Terrible Pacing, Tried To Fit Too Much, Aggravating To Watch

Rating: 2/10 (5 May 2009)

Okay, the premise of Knowing is fine, and honestly, all of the imagery, motifs, themes, etc. were all fine too, despite what some over-sensitive people might say.
However, the movie simply CRAWLED. The pacing got so labored, I ended up sitting there, aggravated, impatiently waiting for what I know is about to happen to actually happen. But, instead, the movie takes its sweet time, trying awfully hard to build tension and suspense but utterly failing to do so as everyone screams in their minds: HURRY THE @#$% UP! Much of this owes to Knowing trying to be cross into or be too many genres at once. It wants to be sci-fi, action, family drama, adventure, mystery, suspense, etc. etc. etc. and overdoes various elements from each, including plenty of spooky music, disturbing imagery, and flashy computer-generated special effects.
This, in turn, stunts much of the character development that could have been possible (but probably not necessary for the premise of this kind of film) had they just stayed focused. That said, at least one of the characters was so incredibly unsympathetic, uttering at least one line that was just so patently unbelievable, that you...
Yeah.
Interesting premise, flawed execution. Reminds me of Deep Impact, actually, which was another disaster/end-of-the-world movie with an interesting premise but ultimately incredibly unsatisfying and even aggravating. Actually, to be fair, Deep Impact suffered more from its unsympathetic characters (Elijah Wood) than it did from pacing, which is the primary flaw of Knowing.