It sad people honestly find this clever.

Rating: 1/10 (7 November 2008)

I've written at least five reviews explaining why sci-fi movies everyone finds oh-so-original aren't original. Everything from 12 Monkeys to Déjà Vu, it seems there isn't a single sci-fi movie that can stand on its own two feet anymore. They all use tired, unoriginal plot lines that have been used over and over again on The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, if not both. It's just sad. The Butterfly Effect follows their example. But what makes The Butterfly effect even worse is that it it isn't clever like it thinks it is; there are so many plot holes, it's simply laughable to anyone who has enough intelligence to understand the plot of a children's cartoon. And I've seen plenty of cartoons that are insanely more intelligent than The Butterfly Effect.
The Butterfly Effect opens with a cliché "hook" that your 9th grade English teacher taught you about. A guy can change his pastI'm sure if I hadn't seen it a hundred other times, I'd be interested. From there, the entire first half hour you're force fed clichéssuch as a little kid drawing bloody picturesas the movie sets up the further clichéd plot . . .
Boy tries to save girl. Who would have guessed? If he changes the past, he changes the future. If it were something that only a hundred other movies have done, not thousands, I may be slightly less sarcastic when I say: how creative! A "psychological" undertone with no more intelligence than saying "crazy people are crazy". What movie would be complete without one these days? The problems I just mentioned are enough to earn the score it did from me, but from there the movie only gets worse. Minus Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart, there isn't a single actor in the movie who doesn't act with such an over-the-top vibe I laughed more than once. The cheesy dialogue brings the unintentional comedy even further. The cinematography is very amateur. What did the two directors do all day? It takes two directors to direct this terribly? Now for a taste of the major plot holes: - In more than one case, if he were to go back and change ONE variable to what he just did (ie: not stand by the mailbox) everything would have been fine. The writers must have realized this but thought it was too anti-climactic, so they decide to have him to contentiously try different pasts to get one right. Am I all the only one who finds this laughable? - Then there is the times the movie just downright lacks logic. One character is thrown in jail for . . . self defense? And there are plenty of other scenes just like that. Are the writers really that stupid? Did I mention the movie has the overall entertainment level of watching a tree stump die? Disregard whatever you thought this movie was going to beit's a stale, cliché drama and nothing more. The movie moves along at a medium-slow pace, and at some points it may even seem somewhat fast . . . until you realize it's just repeating itself. There is no entertainment value. Yes, I guess I can say it is somewhat compelling at points, but in the end what does it matter? It's forgettable. I watched it for the first time a day ago and I've already forgotten everything that I didn't write down in my notes to write in this review.
Yet ANOTHER problem was the immaturity of the entire movie. Sure, I give it props for at least trying to be anti-politically correct, but it's done in a fashion that is just immature. Instead of actually making the anti-politically correct scenes a part of the movie, they're there for cheap shock value. I, personally, love shock valuebut when it's a part of the story. Not to mention none of the wannabe shocking moments (that didn't shock me) are off-screen because the directors obviously don't have the balls to actually make a movie that lives up to the R-rating this film received.
Overall, I just see no point in watching The Butterfly Effect unless you were deprived of cartoons as a kid, because I've seen this plot used on every show Nickelodeon has aired. That's how immature and unoriginal it is. Some people will find the cliché boy-must-save-girl plot compelling, but, to those people, can I ask why? Maybe it's because you prefer safe, tired plots that have even less audacity than a cliché metal band writing lyrics about the nonexistence of God. As if we haven't seen either beforecountless times. And what bothers me so much about movies like this is how they always think they're so original, or so punk.
The Butterfly Effect = pointless.
0/10