Red Eye

In the 80's, Wes Craven is very much synonymous to Freddie Krueger. In the 90's, although he made another version of Nightmare, the new generation knew him as the man behind the Scream franchise. In 1999, he took the drama department via Music of the Heart. I like the film but I wasn't very much fond of it. Maybe because Mr. Holland already got to me! :-) Also, I believe that he didn't make much of an impact in the said genre. This time around, he takes on the pyschological thriller genre under Red Eye.

Red Eye is about LisaReisert (Rachel McAdams) who would be going home to Miami after attending the funeral of her grandmother in a different state. She hates flying but it was a good thing that he met Jackson Ripner (Cillian Murphy - Batman Begins; 28 Days Later) moments before take off. He was charming and quite an interesting guy. A guy that seemed so perfect to take away her sadness only that their meeting was premeditated. What he wants from her was to do what he asked for or else, her father would be killed. During the flight, Lisa struggled with the thoughts of saving her and her father's life and doing what is right.

As a thriller, Red Eye is entertaining enough. It had a few cheap thrills that would make you glued to you seats at the very end. Wes Craven have seemed to have crafted the genre so well that he already knows where to hold the audience's excitement. However, as always with his suspense-filled movies, he overlooks the writing. There was a lot missing in it. During the time when Jackson divulge his motives, there wasn't enough tension between the characters that would permeate onto the audience. The danger wasn't felt as imminent. Because you don't know Lisa and her father that well, the audience failed to relate to them or root for their lives the way we did in Panic Room. Besides, her father looked like a gangster that, in the end, you'd think that he might be involve in the whole thing after all. (You could never tell. Twisted is how Scream ended, right?) Aside from that, you don't know anything much about the would-be victims to even care at all about their lives.

Don't get me wrong. Rachel and Cillian seemed to have done the best thing they could with a poorly-written script. But they could only do so much.

As a director, Wes Craven couldn't seemed to get away from his type of antagonists. Jackson seemed to be a Freddie Krueger-reincarnate. He exudes the creepiness and eerieness of the said character. Not to mention that he doesn't die that easily! I am not saying that it is bad but the verdict would still depend on how the audience would take it. I'd say, though, if Robert Englund decides to retire as Freddie, Cillian is a perfect candidate! Even if he looks way better than Robert!

My recommendation, see Red Eye for some entertainment. It won't hurt. It isn't even a waste of time and money. But don't expect much out of it. At the end of it all, it is all about cheap thrills that would get hold hold of you for an hour and a half!