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User Reviews for: Prisoners

jx8FuVT
CONTAINS SPOILERS2/10  10 years ago
I found this to be a disappointing movie. I understand everything in PedroPT's post, but it still seems to me that the religious themes are very superficial.. often obnoxious. The snakes & mazes were especially gimmicky.

All of the characters behaved in reckless and absurd ways. Loki lets snap judgements dictate all of his actions, breaks into basically every house in the movie, and randomly disregards possible leads while doggedly pursuing others. The police chief and him yell at each other constantly and thus encourage each other to act even more rashly (one hopes that this is not how actual police behave). Jackman's character immediately turns violent, psychopathic, and insulting at every opportunity, and worse, the movie seems to justify (or at least consider to be of ambiguous merit) vigilante torture as a means of obtaining information.

It is shocking to me that people believe this movie raises any serious moral questions or issues (whether about torture, vigilantism, or 'the individual and the institution'). As far as I can see, it does not; it has nothing significant whatever to say on these topics.

The connections between the different possibilities which Loki followed are very contrived; is there even a single piece of clue or information that they don't force to be valid and relevant at the end? Perhaps some people see that as a developed and intricate plot, but it makes me feel somewhat like rolling my eyes.

For all that the atmosphere and cinematography were praised, I was also unimpressed with them. Yes, much of it is dark, but I didn't find the use of light or darkness to be particularly meaningful. Maybe I just didn't get the style... I was hoping it would be more like the old german expressionism in use of light, but oh well. I think it would have benefited from some longer and wider shots, but I can't really pretend to know anything about cinematography.

As others, I'm a fan of Gyllenhaal, but I think it's a shame he does so many bad movies like this. His unique charisma and acting style are probably the only redeeming part of this mess.
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Reply by sp1ti
10 years ago
I'm taking the bait :). A two seems like a rather strong dislike.<br /> <br /> I found this to be a disappointing movie. I understand everything in PedroPT's post, but it still seems to me that the religious themes are very superficial.. often obnoxious. The snakes &amp; mazes were especially gimmicky.<br /> I don't think the religious themes were there for the audience to take as a big plot point. It's just another thing to add mood and characteristics.<br /> <br /> All of the characters behaved in reckless and absurd ways. Loki lets snap judgements dictate all of his actions, breaks into basically every house in the movie, and randomly disregards possible leads while doggedly pursuing others. The police chief and him yell at each other constantly and thus encourage each other to act even more rashly (one hopes that this is not how actual police behave).<br /> [...]<br /> The connections between the different possibilities which Loki followed are very contrived; is there even a single piece of clue or information that they don't force to be valid and relevant at the end? Perhaps some people see that as a developed and intricate plot, but it makes me feel somewhat like rolling my eyes.<br /> Most of the things you mention are just the edge the movie packs. It wanted to be a dark piece and this is a way of accomplishing that. I don't think Loki had much of a choice of handling the case except for looking into previous offenders and reports. His methods were also etablished as alternative which you just have to take as his thing. Needless to say that we don't see all his (wasted) efforts on screen.<br /> <br /> Jackman's character immediately turns violent, psychopathic, and insulting at every opportunity, and worse, the movie seems to justify (or at least consider to be of ambiguous merit) vigilante torture as a means of obtaining information. <br /> <br /> It is shocking to me that people believe this movie raises any serious moral questions or issues (whether about torture, vigilantism, or 'the individual and the institution'). As far as I can see, it does not; it has nothing significant whatever to say on these topics.<br /> Jackman's character also had his issues resulting in him taking such strong actions. You can argue about how serious moral questions in fictional movies can be but it makes for a discussion. I doubt the question hasn't crossed your mind. <br /> <br /> For all that the atmosphere and cinematography were praised, I was also unimpressed with them. Yes, much of it is dark, but I didn't find the use of light or darkness to be particularly meaningful. Maybe I just didn't get the style... I was hoping it would be more like the old german expressionism in use of light, but oh well. I think it would have benefited from some longer and wider shots, but I can't really pretend to know anything about cinematography.<br /> There were some great shots but most of the time I didn't pay much attention to it since it worked for me (the opening was beautiful and for example the rush to the hospital at the end). The movie was already long so there wasn't really much to play with for them.<br /> <br /> <br /> Too bad you didn't like it but I know that suspension of disbelief can ruin an entire movie. I just feel a 2 is needlessly harsh even if you didn't enjoy the movie that much.
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Reply by jordyontrak
7 months ago
bro you are so stupid idiot and ur opinion is very bad
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hill9001
CONTAINS SPOILERS7/10  6 years ago
There was so much about this film that I *wanted* to review favourably, but after 2.5 hours its weaknesses became irritating to a distracting extent.

