Review of Cell (2016) by Junelkean — 18 Jan 2018

Novels of Stephen King have made "The Shining" or "The Shawshank Redemption", but it also made "Sleepwalkers". So after a painfully bad profile of adaptations to his works, he makes his comeback in the sci-fi thriller "Cell". It reunites John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, who were both stars in "1408", another adaptation from King.

Tod Williams has been responsible for bringing us "Paranormal Activity 2" and this movie. And by the throwaway direction, horrible editing and technically-atrocious visuals of Cell, even King's premise couldn't save it. The movie is actually familiar to Shyamalan's "The Happening", from the opening scene alone. So, you know what that means.

The two central actors try hard to survive the material they have entered. By this, Cell proves that even two talented actors like Jackson and Cusack cannot stand the poor execution of the movie. It at least offers an intriguing satirical concept involving the use of technology, but the main problem here is that it is told in a convoluted way.

VERDICT: After some step-downs on King's latest works, producers won't stop from making everything he writes into movies, which brings us to Cell. And please, try to save your lives by avoiding a 90-minute rehash of The Happening.