Pretty Boring!!!
Added 2/23/2009
Although it has the sexy beautiful Jessica Alba, it's boring, and dull. Alba plays Sydney Wells, a classical violinist who has been blind as a bat since she was 5. She has a cornea transplant, and now she can see again. She begins to see visions of fire and people dying. I didn't really like the ending. I probably wouldn't recommend THE EYE!!!
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Not a Terrible Remake, But Maybe It's Time to Stop ...
Added 11/7/2008
Jessica Alba is Sydney Wells, a concert violinist who has recently received an eye transplant. The operation is a success, but soon she starts seeing scary things that other people cannot see. Could it be that her new eyes are deceiving her, or is she just imagining things?
The film's premise itself is fairly interesting, but "The Eye" fails to really interest us because of its derivative story and the lack of scare. It was a bit shocking for me to see the director team David Moreau and Xavier Palud, responsible for their brilliant film "Them," using so many familiar tricks of horrors like sudden big sound or shadowy figure moving around.
The 2002 Hong Kong film (directed by the Pang brothers), upon which this new version is based, made a good use of the premise against the background of the Asian locations and culture. It may not be the greatest horror film (or maybe I should not call it a horror as the story was more about the characters - the recipient and the donor - than about the terrors they experience), but the direction was imaginative and Angelica Lee's acting as the tormented heroine was splendid. Unfortunately Jessica Alba's performances as the terrified heroine is not as good as Lee's and supports including Alessandro Nivola and Parker Posey are not very memorable.
As you know, films with stories related to "the second sight" are nothing new (remember "The Eyes of Laura Mars"? or how about "Blink"?) To create a truly engaging film, however, you need something more, something that makes the whole film more suspenseful or some clever twist as in "The Dead Zone" or, naturally, "The Sixth Sense." Though some may find the film is reasonably entertaining (and I have never said the film is terrible), "The Eye" needs original ways and ideas to develop the story.
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Ground out another cheap Chinese remake
Added 9/20/2008
This must be the latest movie making trend. Back in the sixty's they made a lot of cheap Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns that made money. Little did the public know that the stories were borrowed from Japan?
Now someone is trying pitifully to recreate the success of the Eastwood films with such films a "Dark Water" a remake of
"Honogurai mizu no soko kara". Evidently they did not learn their lesson as now we have "The Eye" a cheep remake of the Hong Kong film "Jian Gui". When will they ever learn?
Yes it is the standard formula artist gets a new set of eyes that contain the memory of the donor. Now she sees dead people and must decipher the reason.
This has been done a lot better many times before. And I am sure this is not the last time. The film passes time but has no great insight. To make it scary they turn the volume up 10 times the voice level and for Blu-ray lovers they have lots of flashy things. Somehow I do not remember her getting her eardrums fixed also; so how come she can hear dead people as well?
Jessica Alba is cute and plays her part well. But not well enough to stop the fast forward button from being pressed.
Eyes of Laura Mars Starring: Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones
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One of Year's Worst Movies
Added 8/23/2008
This incredibly dull sleeper had almost no plot and wooden performances. Jessica Alba's performance was boring, expressionless and a bit precious. The movie only has one good scene - towards the end - when it explains the reason for the events. Avoid this badly paced, poorly written snoozer.
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ALBA A HOLLOW LEAD FOR J-HORROR REMAKE
Added 8/22/2008
The Eye is the latest American remake of an Asian horror film, this time of the Hong Kong produced film of the same name. The general theme of nearly all of these Americanized remakes is stick with the original! I know...some of you don't like to read subtitles but in the case of this film, the original is vastly better. Jessica Alba continues to get starring roles without demonstrating any particular skill at acting and she's no better here.
She plays a blind concert violinist named Sydney Wells who undergoes cornea transplant surgery to restore her sight. The operation proves to be successful but soon after, Syndey begins experiencing horrific visions. At first she thinks these are just nightmares and tries to pass them off but she soon becomes convinced that she's seeing things that the cornea donor saw. Her Doctor (Nivola) thinks it's merely stress from dealing with the new sensations of her restored sight.
