Review of Flatliners (2017) by Jacoobi456 — 29 Sep 2017

Flatliners is a really bad remake of the good 1990 film. I was wary of the cast going in, as I didn't really like Diego Luna in Rogue One, but surprisingly he was the best actor in the whole film. His character had all the good one-liners, and he was the one you connected with the most.

The main protagonists annoyed me throughout the whole film, as any of the choices made weren't justified at all. In one scene the girl reveals her plan to her friends, and they are of course all against this crazy idea, and then in the next scene they're helping her out as if it's a carefully, well-assessed medical procedure (not a spoiler, trust me.). This leads me onto the main issue of the film - what was the desired message? Don't be a dick to people? Student life is so hectic you feel like dying? Because it honestly felt like the whole film was a shot at how students in university feel, and how they sometimes think the whole world is going to fall down on them. The editing chocies, more specifically the ordering of the scenes were very questionable, as the whole film felt like a huge montage. It was like: so these are the characters flatlining, 1 2 3 4. Now they're noticing the after-effects, 1 2 3 4. Now they're trying to resolve it, 1 2 3 4 - and I was slumped in my chair bored out of my head. The jumpscares weren't scary, if you're seeing the film for the kick of the scares then you'll be disappointed with the outcome. Moments where they tried to evoke emotion for the characters came across as funny, at one part I actually laughed out loud for the entire duration of the scene, and then proceeded to face-palm at the climax of the film later on, as even the ending wasn't at all satisfying. Nothing was really tied up conclusively, and it felt like the whole chain of events had no significance in their lives.

Even the humour wasn't funny, supposed comedic moments were just cringe moments. The film took itself too seriously for what it was, and ultimately that was its demise. In conclusion - stick to the 1990 version.