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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't like it at first, but it's growing on me *** ½, February 8, 2009
MIRRORS
*** ½ Out of 5
Release Date- August 15th, 2008
Running Time- 110-Minutes
Rating- R
Screenplay- Alexandre Aja & Gregory Levasseur
Director- Alexandre Aja
Starring- Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Amy Smart, Cameron Boyce, Erica Gluck, Mary Beth Peil
Upon my first viewing of Mirrors I really didn't care for the movie at all I suppose maybe my expectations were too high; I've been a fan of Kiefer Sutherland since I was 9-years old after seeing Young Guns and now with 24 he's easily one of my very favorite actors of all time and I think Alexandre Aja has potential to be a great horror filmmaker so with these two involved I expected a lot more. But watching Mirrors again I've gained a little more appreciation for the movie; while far from a classic it does serve it's purpose as a fun if not very flawed movie.
The screenplay by Alexandre Aja & Gregory Levasseur for the most part was pretty good; the characters are fairly interesting and are developed a bit as well. While not the greatest characters in a horror movie they are more than faceless characters. There is a good amount of drama added in and actually I think the dramatic elements worked better than the horror. I found myself more interested in the drama and that is where I found the writing to be at the best. Overall the screenplay might be lacking in some spots, but I suppose it's better than most horror screenplays these days.
After bursting onto the scene with Haute Tension, Alexandre Aja I feel hasn't lived up to his potential. While I did enjoy The Hills Have Eyes remake I also felt it could have been better. And with Mirrors he seems to be staying put rather than moving forward. The thing about Aja is that me makes violence really scary. In general when it comes to horror the violence isn't the scary part it's the build up, but Aja is one of those filmmakers that can make the violence really creepy.
With Mirrors Aja does well I suppose; the pace of the movie is good I can't say I was ever bored during the movie, but I found the suspense and tension to be slightly lacking and that is the biggest problem. Aja can make a suspenseful movie. Haute Tension is proof of that. When the killer shows up and starts killing people in the house were some of the most tension filled scenes I've seen in a long time. But since Haute Tension I don't think Aja has lived up to that potential even though he's always right about to reach it. Again Mirrors is never really slow and always moves forward so in that regard he gets the job done, but it's just the suspense and tension lack at times.
Unlike his other movies Mirrors is a much more character driven movie that relies more on the characters and suspense than that of the violence. I think Alexandre Aja does fairly well with the characters and his dramatic scenes are the ones that work best oddly enough, but his suspense scenes don't work as well. Essentially I think the biggest problem is Mirrors is one of those movies you watch then sort of forget. You know those movies you watch and than a bit later someone asks you about it, but you can't remember the details? Well that's sort of what Mirrors was like for me. While I did enjoy the movie the 2nd time around it's still sort of forgettable.
The one thing we know about Alexandre Aja is the man loves his gore and Mirrors while violent is nowhere near the level of Haute Tension or The Hills Have Eyes, but the few gore scenes were quite brutal only brought down by some shoddy CGI. The jaw ripping scene was awesome, but the CGI was a little poor. That is tough to pull off, but Adam Green did in Hatchet without the use of CGI. But the gore was excellent, but the CGI slightly brings it down. I don't wanna spoil anything, but a certain character who was engulfed in flames was some really poor CGI it really looked bad. But despite some suspect CGI the gore scenes were pretty cool and the jaw ripping scene was the highlight.
Kiefer Sutherland plays Jack Bauer um I mean Ben Carson and Sutherland like always gives an excellent performance, but it's as if he made a wrong turn on the set of 24 and ended up on the Mirrors set. Sutherland is pretty much playing Jack Bauer. The final act is where it really shows if you just walked into the room and saw this on screen your first thought would be 24. First thing I wanna say is Jack Bauer is one of the greatest characters of all time and Sutherland plays the role to perfection, but he has a lot of depth and range as an actor and it's a shame to see him reduced to pretty much playing the same role.
Paula Patton as Amy Carson also provides a solid performance and that brings me back to the drama element. I liked the basic idea with the characters even if a little clichéd, Ben Carson is the troubled ex cop sort of a broken down man and he is separated from his wife. While we have seen this done plenty of times in all genres, I think it added a lot of depth to Ben and Amy Carson and that's why I said I think the dramatic scenes is where Aja & Levasseur get it right in their writing and where Aja does excellent as director.
In closing Mirrors isn't a bad movie it's never really boring, but just lacks the suspense and tension. Don't go in expecting Haute Tension, but if you don't expect too much you'll probably enjoy the movie. Hopefully Alexandre Aja can reclaim what he did with Haute Tension. But he needs to chill with all the remakes. Mirrors, though makes for a fun time, but sort of forgettable.
The Blu-ray is amazing. The picture and sound quality are excellent, the picture is sharp and the colors are excellent. Of all the BD I own Mirrors easily ranks as one of my favorites.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
24 Meets The Amityville Horror , February 24, 2009
The only real reason I watched this flick was because of Keifer Sutherland. Sutherland's acting is by far one of the best in TV, and he proves that a mediocre horror story can be taken somewhat serious with good acting.
Mirrors, which is a loose remake of a Korean film (Into The Mirror) tells the tale of recently retired L.A.P.D. officer Ben Carson taking a night shift job at an abandoned Dept Store. In this dept store weird and untypical things begin to occur and manifest; mainly through the mirrors do we see the horrifying nature of the film.
The movie does bring out some good horror elements..But in all it felt a bit short. I felt as if the movie lacked true potential, it could have been much better if the story was written much like the original. Instead it's done the American way, which never really works...And the ending is not very original either. Rent only
MY PERSONAL RATING: 3 ½ OUT OF 5
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18 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mirror, mirror on the wall, December 11, 2008
Angela Carson: Mirrors are just glass and silver, Ben. That's it. There's nothing behind them.
Short Attention Span Summary (SASS):
1. Ex-cop Ben Carson (Keifer Sutherland) is forced by necessity to take a job as a night watchman at a Department Store that has been gutted by a major fire.
2. It doesn't take him 24 hours to find out that something's not quite right with his new job
3. Sure enough, he soon learns that the Department Store was once a totally different type of institution, and that the man who burned it down had also killed his own family. Strangely enough, the large mirrors in the building have all survived the destruction.
4. When the hallucinations start, Ben starts digging around, and discovers a clue - the word "esseker"
5. No prizes for guessing that something evil lurks in the mirror world, and soon Ben's family become targets.
6. It's up to Ben to find a way to save his family, and his time is almost up.
This is a creepy, gritty sort of horror flick that will have you thinking twice about looking into the mirror, even if you've never before been able to pass one by without checking yourself out. A bit of gore here and there adds to the drama, but the spine-tingling bits occur in the quieter moments. The ending however, isn't so much anticlimactic as understated. Recommended for folk who like to get their creep on.
Ben Carson: You gotta be careful of the water, it creates reflections!
Amanda Richards
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