Movie Reviews (such as they are)

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

The Eye

This is the third film I've seen by one or both of the Pang brothers, the other two being Bangkok Dangerous and Bangkok Haunted. The former was quite good fun in that Hong Kong hitman kind of way. Not a classic of the genre by any stretch of the imagination, but not bad. The latter, however, was almost unwatchable. In fact, I couldn't even finish it, it was so bad. Now I watch a reasonable amount of films, and I'll watch virtually any old crap, but this was so bad that I had to stop watching, so that says something. If you're reading this and you disagree, please feel free to leave a comment listing its redeeming features.

So, bearing in mind these previous two experiences, it was with mixed feelings that I opted to watch The Eye. I had a vague recollection that it was about a blind girl who has cornea transplants, and that once she can see, she begins seeing ghosts. It's a reasonably common storyline, but that doesn't mean it still can't bring some surprises. And on the whole I quite enjoyed it. It doesn't overstay its welcome, clocking in at just over 90 minutes, and it plays out at a reasonable pace.

The acting is pretty good throughout, and the script is not bad. Of course, I say this knowing that some people find that Asian style of acting fake and wooden, whereas I quite like it. Horses for courses, I guess. As Asian horror movies go, it one of the best of the crop from the past five years or so. And the ending is pretty good, as it happens.