The Eye

Plot synopsis:
Sydney Wells is a successful classical violinist from Los Angeles who has been blind since she was five years old, caused by an accident with firecrackers. Fifteen years later, after celebrating conductor and pianist Simon McCullough's birthday during rehearsal, Sydney undergoes a cornea transplant, which causes her eyesight to return, a bit blurry at first. As time goes on, Sydney's vision begins to clear; however, she also begins experiencing terrifying visions, mostly of fire and of people dying. She also sees people that are already dead, on one occasion when a girl passes right through her. Sydney attempts to unravel the mystery of the visions, and also to convince others, primarily her visual therapist and fellow violinist, Paul Faulkner, who helps her in her quest. She knows that she is not going insane.
Accompanied by Paul, Sydney travels to Mexico, where the cornea donor Ana Cristina Martinez was originally from. She discovers from Ana's mother that the images of fire and death are the result of an industrial accident that Ana foretold. Ana hanged herself because she was unable to stop the accident. Sydney forgives Ana's spirit, who leaves in peace. As Sydney and Paul begin their journey home, they are caught in a traffic congestion caused by a police chase on the other side of the border. Sydney sees the little girl from her vision in the car next to her. She then realizes that this is what her vision has been all along, to save the people that are about to die from an accident.
Still able to see the death silhouettes, Sydney begins to get everyone off the highway, starting with a bus filled with people. She and Paul convince everyone to leave the bus and the cars by telling them that there is a bomb inside the bus. However, a driver leading the police chase rushes through the border barriers and collides into a tank truck, igniting leaking gasoline in the process. Sydney sees the little girl trapped in the car, her mother laying on the ground in front of it, already being hit by a passenger and losing consciousness. Paul breaks open the window and gets the girl out. Paul and Sydney carry the girl and her mother to safety just before the tank truck causes a chain explosion. Sydney is blinded by flying glass fragments in the process.
After recovering at a hospital, she returns to Los Angeles to continue performing as a blind violinist, though with a more optimistic view of her condition.

Tags: horror

Review:
I still get a little skeeved when I see a closeup of eyes, come to think of it.Jessica Alba plays Sydney, a blind concert violinist who has a double corneal transplant, and of course things go wrong.
The Eye does use special effects, but it uses them - pardon me - to great effect; you're not overwhelmed with attention-grabbing CGI.The biggest debit in the movie is the love interest, Sydney's doctor, Paul (Alessandro Nivola), who seems dull and unimportant, although his believing in and trusting Sydney is a linchpin for moving the plot.
(Think of a younger Dylan McDermott.) On the other hand, a good counterbalance to Nivola is Parker Posey as Sydney's concerned sister, who, although she doesn't immediately buy into Sydney's rantings, does empathize and attempt to understand a bit better than the hunky doctor.Overall, The Eye is a tense, shudder-filled movie that manages to dress up a recycled plot with dead-on performances and evocative cinematography..
With virtually every successful Asian horror movie of the last few years having already been remade by Hollywood, it was only a matter of time before Gin gwai (AKA The Eye) got the treatment, despite the original not really being all that great (I found it fairly entertaining, but unexceptionalmy rating: 6/10).Jessica Alba plays Sydney Wells, a blind violinist who receives a cornea transplant only to discover that her new set of peepers allow her to see much more than she had originally bargained for: Sydney can see dead people!!
Aided by her doctor, she attempts to unravel the terrible secret behind her scary supernatural power.Directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud, The Eye is a totally unnecessary and dreary remake that copies parts of original verbatim, alters scenes that should have been left well alone (the creepy cafe meat-licking scene has gone, and the downbeat ending has been swapped for a typical Hollywood crowd pleaser), and totally botches what should be the scariest bit of the whole film (the lift scene is VERY disappointing).Take my advice: If you've already seen Gin gwai, then stay away from The Eye..
While more films like The Eye would be welcome, I think it better to forfeit the Asian remakes all together, then to wait for the monkey's second draft.Read all my reviews at: http://www.simonsaysmovies.blogspot.com.
