Sappy and Silly

Rating: 1/10 (20 December 2010)

This film takes an interesting premise (an old hidden document foretelling the future) and destroys every bit of its potential with ludicrous plotting, laughable dialogue and poor direction. How can a $50 million movie go so far astray? "Knowing" ought to be used as a teaching tool in film school. It's a sobering reminder that spending money guarantees nothing. There was literally no point at which I wasn't aware that I was watching a very bad movie.
Cage has never been less effective, although I'm not sure how he could have overcome these obstacles. The little kid was too precocious by a factor of ten. I'd rather watch some old Shirley Temple movies than watch kids THIS clever, verbal and adorable. Maybe we should blame all of this on The Sixth Sense. The performances are generally overwrought, and the plot itself... I was laughing out loud at the Noah's Ark stuff. The adorable albino rabbits were the perfect closing touch. This film was made for morons who probably find Hallmark cards too cerebral.
The one star in my rating is for the F/X. The scene of the airplane crash and aftermath were very well done. Indeed, there are some very disturbing images in the film. I'd say this is one to keep the young'uns away from. But even F/X can't bale out this junk. I'd rather have seen that $50 mil budget turned over to 100 deserving young filmmakers. It's hard to imagine one of them couldn't have come up with something more competent and intelligent than this.