Review of Nerve (2016) by James P — 06 Jul 2016

This movie is set in a strange futuristic world where Apple is the only technology company, phones never die, Macs have touch screens, iPads have cell service at all times, and every teenager is a hardcore hacker.

Nerve is an adaptation of the book of the same name written by Jeanne Ryan, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman directed it. They also directed Paranormal Activity 3 and 4 and although I have not seen either of those movies, I can assure you this one is much better. The movie stars Emma Roberts as Vee, a high school senior who decided that she needs to take more risks in life. To do this, she plays a mysterious game called Nerve. Nerve is a game where people pay to watch "players" attempt to complete dares set by the audience. The riskier the dare, the more money you get. Vee is soon paired up with another teen, Ian, played by Dave Franco. The two play Nerve all across New York City until they realize they don't have the option to stop.

The whole concept of the game Nerve was really interesting. It was also presented in a great way. It was really sketchy but still intriguing. I also think that if it were a real game that kids would actually play it. The game would definitely be used if it were real. I personally would play, but would definitely sign up to watch if it was real and less dangerous. The only thing I didn't like about how the game Nerve was presented was that literally everyone was playing or watching. In almost every shot, there would be a crowd of people with a camera who was either a watcher or a player. First off, even if all these people were playing the game, there would not be a crowd of people on every corner of New York City. Secondly, if this many people were playing, it wouldn't be kept a secret from the police and adults. Although this bothered me at times, it also worked throughout the film too. It is really uneasy to think about the fact that you are CONSTANTLY being videotaped and watching and that is what the film was trying to express.

I went into this movie pretty excited, but not expecting it to be great. I thought the concept was really interesting but was not sure how it could be stretched into an hour and a half movie without the game getting repetitive. However, I was quite surprised. The film had so much adrenaline and it keeps you constantly at the edge of your seat. The movie started off being funny, but then grew more serious. This was strength because the movie knew when to start taking itself seriously and the tone felt well established. The acting was also great. You could definitely believe that these teens were scared out of their minds while playing Nerve. There was only one actor that I didn't like because he was really cheesy and didn't feel natural. However, he wasn't a main character so it didn't bother me that much.

Nerve reminds me of the movie Now You See Me. It is visually appealing and a lot of fun to watch. However, if you think about the movie too much it starts to make no sense. This was Nerve's biggest problem. There were sooooo many plot holes! The writing felt incredibly lazy especially when the movie ended and some things were just left unsolved. For example, a love interest in set up in the beginning between Vee and one of her friends, Tommy/ This love interest is obvious throughout the film but them is not resolved at the end. The writers just put Tommy together with a girl that he didn't like in the beginning of the film. They also had about 5 minutes of screen time together. It just made no sense. There was also a scene where Vee and her best friend get into a HUGE fight. Then the two friends make up 5 minutes later without an apology because the plot needs them to.

The actual game Nerve had a lot of unexplainable things too. For example, if a player completes a challenge they get money. But if they fail or refuse to take another challenge, they don't get any money AND lose all the money they made previously. If this was the case then who would play this game?? There is almost no way to win money unless you are the most daring kid in all of New York City. Another thing that wasn't explained was who was running the game. The movie tried to explain that the game was run by players only and no one high up was controlling the game. However this doesn't make any sense as the movie goes on.

The movie tried to take on an Internet like style and it worked at times but crashed and burned at other times. For example, there were some scenes where you could read the comments of watchers as something important was happening. The writers made the comments funny and entertaining but there were so many to read and they were coming so fast that you just focused on the comments rather than the important scene in the movie.

One of the greatest takeaways from this movie is the theme. It made you think about the Internet and how being anonymous on the web can really affect how a person acts.

Overall, this movie was a lot of fun to watch. It kept your adrenaline high, was very entertaining, and had a great theme. However, as soon as you leave the theater this movie will to lose it's touch as you think about how lazy the writing was, all the unsolved conflicts, and how so many things didn't make sense. I would recommend seeing this movie, but ultimately would give it a C.