The Eye (2002) is an excellent horror film.That movie had a great atmosphere,an excellent performance from the main actress,some creepy moments which produced me some jumps and a disturbing but perfect ending.And the remake of The Eye lacks of all that important elements.If I have to summarize this movie in a few words,I would say:another crappy remake.This remakes MUST be stopped.This film does not have a good atmosphere,Jessica Alba does not show any of credibility on her role and the ''scary'' moments produced on me unintentional laughs.But,the worst element from this movie is that they changed the brilliant ending from the original film for a pathetic one.Alessandro Nivola is the only one of the cast who shows some enthusiasm and he added some points to this poor movie.Maybe,the people who did not see the original movie will appreciate the film more.But,for me,The Eye (2008) is a crappy movie with cheap thrills.Like I said before,these remakes MUST be stopped..
A Nutshell Review: The Eye. So I haven't watched the original Eye movie by the Pang Brothers, but I guess with remakes these days, it doesn't really matter, since most of the time, the Hollywood remade version pales in comparison with the original, despite having a bigger budget, bigger stars and of course, better visual effects.
And what almost always seem woeful, is the attempt to try and recreate the atmospherics for a spook fest that Asian horror had perfected, and I'm inclined to suggest that they should adapt the storyline (since there's a creative dearth of ideas), but leave the mimicking of mood at the door.This is probably the first movie that Jessica Alba marquees, and comparisons would be abound for those who've watched the original to compare her to Angelica Lee's performance.
As blind violinist Sydney, Alba escapes the need to act blind given the cop out of using shades, coupled with the fact that her transplanted eyes allow for the camera to be out of focus for the most parts.Things start to get interesting when she begins to see shadowy figures borrowed straight out of Pulse (yet another Asian horror remake), and these all get conveniently debunked by her doctor Paul (Alessandro Nivola who stars as the hopeless, formless Gavin Harris in the Goal movies), because if you're blind for so many years, your brain needs some major time out to absorb all the new sights you're constantly bombarded with.
I do like Japanese horror and seeing as The Eye was a remake of a Chinese film I hoped to enjoy it (if that makes any sense).
If you're looking for blood & guts & body parts, don't even waste a minute of your time."The Eye" isn't so much a horror flick as it is a supernatural drama.This film is a remake of the 2002 Chinese "The Eye" which I haven't seen, so I can't (and probably shouldn't) compare the two.
And while that may bore the audience members who are expecting some screams, it ultimately results in a film with a little bit more to say than your average screamer.Jessica Alba ("Sydney") does a great job of playing a woman who has been blind since age 5, a loner, someone who doesn't seem to have many connections with people and she likes it that way.
Jessica Alba's complete lack of acting skills is pretty obvious to everyone, except apparently movie producers.Maybe it's because they're blinded by the countless photographs she takes in various conditions of undress.Regardless, here again she gives yet another frightfully bad performance.
Jessica Alba plays a woman who undergoes cornea transplants in a remake of a Chinese film of the same name.The moment she opens her eyes she starts to see things that aren't there.
The acting was below par for most of the cast, with characters coming off as two dimensional for the sake of moving the plot along- and Jessica Alba needs to realize she gets film jobs for her looks not her talent.Anyway, if you're thinking of watching this, don't.
The film makers bank on a high profile name for box office dollar signs, which invariably turns out to be a actor that wouldn't be convincing in the horror genre if you slipped a snake into their sleeping bag.The movie victim this time is Gin Gwai (from Hong Kong), which boasted clever writing to advance the intrigue of the main character's plight, and effected the terror in a logical and eerie way.
In "The Eye," a remake of a Chinese movie from 2002, Jessica Alba plays a blind woman who gets her sight back thanks to a successful cornea transplant.
I just watched this movie yesterday.I though that this movie was gonna be good and scary.But i was wrong,terribly wrong.The movie was boring,there were some scenes that made me jumped.And the rest of the just kept more boring,thanks to Jessica Alba.She called herself an actress,she can't even act!I'd like to see some talented actresses as Sydney Wells, like Sarah Michelle Gellar,Naomi Watts,Kate Hudson....Jessica was a bad choice for the female lead role.I would find and watch the original "Gin Wai" to see the different between an awful remake and an awesome original.
