MovieChat Forums > Mall (2014) Discussion > I'm probably going to catch some flack f...

I'm probably going to catch some flack for this...

posted 9 years ago by jtu-956-699568
2 replies | jump to latest

...but I actually really like the film and don't quite understand where all the hate is coming from.

Is it a perfect movie? Absolutely not. It is beautifully flawed. Maybe I see these things because I am also a filmmaker and not just a member of the general audience.

I thoroughly enjoyed the performances from the actors. I think they were all believable in their portrayals of their characters. Cameron Monaghan is very talented.

The writing... is probably the weakest link in the film. Some of the dialogue written could have been much better or more fleshed out. Obviously the plot holes could have been more thoroughly thought through as well.

In contrast to the writing, the style of the film is the strongest aspect to the piece. I loved the washed out colors and effects. Sure, most of it was nothing new. The distortion effects and morphing have been seen in previous LP music videos, chiefly New Divide and Burn It Down, but not everyone is familiar with those videos. These effects were tastefully incorporated into the world of cinema. It was an experimental approach and I feel it worked well.

Camera work was good. Though not great. It did its job. About half the time I felt like I was watching a music video. Other times the cinematic feel was perfectly achieved. I wonder how many camera ops or DP's were actually attached during production.

Music totally worked. I'd love to get my hands on the soundtrack. Another user pointed out in another thread that the music sounds like what was heard in the Resident Evil movies and I tend to agree. But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing necessarily.

Joe Hahn did a superb job for his directorial debut (whatever happened to King Rat? Was that ever made?). I look forward to his next films. Yes, that's plural :)

[–] falynoliver73 7 years ago

I actually enjoyed the film. Some things confused me or didn't quite make sense,I plan on watching again to see if that was the plot holes and filming or just my lack of comprehension on some fronts. Either way it was good enough that I would rather watch it again to see than to write it off as bad storytelling and leave it. I wish you luck on your film making endeavor.

[–] Zombie55 7 years ago

By the way, I don't know if it was discussed here, but what did we all think of the highly unusual scene, that in some ways looks as if it may have been paying a tribute to one controversial scene from the film "Thursday" (1998), which involved that young girl Adelle, who is at first seemingly shy and even reluctant to even see that man who is a peeking pervert played by Vincent D'Onofrio but later when she comes across him, she puts him in a car and then manages to unzip his trousers and sexually assault and molest him?

Did that scene in any way surprise or shock you, and did you even find it believable that in the midst of everything that was going on in the film, with the gunfire and cops blocking off the crime scene, you had this chick do that deed to a man?

He may not have been a good man himself but do you think he deserved and was she right to mistreat him that way? (Something tells me were NOT meant to think that, yes wrong as he was, she wasn't in the right to do it either and yes we are meant to feel kind of sorry for him at the end.)

Oh and later and during the act, he actually ends up traumatized, and you can seem him in emotional shock, unable to properly walk and crying as he comes home, probably will also end up having trouble sleeping that night - and all because of that crazy young girl?

And she wasn't even remotely afraid that either the gunman could, say, accidentally shoot her in all the carnage, or that the man himself played by Vincent D'Onofrio would go into overdrive and may head butt her and start to bite and struggle his way out or that the police may have ALSO caught her in the act and then have her arrested for the deed?

And do you think he'll recover from the trauma of the incident even if he may just wish to forget it and not report Adelle to the police etc?

The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist!