Squandered potential

Rating: 6/10 (13 October 2009)

I too caught an advance screening, and honestly, I only went since it was free. The trailer didn't really entice me and I'm not a big fan of Jamie Foxx. Having lowered expectations was probably a good thing in that it was better than I thought, while still not a good film.
The most disappointing aspect about it to me is that you could see the good idea in there waiting to get out, but that good idea is muddled by poor writing and direction... while the deaths are staged as thrills or shocks, they are each so heavily foreshadowed or so clichéd that it lacks any genuine excitement. You see everything coming about 5 minutes before the characters themselves do. There are a couple of twists and turns that aren't entirely obvious, but based on the premise, it could have been so much more.