Post by StevePulaski on Aug 5, 2011 20:38:46 GMT -5
Anthony Hopkins in The Rite.
Rating: ★★
Boy, has the horror genre fallen victim to some duds in the last decade. Do a quick skim through the genre within the last few years, and you'll find all its been exposed to is exorcism films, sequels, remakes, torture porn, and b-movie slop. The Rite is another one of the famed films based on exorcism, and it does almost nothing to boost the genre up, and its only purpose is for high-schoolers to show their dates so they can get really close and cuddle.
Exorcism films haven't been done right since the seventies gem we all know. Everyone since has been pretty much banking on its success, and just overloading the screen with senseless chaos of a woman with long black hair over her face running up the walls like a bat out of hell. While The Rite has none of that, surprisingly, it still manages to be an uneventful "horror" film even with the supernatural star Anthony Hopkins who just barely saves this film.
The Rite is based on a true story about a seminary student named Michael Kovak (O'Donoghue) who went to study exorcism at the Vatican. He is doubtful on his own faith, and the highly criticized practice of exorcism. He meets the legendary Father Lucas (Hopkins) who guides him through the process, and soon, Kovak becomes a believer in this practice.
I don't feel like digging any deeper into a plot I wasn't really all that concerned about. The first forty-five minutes are dull, and noneventful. It's compiled of slow, Catholic dialog, a bunch of biblical lines, and an occasional fail of a jump scare. The PG-13 rating doesn't even try to hide the fact this movie is nothing more than an extremely toned down rehash of the original Exorcist film because in this day and age, almost no horror film is good enough for R.
When we finally get some action, around the fifty minute mark, it's the same "devil-voice-in-a-human's-body" we've heard before. Maybe this could've been scary in 1984, but in 2011, this is about as old as the genre itself. There is no suspense anymore. Even if this is a true story, which it is, it was probably a lot scarier in real life, than it could ever be on film. We see blood come out of the mouth, various yelling, the awkward steps on hardwood floor, the big speaker shuttering bang followed by the dull, quiet, breathless noise. We get it all.
Mikael Håfström, the director, was the camera-man for 1408 as well. That had the same creepy atmosphere this has, it just didn't go anywhere fast. I'd take 1408 over this any day, because at least that was taken in with a fresh manner.
Anthony Hopkins, like I said, barely lifts this movie off the ground before it becomes unwatchable. After an hour, it completely lost my interest. When you see a movie about exorcism, unless you love religion or believe in a practice like this, you're completely bored. I don't believe in it. It's like all religion - a mind control. A senseless mind control for people who take every phrase of The Bible too literal, and jam it down each others throats.
The Rite does have an eerie atmosphere and a some good, dark cinematography, but that's it. This is not a horror film by any means. Nothing classifies this as scary. It's more of a suspense film, or a heavy drama. If this film hadn't marketed off of Anthony Hopkin's name, I can honestly say, it probably would've made about forty million less.
Starring: Colin O'Donoghue, Anthony Hopkins. Directed by: Mikael Håfström.