RATTLESNAKE

RATTLESNAKE: C+

A hair above average run of the mill thriller full of formulaic yet fun suspense and practical yet immersing horror. Well structured, systematic set up, that felt as though it should have succeeded, but in many ways it didn't. Yet, it wasn't a failure either. It wasn't a swing and a miss. The bat connected with the ball. The ball soared in the air with potential to be a homerun, and somehow it kept going foul.

What needed explanation received ambiguity. What could have stood to have been left up to imagination, unneeded and unwarranted attention. Too much peanut butter sandwich and not near enough milk to wash it down. The internal struggle of the mother while battling external forces was interesting but not convincing. Her slow descend into what felt would eventually become insanity was awkwardly blocked in an unbalanced dual with rationality and conscience. Even worse at the pivotal moment of what appeared to be a dramatic change within the character, it was nothing more than a tease. She was the same person driving out of the town as she was driving in.

The film hit the objectives. The assignment complete. You have to give it at least a C because it followed the rubric. All of the standards and benchmarks complete. Yet it lacked energy. It lacked soul. It lacked substance

ASSIMILATE

ASSIMILATE: C

"A movie very similar to INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS" Uh, my ass. This movie was INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. If you're going to be a remake, redoing or reimaging of a film at least come clean and admit it. As sick as I am of everything being unoriginal I have more respect for a film admitting being the same ole same ole, rather than one that tries to fool you into thinking it's something fresh and new. On that merit alone I had to drop the film down at least one third of a grade.

The film itself wasn't too bad though. Nothing spectacular but nothing awful either. Average on about every level. The mystery and suspense began to get a little traction until it became obvious that nothing other than what had already been solved was going to be revealed. The motivation of the characters continuously going back for the little brother was rather contrived. Realistically there's no way he'd have been kept alive that long.

The acting here was decent. It wasn't Laurence Olivier but it wasn't Tommy Wiseau. It was enough to keep the story moving along.

The ending although guessable wasn't exactly predictable. It was obvious that it was going to be doom and gloom, but dare I say clever with a bit of a reversal.

It could have been better, but it could have been worse.