Review of The Mothman Prophecies (2002) by Mark W — 10 Mar 2011

Allegedly based on a true story, The Mothman Prophecies is the story of a journalist who finds himself in a small town where the inhabitants keep seeing a mysterious winged figure who tells them of catastrophes yet to occur.

Well, for a start. "True story"...? Please. This is a mystery based very much on the formula of The X-Files, with a journalist and lady cop sidekick filling the shoes of everybody's favourite FBI agents while they investigate the mysterious happenings that seem to point to some alien force predicting the future.

The approach is quite like that of The Omen and similar religious thrillers, Pellington unable to resist the urge to throw in plenty of spooky imagery and elaborate wipes to underline just how "doo-de-doo-doo, doo-de-doo-doo" Twilight Zone it all is.

The engaging cast and intriguing premise keep the interest ticking over, all being very M. Night Shyamalan, and like most of his films the ending just does not live up to the build up. In the end, as clever as all this "hinting at the future through obscure clues and references" SEEMS to be, it is written by a script writer who KNOWS what is going to happen in the end! Dropping hints about something you've written yourself is NOT big OR clever! It is reasonably entertaining however, and if you're suffering from X-File withdrawal, this is an adequate fix.