The obvious comparison here has to be Se7en - but where Se7en makes successful commitments in tone and character, Prisoners tries to walk a line that leaves the viewer perplexed and unfulfilled. Jackman's character does become beastly, but never actually pulls the trigger in the dramatic fashion of Pitt. The realistic atmosphere is undermined by the coincidental presence of several weirdos, including one who seems to exist as nothing but a red herring. The motivation of the villian feels dull and arbitrary after the long wait for a reveal that never really builds, but just sort of happens (not unlike most of the plot of Bladder Runner 2049).

Before Se7en and True Detective this might have offered more material for discussion, but it comes off plain in comparison to both. The shooting was fine and the soundtrack was consistently ominous. Ghyllenhaal and Jackman seemed like imperfect castings, though the former clearly tried his best with the material he had (for a detective who has supposedly solved EVERY ONE of his cases, his character was much more lackadaisical than you might expect). What the hell the police were actually doing for most of the film remains an unsolved mystery. The decision to fade out rather than show several significant scenes, including the final one, is another.

There's some good in this, but the bad was too fundamental to ignore. The gripping suspense of Sicario and Arrival is much preferred.
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PedroPT-deleted-1558552322
CONTAINS SPOILERS8/10  11 years ago
Villains explained :

That man in the basement it was Holly's husband. Loki asked the priest how the man got down there and the priest said that he came to him to confess about kidnapping and killing kids over the past 20 something years. He said they had kidnapped and murdered 16 children and he felt no remorse and would continue to do so. The priest lured him back to his house and he locked him in the basement to die.

What you were expecting to be a cult was only between Holly and her husband and it was prevalent theme throughout the movie.
War With God: I think we can all agree that they lived in a fairly religious town and Holly and her husband were probably pretty religious until their child died from cancer. She then became so angry with God that he took their child away from him that she went crazy and started kidnapping all of these kids to try and make their parents feel the same way her and her husband did. She wanted everyone to be as angry at God as she was.

Bob Taylor was abducted by Holly and her husband as a child (probably not too long after they abducted Alex/Barry). While the police were investigating Taylor's house, they found a book of mazes called "The Invisible Man." Holly's husband was obsessed with this book and the mazes in it and they gave this book to all of the kidnapped children and told them that if they solved all of the mazes, they could go home. The only catch, the last maze was unsolvable. They police clearly stated that during Taylor's captivity he was drugged up so much that by the time he escaped and was rescued, he couldn't remember anything about his captives except for the mazes, leading him to believe that he had be abducted by "The Invisible Man". Taylor then became a PRISONER in his mind and went on through life believing that if he could just solve the last maze he would be free again. Even though he was physically free, he was forever tormented by not being able to solve the maze and go home. Taylor went through the homes taking things as a sort of way to try and remember his own kidnapping, the police referred to him as a "copycat". He was also tormented by the fact that he couldn't remember anything about his own abduction.
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kisaligol
/10  one year ago
Prisoners is a largely generic revenge / suspense / mystery "they have my kid" tale with a predictable plot that gives itself away too early. No attempt at realism, this is Scooby-Doo style investigation - lie detectors are treated seriously, "bad guys" are largely 1-dimensional with poorly explained motives designed to surprise rather than give insight, etc.

It tries to make up for this in a few ways: a) bump up the intensity of scenes (comes across forced and awkward), b) add extra violence and dark semi-religious symbolism (seems out of place and largely meaningless), and most importantly c) maintain an air of mystery by throwing left-field plot points at you every 3-5 minutes to keep your attention.

If you carefully note the clues, about half way through the film it strongly indicates the finale. After that the air of mystery that keeps the film feeling suspenseful largely dissolves and you are left with what feels like a AI-generated script desperately trying and failing to throw you off the initial clues.

The film's greatest redeeming quality is its attempt to turn some revenge film character archetypes on their head. It is not always successful, but the attempt to break cliches is always welcome! I suspect a much better film will be inspired by this.
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mooney240
/10  2 years ago
**This heavy film is not for everyone but for those that enjoy suspenseful crime cinema, this is one of the absolute best.**

A crime thriller that brilliantly manages its slow pace to create the same dread the characters feel in the hearts of the audience. Every passing second steals the parents' hope away that they could ever find their children alive. Everything about this movie emphasizes the story's emotion, from the acting and muted color tones to the sets and directing.
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