick cage is also slipping quite comfortably into the role of the haggard and tired middle-aged hero who has unsolicited knowledge / ancient artifact / surprise lotto win thrust upon him.
In this movie he uncovers the hidden code written by school girl some 50 years previous, which predicts the dates and number of fatalities of major disasters. This information, coupled with his sons new found ability to hear mysterious 'whispers', send our Nic into his now traditional spiral of confusion fueled anxiety. A more wrinkled forehead you will go a long way to find.
This movie does however contain two of the most visceral and heart-pounding crash scenes you will have seen with both a savagely real looking plane crash and claustrophobic subway train pile-up. These action sequences are handled expertly with top-drawer CGI. The former containing many horrific and realistic shots of 'survivors' staggering around whilst still on fire!
Which leads us to the movie's rather unsatisfying conclusion. We learn that the last part of the code signals the apocalyptic end of the world, slightly given away by the movies cover-art. The 'whispers' reveal themselves as aliens who have come to earth to save certain chosen children, in their intergalactic lifeboats. The children can then be whisked away to another similar but unpopulated planet, somewhere else in the universe, seemingly to 'start again'. This 'aliens did it' conclusion is not so much placed before you but rather smashed into your face.
Several questions still remain though. Did these celestial visitors cause the disasters or mearly observed them in the future? Why didn't they try to save the original girl whom they gave the code too? What was the point of giving anyone a coded warning if they had already pre-selected their chosen few and where protecting them? And then, why wait until the eve of the apocalypse to rescue them and risk them choosing not to go?
There have been far worse movies i spent my time and cash on and i did get caught up in the suspenseful story, for the most part. The final act did leave me thinking that with a few more weeks spent at the storyboard stage, a more satisfying ending could have been devised. I was going to score this movie a 6 but the extra point is for the superb crash scenes and the bravery shown in destroying the planet and not having a hero save the day. Bravo!