Daring and brilliant!

Rating: 10/10 (30 March 2009)

While Alex made his best to combine author movie and blockbuster with I, Robot, he truly shows his talent in Knowing!
It is rare to see such a daring film in the movies! You very soon realize the film is not what you thought it would be. That the film is strange. That the film's true aim is far from blockbustering! Yes the film is daring. With this ending, Alex transformed an average SF Thriller into a long lasting piece of allegorical art. It really is the best example of "love-it/hate-it" films. Either you accept the end and you love the film, or you just don't.
The very fact that some critics like Puig destroyed this film is a very good reason to go and watch it. It is rare to see so much difference in critic's speeches. While some describe the film as a big piece of nonsense, or even the year's worst film, other say it is one of the best SF movie they have ever seen! Of course, if your waiting for a believable SF thriller, you'll be disappointed. But if you come and stay open minded, you'll be able to understand the message and acknowledge the talent.
**Spoiler alert** People spent so much time criticizing the end, that they never talked of sth else. The two first catastrophe scenes are just brilliant. Brutal and realistic, especially the first one, with the plane, which is shot in one single sequence. Amazing! The little Chandler is very good. When you understand the position he finds himself in at the end, you know he will have to cry, and you're scared he will spoil the end. The result is just about the opposite. He's even better than Cage! No I say that, but Nic was far better then in his last awful films, especially through his father/son relationship throughout the film. You just feel he's a father! Cage who, by the way, has the best reaction ever shot at the first encounter of the alien spacecraft!
The end now can be hard to buy, but must have been even harder to sell to a studio! And yet, Alex and his producers dared to go through with it, and I say Bravo! Of course, they knew they would be destroyed by a lot of critics, but they didn't care, and believed the film was worth it, and it definitely was. So what is in the other spacecrafts you may think? To my mind, each of them has another young human couple and another animal couple as well. So after the "Angels" save a couple of all species from the "Fire Flood", they reinstall them on another planet, to let them "rise from their ashes", but with probably more then just one "Adam" and one "Eva" (would've been gross right?!) Last but not least, the choice of Beethoven's mourning 7th Symphony's allegretto during the last scenes of chaos is simply perfect!
This film brushes genie at a lot of spot, and represents very well the risk of cinema choices for the movies today. You may love it, you may hate it but you will not be indifferent! It will move your soul, it really is art. Don't miss it!