Today I will be reviewing two of the most anticipated thrillers set to come out in 2014. I will be reviewing "Gone Girl" which is the latest film from David Fincher who has directed "Zodiac", "Seven","Fight Club","The Social Network","The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo", and many other masterpieces. I will also be revewing "Annabelle" which is the prequel/spinoff to "The Conjuring" which is one of my favorite horror movies of the past decade. Before I get started, I'd like to give a shoutout to the Free Gamer's Alliance YouTube channel. Their videos cover everything from walkthroughs, glitches, easter eggs, and various amusing video game related content, all of which is delivered with some colorful commentary while they have buckets of fun doing it. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FreeGamersAlliance/.
Lets kick this off with "Annabelle." For those of you unfamiliar with this one, here is the trailer:
- The music is really well done. I think it largely has to do with the fact that it recycles much of the music from "The Conjuring" which had great music.
- The movie starts out interesting. I wish it had stayed that way.
The Bad:
- Frankly, the only thing scary about this movie is the horrendous acting. The performances all around are incredibly wooden and it becomes possible to believe anything that anyone is saying as well as any emotion that they are attempting to portray.
- It also doesn't help that the characters are written in a way that makes them so uninteresting that it becomes impossible to become invested in them.
- One thing that "The Conjuring" does really well is that it avoids many of the standard horror cliches. "Annabelle", on the other hand, is so cliche ridden that it will induce many instances of eye-rolling. This includes many really lame attempts at jump scares.
- The pacing is really bad. There are so many points in the movie that go on longer than they should which results in a movie that feels substantially longer than it actually is.
- The dialogue is so bad that most of it will either result in cringing or laughing at things that aren't supposed to be funny.
- The reason that Annabelle is so scary in "The Conjuring" is that she doesn't actually do much but is has a large presence. In "Annabelle", there are way too many attempts to make the doll more active but it all just ends up feeling way too silly/unintentionally funny.
- One thing done really well in "The Conjuring" is that it has an intense climax. On the other hand, the climax in "Annabelle" is so boring that I had to actively try to not fall asleep.
The Verdict:
As someone who loves "The Conjuring", I was really hoping that this could be as good. I could not be more disappointed. "Annabelle" manages to take everything that worked about "The Conjuring" and does the exact opposite. This movie is a great example of how not to make a spin-off. "Annabelle" is a tremendous waste of time and I can't recommend seeing this at all, whether it be in theaters or not.
It is time to leave this unpleasantness behind and move on to "Gone Girl." Here is the trailer:
- The acting in this movie is easily some of the strongest that I've seen all year. Ben Affleck is perfect as the lead here but it really is Rosamund Pike that steals the show here. This is easily the performance of her career and I wouldn't be shocked if she got an Oscar nomination this year.
- This movie is incredibly suspenseful and it will have you on the edge of your seat throughout.
- The pacing is absolutely magnificent. This movie is two and a half hours long but it really doesn't feel like it as the story keeps moving along briskly.
- The characters are so interesting that one can't help but feel invested in their fate. This is especially amazing considering that most of these characters don't exactly come off as great people but are still easy to become invested in.
- As this movie is a satire on various things, there are some really great moments of dark humor here that will have you laughing out loud.
- The dialogue is incredibly strong. I believed every single word that came out of each character as it all felt very authentic.
- The music is excellent! I wouldn't be shocked to see Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross get yet another Oscar nomination for their work here.
- Finally, there are some excellent plot twists that will leave viewers with their jaws dropped.
The Bad:
- While I did love the ending myself, I can see it being something that is divisive when it comes to people's opinions.
The Verdict:
"Gone Girl" is easily one of the best movies I have seen this year. It's incredibly suspenseful, well acted, incredibly well written, well paced, and overall well executed in every sense of the word. This one will leave audiences feeling a number of different things as they leave the theater and to me that is what movie going is all about. I absolutely recommend seeing this in theaters as it is well worth the price of a ticket!
Thanks for reading everyone! As usual, feel free to leave a comment but please be advised that if you read any potential comments that there may be spoilers.