Flatliners
Flatliners is an unmemorable redux hampered by poor writing and a general lack of thrills that fails to capture the attention of its audience.
Medical student Courtney Holmes ( Ellen Page ) is intrigue by the concept of the hereafter and what hap to multitude after they break . enroll her colleagues Jamie ( James Norton ) , Sophia ( Kiersey Clemons ) , Marlo ( Nina Dobrev ) , and Ray ( Diego Luna ) , Courtney organise an " extracurricular projection " where she undergoes a subprogram to know death for a short period of clip before being revived . Courtney consider the experiment as an opportunity for her and her friends to find a real breakthrough in their area and further advance their fledging career . After Courtney flatlines , she certify improved cognitive ability , which entices the others ( except Ray ) to go through with the process as well .
The irrefutable result of flatlining are unfortunately dead - lived , as the group is soon haunted by what appear to be visual sense and hallucinations free-base on secrets from their past they saw in the hereafter . What could have been a radical scientific uncovering quickly becomes a life sentence - threatening risk for all involve , and the students have to detect a way to make it all stop , or they could suffer severe consequences .
Though placard as a subsequence to the 1990 cult hit of the same name , 2017’sFlatlinersplays more as a remake of the earliest psychological horror film than a continuation of its predecessor ’s narration - complete with an all - new dramatis personae of character at the forefront and few connections to the original . While this control casualness with the workings of the first flick is n’t a necessity to compass the new version , it does beg the question of what just the distributor point of all this was by the time the credits rove . Flatlinersis an unmemorable redux halter by poor writing and a worldwide lack of thrills that fails to catch the attending of its audience .
The screenplay , accredit to Ben Ripley , is arguablyFlatliners ' weakest contact . Its first act is awkwardly designed , consisting of disconnected view that attempt to bring in the tout ensemble and their dynamics before the action heats up . This gives the early going a sense of disjointedness , as the opening minutes do footling to pinch viewers and establish some sort of emotional investment . Ripley and director Niels Arden Oplev also struggle to adequately set up any sorting of character motivation at the outset , forcing viewers to suspend their disbelief to almost absurd levels . As a whole , the history is flimsy at well and does n’t hold up to closer examination . It never flows naturally and does n’t build up - up to anything in particular . Here , the arcs are thinly defined as Opley usesFlatlinersmore as an self-justification to showcase fashionable afterlife sequences than craft a compelling narrative .
With a weak plot to begin with , there ’s scarcely anything the role player can do to advance their roles . Each fellow member of the radical is give one trait to limit them at most ( Ray is the practical skeptic , Sophia is overwhelmed academically ) for the extent of their characterizations . Nobody is looking at aFlatlinersfollowup for deep fiber field , but all of the main characters are so two - dimensional , it create it hard to care about what is happening . While the script tries to trade Courtney and her squad as friends who have gone through the wringer of aesculapian school together , they hardly exhibit that form of comradery , and any attempt at fleshing out their relationships come across as race and haphazard . They ’re more secret plan gadget than real person mete out with an extraordinary post .
This is n’t really the fault of the form , who are all nice in their part and do what they can with the material . Sir Frederick Handley Page easily has the meatiest office of the crowd and get a couple emotional scenes to display her compass , but the Oscar - campaigner has decidedly done better work in her vocation . The stick out cast around her comes across as an similar assembling of fellow aspiring doctors , though Luna channels his screen presence and rude charisma to make Ray stand out a picayune bit from the crowd . Kiefer Sutherland , maven of the originalFlatliners , return as his character Nelson Wright , but the role amounts to nothing more than a glorified cameo . His wallop on the story is paltry , and some fans will question why he even bothered coming back . With a more focused script , this new film could have been something interesting that explores philosophical inquiry about humanity , but rather it ’s dull .
From a directorial position , Opley ’s manipulation behind - the - camera is competent , yet standard . As indicated , he does a good job of diversifying the afterlife imagination sequence so each one feels alone and true to their several type . Admittedly , thing do get a shade repetitious as everyone get their bend , but it ’s nice to see some differences between them all . The 2nd one-half is whereFlatlinersmorphs into a pseudo - horror film and seek to take over the quality of a slasher flick , but it comes up short here too . None of the imaging is haunting or disturb enough to linger in the minds of audience and are more chintzy quiver than legitimate terrors . Many of the sequences in the third enactment are fuel by run - of - the - mill jump scare , and the PG-13 rating sanitizes these elements so they ’re just scary .
In the remainder , Flatlinersis an ill - conceive belated sequel , despite the best efforts of those involve . It ’s in all probability more or less what audiences expected when it was first announced , work as an unimaginative rehash that re-create many of the plot point of the original while working up to a clunky and jambon - fisted conclusion . WithITstill playing for the horror gang , it ’s difficult to recommendFlatlinersto anyone who is n’t a passionate , die - hard fan of the first cinema , as this new take has lilliputian to put up outside of nostalgia appeal . Even those intrigue by merchandising would be better off expect for home video recording , or just rewatching the 1990 version .
Trailer
Flatlinersis now playing in U.S. theaters . It runs 110 second and is rank PG-13 for furiousness and terror , sexual content , terminology , thematic textile , and some drug references .
Flatliners serves as both a sequel to and a remake of the 1990 Kiefer Sutherland movie of the same name . Elliot Page plays Courtney , a medical student whose fixation with the hereafter leads to her conducting a series of experimentation that end up having unforeseen consequences for those who match to take part .
Flatliners serves as both a sequel to and a remake of the 1990 Kiefer Sutherland movie of the same name. Elliot Page plays Courtney, a medical student whose obsession with the afterlife leads to her conducting a series of experiments that end up having unforeseen consequences for those who agree to take part.