The girl that plays the donor and looks like Jessica Alba's sister Fernanda Romero does a very good job, although her parts are in Spanish I liked how you get to understand her through her emotions.I think though that they could have extended the donors story a bit more so we could understand the story better.
Even that can excuse the reasoning of why you would chooses to see this over the original.Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) has been given the gift of sight, but it comes with a horrifying price in the English-language remake of Danny and Oxide Pang's The Eye. The double corneal transplant was to open up a new world for Sydney, a concert violinist whose blindness has plagued her since childhood.
Jumping from ridiculous plot twist to another and whilst the frights are solid and the acting is commendable it's just not enough to excuse such a shabby script and cheerful ending (that doesn't actually occur in the Japanese original)The best thing you could do would be to go rent Gin gwai to see how a real horror film should be done as it still remains one of my favorite J-Horrors just behind "Ringu" for now though this is a half decent placebo..
in some parts i can feel her pain.there were some scary parts but all of them are effective.this movie is not really a horror film like many expected.
And while there are faults with this remake, I have to admit it's not bad.Jessica Alba as Sydney gives, I think anyway, her best performance in a movie so far.
The script, written by Sebastian Gutierrez is okay, and from what I remember of the original it's a good adaption.It's not a movie that will be remembered as a great horror tale, but despite my reservations about it being YET another remake I did enjoy it for it's running time..
The ghost in the Chinese version comes towards Wong Kar a bit slower, but her appearance makes her creepier--that was scary...the loud track in it adds the kick to chill my spine every time I watch that scene.Moreover, the death of Ying Ying was saddening for Wong Kar since she had a good friendship with the little girl, and it made the drama great, plus it helped in convincing Dr. Lo to believe his nephew's claim that Wong Kar could see ghosts.
All I could do to this point was just roll my eyes and almost shout curses at the movie screen with disappointment; but I wanted to see how the ending sequence was executed in the remake.Of course, Sydney and her new boyfriend/doctor saved everybody from the exploding truck--as far as the story went...everybody lived--and cost Sydney her new sight.
However i don't really know myself how to make these "Fright Scenes" more scary.The ending was rather decent as well although in my thoughts was slightly predicted after seeing to many movies with ghosts or what ever you want to call them.Overall i think this movie was pretty good and doesn't deserve all the criticism I have read in other reviews, but like i said i haven't seen the original so i cant compare.
I don't know why this movie gets such Luke-warm ratings on here, its probably because Jessica Alba gets a bad rap and some people are very snobby on here whenever someone does a remake of a supposedly classic film.
Alba was very good as the blind violinist thinking she's losing her mind when she starts seeing unusual things with her new-found sight, the director kept the suspense building nicely and the pivotal mirror scene was both shocking and powerful.
I've always been into horror films, but when I was 12 years old I saw A Nightmare on Elm Street, since then no horror has ever lived up to standard, and horror's in general always, always disappoint, so far as they barely make me jump at all and in the case of teen horror's, are just plain boring.When I was convinced to watch The Eye I was very sceptical, Japanese remakes often are the biggest let downs of all, usually trying to cover up how bad they are with huge special effects.
The story is very clever, engaging and intriguing throughout, though if you're looking for a horror with lots of action then look elsewhere.Jessica Alba's performance does help to carry the film when it might have fallen down, the effects aren't trying to dominate the story and there is some brilliant tension, in fact so much so, at times I wanted something to happen so I could burst, the scene in the lift is a particularly good example of serious tension, partly because of the mystery of what might happen, but also the tension of what might happen to the character, who you do develop a connection to, you don't want her to die, a trick Hollywood horrors often miss in my opinion.Verdict: Not perfect, no where near in fact, but so much better than the usual rubbish Hollywood knocks out and well worth a watch, word of warning though, if you're looking for action and all out violence, don't bother..
