Refreshing chick fights

Rating: 8/10 (17 March 2007)

The Descent
Now here's an interesting movie. It's interesting because it starts so bad yet becomes so good. The first 50% is nothing else but girls doing girls stuff. I find girl stuff boring. Thinking for a moment that this is just another coed chick-flick in bra's getting butchered in a shower. When half of the movie is done the real thing starts: creepy stuff going on in the caves. Sounds...
I won't tell the rest of the story but those (initially boring) girls need to fight their nuts (...) off to save their lives and they do it well! I really love a fighting spirit. In life and in movies. Please do rent it.
=== PLOT ===
A group of coeds decide to descend into a cave to explore it for sports. When one of the girls gets stuck somewhere in the cave, monsters attack the girls. It's easy to see they want to eat the girls. Though the ladies are off course scared, they put up a good fight.
=== GOOD STUFF ===
The fighting is actually realistic. When brute muscle power is needed, for example, you can clearly see by the face that effort is taken. The scenery is dark, but it has enough (smart) lighting to see what's going on and what the monsters look like. This adds well to the tension in the movie.
Sound is not top of the bill, but when needed it does the job. As opposed to many movies where sound tries to scare people, sound is this particular movie has only a supporting role. It works out nicely.
Acting. Acting is OK. I realize it's perhaps not the best acting ever, but it fits nicely into the movie - in an enjoyable way.
=== BAD STUFF ===
Not much bad stuff to tell actually. The first half of the movie is just plain boring. It attempts to do some character building but they fail, as the true nature (spirit) of the girls is to be seen when in peril.
=== VERDICT ===
I give this movie an 8 out of 10. Although half of the movie is about nothing, the other half demonstrates the very thing I value: effort. The girls demonstrate a fighting spirit in a realistic way. Mentally and physically. Also, the monsters look hideous enough.
But most importantly, it's rare to find movies where girls or women fight real good and seeing such a movie is refreshing to me. That's why I gave it 80% though I only enjoyed half of the movie.