Review of The Fourth Kind (2009) by Haitham B — 22 Dec 2013

The fourth kind was an alien movie that had tried to bring chills down people's spines by giving them the most real extra terrestrial movie there is by bringing in real footage of alien abductions side by side with the on screen performance footage.

But unfortunately for the Fourth Kind, that footage doesn't exist yet, so what to do? Make it up! So what if it's not true, not harming anyone right? Well there were really people that did die, and your insulting their memory by making it look like they were abducted or some shit, but oh well.

At least they're making a bucket load of cash of it, right? Right?... okay now back to the actual movie. Honestly, I would go into this movie blind, just to make it better, as I did when I first watched it.

From the beginning it tells you straight up this is real footage, and based off a completely true story. Those actors in the footage, just a coincidence. But the first time I saw it, I didn't really believe it completely.

Although whenever a movie tells you it's real, then it feels real. Or in cases when it's like Paranormal Activity where it feels really real, and acts like it is, so you assume it's real, or at least when you're watching this.

When I saw this, I thought okay, and I actually did enjoy it. I didn't buy it, but I got hooked in enough to enjoy it. And when the people around you are speculating about it like it was real, then it feels more like a complete experience.

That being said watching it now I was pretty bored. It wasn't a sense of wonder or mystery, it just became information. At one point it goes into a part that helps speculate whether aliens do truly exist, under a more realistic sense.

They talk about ancient languages, and stuff like that. Besides that, nope, just grabbing straws. They couldn't even make their alien ship not look like a U.F.O. for the sake of making a more realistic ship.

But I just want to know one thing, why? I know the marketing for this was that it was all real footage, but why not make a fake alien movie that feels real like movies like Paranormal Activity. The first person camera is a new fad for your cheap low budget movies that make a ton of money, so why not use that? And this movie does something also I don't like.

It'll half ass this footage, blur everything, and destroy the footage basically. But why? You could make a believable alien movie that stepped over those lines like it did in this, but when you stepped over those lines, it wouldn't be clinging to it as real footage so people who hate it.

But let's get to the good. First, the acting is surprisingly well. Even the chick from Resident Evil was good, so there's that. The characters, and let's face it that's what they are, characters, aren't hate able.

Well, except for that little fucking kid who hates his mom because his dad died or something. And for what this movie is trying to accomplish, it does do it pretty well. It wants to be a big troll face of a movie that everyone will remember as the movie that they fell for and believe.

And for that part they do succeed. But it's like succeeding at trying to be an asshole, and that's not something you should be proud of. But is the movie terrible? No, it just is really bland, even if it can have a really cool first experience.

But it dies out. In your head, eventually you will not give two shits about it. It's fake, and so doesn't feel like it has real purpose other than to entertain. And it's not that entertaining because they were trying to make it all realistic.

But just make it an alien movie, nobody will blame you for it. That's what these movies are suppose to do, they play off of thoughts of realistic supernatural elements. Aliens could exist, ghosts could exist, demons could exist, and these movies just want to exploit those facts as much as possible.

But when you actually try and hold onto them as real footage, and say it in our face, and even within the movie, I'm sorry but then it just feels like a big hoax.