Review of Mirrors (2008) by Chads. — 17 Aug 2008
A mirror doesn't account for the negative space that lies beyond the parameters of its reflection. But within this negative space, the replicas find safe passage. These roaming imitations seek signification from the next mirror which gives them a fleeting sense of corporeality before their authentic equivalent carelessly resigns them back into the oblivion of being hypothetical.
No wonder the department store demon scratches out the name of the person that could set its bastardized form loose from the life-supporting looking glass. These mirror men, these mirror women, they're only auxiliary members of the human league.
Ben(Kiefer Sutherland) is their latest hope for deliverance from this reactionist netherworld. At one point in "Mirrors", the nightwatchman catches on fire, but the invisible flames doesn't deter him from returning to the Mayflower, a department store-cum-mausoleum, ravaged by an inferno.
In an old-school haunted house film such as "The Amityville Horror", the movie would be essentially over if the Lutz family had the common sense to pack up and leave. The success of this genre is contingent on its characters being stupid.
They're gluttons for punishment. These people are often painfully slow in catching the hint. But the nightwatchman has no choice in the matter; his work follows him home, his family suddenly placed in jeopardy.
Asian horror movies pioneered the novel idea that an entity no longer needed to be confined to its originating jurisdiction. Since the malevolent presence exists wherever there's a mirror handy, Ben can remain at the department store without "Mirrors" resorting to the autonomy of the idiot plot.
It's not M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense", but "Mirrors" delivers its fair share of chills, most notably, a particularly grisly murder that wouldn't have passed muster with the MPAA had this been an independent production.
It's dramatically effective, however, because now Ben is emotionally invested in his war with the reflecting consciousness, a vendetta. Now this job for the ex-cop is personal. Driven by the summer blockbuster mentality, however, "Mirrors" climaxes with a little too much brio(borrowed from William Freidkin's "The Exorcist"), but its disquieting coda almost elevates this junky remake of Sung-ho Kim's "Geoul sokeuro" from close-call to guilty pleasure.
This review of Mirrors (2008) was written by Chads. on 17 Aug 2008.
Mirrors has generally received mixed reviews.
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