During the American writers strike that affected every popular US television show, 24 star Kiefer Sutherland found that he had time to take up a movie role between series. Keen to return to the horror genre after the movies Flatliners, and The Lost Boys bought him worldwide fame the actor received the script for Alexandre Aja's (The Hills Have Eyes, Haute Tension) mirrors and quickly snapped up the opportunity. Mirrors sadly for Sutherland is not going to follow in the success of his previous dalliances into horror.
Five years ago the Mayflower department store in the centre of New York suffered a terrible fire, but several years on the owners and the insurance company have still not settled over various issues in the insurance policy. Ben Carson (Sutherland) recently suspended from the police force (after accidentally shooting a fellow police officer) is more than eager to take up a post as night security patrol in the dilapidated department store. Having suffered a breakdown after the accidental shooting, Ben is broke and separated from his wife and children until he controls
himself, feeling the time alone will help things Ben has high hopes for his new job.
On Ben's first night he is amazed to discover the vast amount of mirrors in the department store, and how clean they all are, that is accept all for one, which has handprints on if from waist height to the top, about 40 feet high. As the night progresses Ben sees things in the mirrors, and these things follow him home to the apartment he shares with his sister. Ben soon realises that something is not quite right in the department store as the creepy occurrences get weirder and weirder, before finally one night he becomes engulfed in flames, only to discover seconds later that it's just an illusion. As Ben looks further and further into incidents at the Mayflower, he gets to understand that the building is controlled by a sinister force not of this world.
Although not an adaptation from the recent surge of Japanese/Korean/Chinese movies that have rocked the world then turned into lesser vehicles once hitting Hollywood, Mirrors is clearly inspired by this sort of movie, it has a familiar dowdy ring about it, dark, dismal, and with a plot that really stinks.
I cannot begin to say when I realised the movie was going quite so badly, I suspect I kind of knew before I even settled down to watch the movie even though I had enjoyed previous Aja offerings. The biggest deal of all is that in order to set the story there are a lot of bad plot devices to explain what has happened before the movie started. First up is the newspaper in amongst all of Ben's possessions saying "Police Officer Killed" with a photo of both Sutherland, and the deceased officer. Next up is the arrival of the Ben's sister Angela (Amy Smart) who tells the viewing audience three times that she is his sister, in case there is any doubt. Then Ben moves on to the home of his estranged wife Amy, and in a two minute slot they explain the whole of the last few months story in case you had not picked it up. I appreciate stories need telling, but sometimes it's nicer to spread things out and let the story slowly develop. But it was bath-time that finished the movie in my eyes, having not encountered the "mirrors" of the movie's title, one of the characters rips their own jaw off while having a soak, and to be honest the explanation as to why this has happened is just pathetic.
None of the characters are the sort that you might want to share an elevator with, Sutherland is confused about who he is, slipping back into Jack Bauer mode at every given opportunity, when he pulls a gun out he has that dopey Jack Bauer look, I half expected him to die only to reveal it was all a hoax five minutes later, rather like he does in EVERY single series of 24. Amy Smart is pretty as ever but dull as dishwater "I am your little sister after all", a fact she reminds us of every single time she appears. Paula Patton who plays the estranged wife Amy is just badly miscast, she tries her best but a poorly written character and a kind of fake look just don't add up to very much. As for the kids, give them a good spanking and send them to bed, they are just awful both the actors and the characters.
When you have got over the poor performances, terrible screenplay, you then have to contend with pretty substandard effects. In moments of horror things are not too bad, but the delivery of other effects is just abysmal. The Mayflower is a real building on the ground floor, then computer generated from there on up, and clearly so, these are nowhere near usual movie standard effects. The interior of the store is even less convincing, rather than going to any effort to make the inside look burned out, you can clearly see that the furnishings have been painted blue.
Mirrors is due in UK cinemas on 3rd of October, but to be honest there are far better movies out there you could spend your money on, if you're looking for tension you might be better off with Murder She Wrote.
Spencer Hawken 09/08
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Saw the trailers for this today in the Cinema, and I must agree with you, that this Film does look silly !!!!.........Roy.......
marymoose99 26.09.2008 12:11
I have a real talent for picking out bad films....so ten years from now you might find a review of this film from me when I've accidentally bought it for £1 in Woolworths thinking it looked really good! Watch this space!
brereton66 24.09.2008 16:48
A damning review, always make the best reads though.
Sep 21st, 2008
exceptional by (2%):
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