Exhilarating Thriller Made For the Right Reasons

Rating: Null/10 (25 September 2013)

Adult films of noteworthy mention rarely exist anymore, unless they are after Oscar Gold. It's been slim pickings for adult audiences who may not be in the mood to attempt an awards contender, but want to be treated like they have some brain activity. Thrillers are a great use of adult films, actors and audience. Adults want to feel the "edge" of suspense stories, like teenagers do with horror films; but while not wasting their time with a low quality film. Prisoners brings back that genre that has felt extinct since 2005, a colossal year for thrillers.
The acting is fantastic. Prisoners hired actors who know how to act and wanted to make the picture for the sake of trying their best. Hugh Jackman punches us with his vehemence, a performance that shakes you, even if his accent may not be etched out with perfection. Jake Gyllenhaal has a more unnoticed character that slowly builds to moments allowing Gyllehaal to execute strength and power.
Viola Davis brings the house down with only one meaty scene. Terrance Howard reiterates he's a talent that can convey massive emotion by saying very little. Melissa Leo turns in her best post-Oscar portrayal, but still doesn't "wow" us like she used to. Sadly, Maria Bello didn't cut it for me. Her crying scenes seem phony and I don't empathize with her character. The character is written to be a mother barely grasping onto hope in her life; it feels like Bello didn't put the effort in to make that character reach her full potential.
After seeing as many films as I have, especially films intended to spook you, sooner or later you learn all the tricks and your threshold adapts to the environment you've grown a part of. Prisoners is the one film in a good while to actually scare me. Some images are terrifying and built with perfect sinister tone, while other scenes match those with jolting chases or disturbing moments of torture.
The themes aren't anything groundbreaking, we've felt the messages of Prisoners in dozens of other films in the past. There's parallelism drawn with the conclusion, grief and religion are inevitable in a film of this topic, but those dramatics are not what interested me. The plain message that comes with the drastic twist just pleads to parents and babysitters to never underestimate anyone. Predators are lurking to swoop anything they can get their hands on at the right time. Child kidnapping is still a sensitive topic to be used in films right now and I found the plot pushing the envelope to be exhilarating.
I believe in years to come Prisoners will gain a reputation similar to Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino's '90s hit, Heat: universally praised, cult-bound, and unnoticed with accolades. Both genre films give the audience credit to maintain a well-paced narrative. Prisoners doesn't feed us unnecessary information, it often cuts a scene off when the built action reaches the goal of the scene without letting us see the predictable result. Prisoners puts its genre on the path for the future.
Grade: A-
Rating: 8/10