MovieChat Forums > Don't Breathe (2016) Discussion > Overrated...

Overrated...

posted 8 years ago by jeffsaddiction
8 replies | jump to latest

Currently 87% on rottentomatoes...seriously? I swear, mainstream film critics don't really understand the horror genre. They praise mediocrity like this and then crap on lots of ambitious (though maybe flawed) horror diamonds in the rough. This movie seems like the kind that appeals heavily to the masses who don't watch many horror movies.

I thought Fede Alvarez's remake of The Evil Dead was actually pretty decent, considering it was remake of one of the most loved horror films of the last 35 years. And I enjoyed Jane Levy's performances in both films. But Don't Breathe is riddled with problems. And it gets sillier and sillier as it progresses (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD)...

I mean, what was with the captured girl holding up the newspaper article (explaining to Rocky and Alex, as well as the audience, who she was)? Talk about lazy storytelling. They could've had the girl tell them after having her gag removed or something. And why was it that they weren't willing to save her (an obvious victim) until they learned her backstory? As well, they could have had the old man reveal her identity once he had Rocky in bondage and when he told Rocky about the girl being pregnant with his child. The reveal would've had a bigger payoff for the audience (after they were left questioning who she was for a while).

I wasn't really a fan of Alex being a seemingly indestructible superhero either. Maybe I wasn't paying attention...but it seemed like he got shot, stabbed, and took serious beatings before his eventual fatal shooting.

And the ending's overly dramatic tone became pretty much LOL funny. I was waiting for Rocky and her sister to board the plane when suddenly they hear over the PA system: "This is your captain speaking...we're expecting a slight delay during our layover..." *Cut to blind old man in cockpit, dressed as pilot* Then the airplane door SLAMS shut..."MWUAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!" Roll credits.

[–] canalchivas 8 years ago

😄 That would be better.

KUTABARE!!!

[–] rugalbk 8 years ago

Luckily you never got a chance of writing the script. The film is very good as it is, it managed to suspend my disbelief.

[–] pecinqa 8 years ago

I honestly thought it was good. It was well shot (there's a variety of set pieces despite taking place in one location), was grounded enough where I could suspend my disbelief, and I felt it had many scenes with real tension.

I think the reason they revealed Cindy that way was to set up a moral dilemma for Alex and Rocky. Moral dilemmas were definitely a theme in the film as it happens several times through out it.

I do think the way you suggested the reveal is good, but the way the film does it makes sense in terms of consistency with it's themes.

As for Alex, I don't recall him getting roughed up until the end, or just after the basement sequence. I could be wrong, but you are right that he did absorb quite a bit of physical damage, although his character does show the wounds. I don't believe he was ever shot until the fatal one. The blind man shot at him when he opened the cellar door and when he was on the roof window, but apparently missed both times.

[–] jeffsaddiction 8 years ago

I honestly thought it was good. It was well shot (there's a variety of set pieces despite taking place in one location), was grounded enough where I could suspend my disbelief, and I felt it had many scenes with real tension.

I think the reason they revealed Cindy that way was to set up a moral dilemma for Alex and Rocky. Moral dilemmas were definitely a theme in the film as it happens several times through out it.

I agree that the film was well shot. The score wasn't very memorable or apparent until nearing the end. And it was creative with its set pieces. But my issues with the film eclipse those things and bring the movie down to largely forgettable B-grade fare.

I don't see how rescuing Cindy is a moral dilemma. I can't imagine anyone in the audience thinking they shouldn't or questioning why they're helping her. It's pretty cut and dry...anonymous girl is obviously being held against her will in an evidently inhumane way. They'd have to be psychopaths to just leave her there. So the "dilemma" angle doesn't really work, in my opinion. Any normal person would untie her. Of course, if the angle is that Rocky and Alex are thieves and have priorities (their own survival and money), then it doesn't really make them sympathetic characters, even when they do save her. Which leads to a huge problem in the movie...

Pretty much everyone is written to be unlikeable. Alex is the most relatable and seemingly an everyman. But he's still a liar (to his friends and family) and a thief. It's hard to root for anyone in this movie. The audience doesn't need a stereotypical hero...but they still need someone with a reasonable level of moral fibre to empathize with.

[–] pecinqa 8 years ago

The characters are definitely one dimensional. The only empathy we can feel for Rocky is that she's using this heist to get herself, and her little sister out of an abusive home. When that particular scene happened I started looking at the movie differently.

The scene is only as long as it needs to be to establish Rocky's motivation, then we're on to the house. That scene was so to the point that I readily accepted that the film was more about the atmosphere, tone, and tension, rather than any sort of meaningful story or character interaction.

I can definitely see where the film fails for you.

I just felt it was effective in it's intentions while not breaking my suspension of disbelief...for the most part.

[–] davidandersson_ 8 years ago

It seems more weird to rescue her while having an obviously disturbed, blood thirsty war veteran possibly seconds from your location. The only logical thing to do (had they been able to think straight under the circumstances) would be to leave the girl. Run for their life and call in an anonymous tip afterwards. Maybe he would have killed her, but chances are good that they all die otherwise...

[–] finnski 8 years ago

Yep! This 'horror' was pedestrian rubbish.. no fan of real horror could really like this

[–] 8 years ago

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