From a (formerly) religious perspective

Rating: 1/10 (17 March 2012)

When 'Knowing' came out in 2009, I was a freshman in high school whose views on science and religion were pretty complicated. I had a profound interest in biology and astronomy when I was younger, but over the years the interest dwindled and paranoid fears about the metaphysical and supernatural set in. Around the time I saw 'Knowing', I was becoming slightly more rational. Science was becoming more interesting to me again, but I still kept a firm grip on superstition and the concept of God, in retrospect, as a means of comfort. Then I watched 'Knowing'.
Upon first viewing, I have to say a lot of the imagery and going-ons on the screen were, for me, emotionally overwhelming. The images of disasters on a massive scale; the idea of a predicted Doomsday approaching on target; and, above all, the sounds of people screaming in horror and clutching each other as Armageddon came; were far too much for me to handle. I actually remember tearing up towards the film's conclusion.
But then the film actually concluded. The aliens (angels?) ascending from space (the Heavens?) and saving the two children who heard them coming (the Rapture?!), and that final image of the two children running across a Dali-like landscape towards what appears to be the Tree of Knowledge from the Book of Genesis.
Once the film was over, I felt depressed and crushed from the cataclysmic events (I thought were) vividly depicted on screen, somewhat paranoid about the concept of these events being "destined" to occur, and rather cheated by the film's final scene. On the whole, I left the theater feeling very strange.
I hadn't watched the film in three years, and in that time span, my views on science and religion changed astronomically (pun intended). I now hold secular beliefs and find science more fascinating than I did years ago. I remembered almost nothing of 'Knowing', except for how I felt upon leaving the theater. I mustered the bravery to watch it again on TV.
I can safely sum up this film with the statement that it probably converted more innocent young minds to Christianity in two hours than Saint Paul did in 30 years.
I'm not going to take time to criticize the acting and special effects of this film; you'll find they were rightfully torn to shreds in other reviews on this website. Instead I'm going to talk about the message that is practically being propagated by this film, which is a pro-superstitious/pseudo-scientific one.
In doing a proper review of this film, I should also mention another film, (or rather, series of films) that focuses on a similar subject matter and presents this subject matter in a similar way: the 'Final Destination' series.
Both films are built on an intimidating and ultimately depressing premise: human beings having absolutely no control over their lives. The control is instead vested in the hands of malevolent, metaphysical forces; the sole purpose of the human being is to be held at the mercy of these forces from the moment of his/her conception to the day of his/her death. Human beings have no knowledge of this terrifying control that is held over them, except for one person who acquires such knowledge (either by the number/date sheet in 'Knowing' or the signs and premonitions in the 'Final Destination' series), and with this knowledge, tries to warn the public of the coming danger, and manages to save some lives before the catastrophe strikes. However, the forces continue to torment (as well as undermine) the protagonist, hurling at him/her more misfortunes from wide-scale disasters to little freak-accidents. The protagonist continues to fight the forces, but simultaneously laments that no matter what he/she does, these forces will always come back, wielding their fury ten-fold. This continues for about another 90 minutes or so, until finally, the forces either destroy the protagonist or reduce him/her to an emotionally/mentally-evacuated mess.
There is, however, one stark difference between these films. The 'Final Destination' series is targeted mainly towards a teen audience. Since its beginning in 2000, it has clearly devolved from entertaining, late 90s-esque horror to all-out, blood-guts-n'-tits horror-comedy. It's clear the films no longer take themselves as seriously as the first one did in 2000, and probably not even the filmmakers/producers releasing them do either.
'Knowing', on the other hand, takes the aforementioned message far too seriously, and hammers it hard on the viewer. It does so with its elaborate (though I will admit now, somewhat mediocre) special effects, stark imagery, convoluted (though I must admit now, ridiculous) plot, and, to top it off, a profoundly terrifying, Penderecki-esque soundtrack by Marco Beltrami (still scary years later, and probably the only aspect of 'Knowing' worth praising). I wasn't the only one who left that theater in 2009 teary-eyed or feeling/looking extremely depressed. Interestingly though, a good number of those who did were within my age-group (I was 14 at the time).
There is nothing even remotely scientific about this film, save the few brief scenes of Nicolas Cage teaching as an astrophysicist at MIT. It's superstitious propaganda from beginning to end, takes itself far too seriously, and if taken seriously by the viewer, comes off as extremely bleak.
If you want to see some really good films about man and his physical/emotional relations with Nature and space, you'd be better off watching films like Kubrick's '2001', Tarkovsky's 'Solaris', even Zemeckis' 'Contact'. If you still want to see this film in spite of everything I've just said...even then, you'd be better off watching a 'Final Destination' film. There at least you can find yourself some good 'turn-off-the-brain-and-enjoy' entertainment.