You’ll like this movie if you like
a. Joss Whedon
b. Scary and funny
c. Expecting the unexpected
Nobody writes quite like Joss Whedon. From Buffy to Firefly to Serenity, we’ve had a wonderful 10 year relationship. Can you tell I’m a fan? Even his misfires, like The Dollhouse, are entertaining. This movie, directed by Drew Goddard, the co-writer with Whedon, was filmed in 2009, and was mired in the MGM bankruptcy. The wait was worth it.
The twists and turns snap quickly and it’s a struggle to keep up. Here’s the truth of the matter – it’s pretty hard to be unpredictable anymore. There are a lot of surprises, but movies now suffer from what I’ll call “the sixth sense” syndrome. Ever since that hit, movies thrive on “gotcha” surprises. Except they rarely work. M. Night Shyamalan has been erratic in trying to repeat his success. Whedon and Goddard fare a little better here.
Here’s what I’m able to tell you without spoiling the story. Five teenagers go for a weekend in the woods. You know, sex, drugs, and partying. My question is, why is it always an odd number? Why is there always one guy who’s odd man out? It irks me. Well, that’s about all I can tell you.
Five in the woods. Pretty scary at first as they inevitably begin to get clichéd off. Blood, and more blood. You may not like the whole movie, but you won’t be bored. And that’s all I’m going to say, other than now it’s time for The Avengers, destined to be next in the Whedonverse.
By the way, a lot of internet chatter about this being one of the top ten pickup lines for geeks: “We work so well together that if we were in a Joss Whedon show, one of us would be dead by now.”
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