Sydney continues to "see dead people" although why her eyes also allow her to HEAR dead people remains a mystery of the film. The visions are mostly those fleeting glimpses designed to make you jump in your seat although they never amount to any prolonged tension. Sydney is determined to find out who the donor is and what message they are trying to send with the visions. While she will learn that donor had a sort of precognitive power to see people's deaths and attempt to prevent them. This, however, doesn't explain why Sydney would see the ghost of a little boy in her building who is looking for his report card nor the ghost of the little girl in the hospital who died of cancer. It's just one of the many senseless continuity gaffes in "The Eye". Sydney is also able to see mysterious shadow creatures, which seemingly escort dead spirits off to wherever. These creatures appear to be evil so are they devils? They don't like that Sydney can see them but that plot twist goes virtually untapped.
Alba is easy on the eyes (no pun intended) but she lacks any presence or charisma in this role. The only real strength of her performance was her emotions and struggles as a formerly blind person who is able to see for the first time in decades. As tedious as Alba was, her co-star Alessandro Nivola is even more boring. He defiantly tells Sydney that he could ruin his career if he reveals who the donor is...and then he goes and steals the file anyway.
The Eye freely borrows clichés from just about every other J-Horror film that's been made in the last decade but none of them are exciting enough to save this film. Sydney may have had her eyes opened in the film but she'll make ours close tightly.
Extras
The Eye comes on two discs although the second disc features just a digital copy of the film that you can load on your PC or iPod. The first disc includes four featuettes:
"Shadow World: The Paranormal Past"
"Becoming Sydney"
"Birth of the Shadowman"
"Dissecting a Disaster"
There are also a few minutes of deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer.
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Great Film, Under-appreciated
Added 11/19/2009
I believe that this film is highly under-appreciated. The story revolves around a young woman (Jessica Alba) who is blind. In an attempt to regain her eyesight that she lost as a child, Alba goes through with corneal transplant surgery. She is given the corneas of a woman who committed suicide after tormenting images haunting her night and day, turning the small Mexican village where she resided against her. I find the story to be quite compelling and the characters are very easy to relate to. The movie has some tense scenes in it, mainly at the hospital after the initial images begin to occur. Being one of Jessica Alba's biggest roles in a movie, I believe she did an excellent job of portraying the torment that she was going through. The lighting of the film and the camera techniques added to the overall ambiance that generated the feeling of tension when needed. The movie was not "scary" but was instead "suspenseful" and well developed, in my personal opinion. If you're a fan of Jessica Alba (like me) or of horror films, you really can't go wrong with adding The Eye to your collection, just don't expect it to make you sleep with the lights on.
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Very cool movie!
Added 10/21/2009
Great movie.
Scary.
Filled with suspense.
Keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Jessica Alba did a great playing a blind person. Very believable.
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Doesn't meet expectations...
Added 7/25/2009
Hm, wonder where I've seen this before...someone who can "see dead people"...and interact with ghosts...
What seemed to start out as a promising thriller rather quickly slipped downhill into a litany of cliches and questionable CGI effects. The premise of the story : Sydney Wells (Alba) was blinded as a child while playing with firecrackers (children be warned). She has a cornea transplant and is able to see, but the corneas of the deceased donor are showing her things that happened or may yet still happen...what can Sydney do?
There are a few "make you jump" moments, but they taper off as the story gets bogged down while Sydney tries to figure out what's happening to her, aided by an unremarkable Alessandro Nivola, a therapist who questions Sydney's sanity but then readily agrees to drive her for 15 hours to Mexico for the story's climax.
Scenes reminiscent of "The Sixth Sense" and "Ghost" abound. The story is predictable within the first fifteen minutes. Alba is, in my opinion, an actress of decent talent. I think the script and directing let her down in this role. The support from other actors is of no help, leaving the film feeling a little like a film school project that somehow made it to the big screen.
So why 2 stars? Because while not good, it's by far not the worst film I've seen in a while.
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