"cellular memory", there are clearly a number of adherents and it's worth popping the keywords into a search engine -- like Alba did in the movie -- to better understand the underpinnings of the film.Overall I thought The Eye was well acted by both leads, as well as the supporting cast.
This movie is not meant to scare you outta your wits its a thriller its NOT a horror.This movie is worth Seeing if you have good taste in movies, and understand stories well and it was written and directed PerfectlyThere is nothing to change about this Jessica Alba is a wonderful actress and deserves an award of some sort for this.A movie this well done does not deserve to be shot down like that really shows you know the hard work that goes into writing and directing.
Normally most of the American remakes of Japanese horror films are, but The Eye does deliver some good scares, until the ending.
I did like some of the new scenes that added into the mix, which I think was decent and The acting was really really good as well.As for the second remake of Gin gwai, This is worth one Time watch at least!
It should have been much much better then it was.Jessica alba was smokin hot as usually and played the part very well The movie really went all over the place and really took a long time to get to the point then ends.
The Eye, a remake of the 2003 Hong Kong film Gin Gwai, is about a young blind woman named Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) who, after receiving a cornea transplant from an anonymous donor to get her eyesight back, begins to see (and even hear) terrifying visions of ghostly beings and dark images of death that no one else can see.
Probably it's biggest flaw is that it tries to include all the incidents from the original film but neglects to adequately explain some of them.For all the criticism Jessica Alba received for her lead role of Sydney, the blind violinist who starts seeing terrifying visions after receiving corneal transplants, I can't say her performance registered as being particularly poor.
Jessica Alba in this movie plays a blind woman who get's an eye transplant and soon after the operation begins to see strange things.
If you like Mysterymovies and Jessica Alba you probably wanna see this, if not, well it's still a well made movie, maybe a little slow at times but nice to watch nonetheless.
You know a movie isn't bad, when it is at the very least thrilling and at times exciting.All in all, The Eye is good, because the original story is a good one, but some credit must still be given to the director for executing his own imprint into a remake.
Surprisingly, there is some character development here, something you don't usually see in your horror remakes.Unfortunately, you can't help but think this film borrows a lot from previous films, most notably "Final Destination" and "Ghost" and even "White Noise 2." The performance by Jessica Alba is decent, although nothing special.Overall, this is a decent remake with some effective chills and an explosive ending that would leave you well, interested, since nothing else in the movie is a surprise.
If I have not seen the Asian one maybe I would have liked it more.Anyhowe its an OK time-waster,a solid movie with good special-effects and overall good acting(not any Oscar performance) and as I said surprisingly Jessica Alba is good as the lead actress.First movie in America for the French Directors David Moreau&Xavier Palud with an OK result.Slightly recommended,I give the remake of The Eye 5/10.
This movie was not good; I thought the performance of Jessica Alba was adequate at best.
And the original was chilling, built up suspense and had very good acting.Jessica Alba - if this is the reason you went to see this movie, well then you're not going to get much because everything else in this film waters down the scares so much it is laughable.
this film is a remake of an Asian film,which seems to be all the rage these days,and has been for quite some time.who knows how long this trend will last.anyway,i haven't seen the original,so i can't compare the two.as for this remake,i liked it for the most part.it has some pretty freaky moments alright.it's not really scary Per Se,but it is definitely unsettling.Jessica Alba is not too bad in this movie.in fact she does a better job than i thought she would.aside from being a remake,the premise of this movie has been done before in probably two movies,the names of which escape me.there are a few slow moments in the movie.but mostly it's good.i really liked the ending.i though it elevated the movie a bit.i wasn't expecting it to end the way it did.for me,The Eye is i a 6.5/10.
but not all remakes are total flops.Jessica Alba was alright acting her role in this movie and i was impressed by her performance.
The Eye. We all know it is a remake of the Chinese horror movie.
I did not really feel the suspense.The story: Jessica Alba acts as Sydney Wells, she received eye transplant and she can see a bit but soon as the plot unfolds, she starts seeing ghosts and spirits.