To make this clear this is one of the worst movies I've seen recently, not that I've seen many since I try to do some research and only see the good ones through, having limited time and all. Yet this movie somehow managed to slip, I've heard it was bad, like one-sided bad but still there was this mystical force that not only made me see it but forced me to sit through all of it. So even if I tell you not to see it, I trust this same vibe to suck you in as well, it will help if you get warned though...
To make my first and, probably, greatest gripe with this movie I have to announce this - "Smiley" had three jump-scares before the actual title of the film, is there some sort of record for that? This only gets worse as jump-scares come and go and just like epilepsy, that you may get from watching this movie, it does it in spasms. Few minutes with loads of jump-scares just shoved into a ball and slapped into your face. Oh and did I mention that most of the jump-scares are fake-outs as well? That is really disappointing as I felt that the concept was actually good and from the trailer alone, I was really hyped.
After the jump-scares end, the movie just goes into the "smart" mode where it tries to tell you some sort of message but fails miserably for some reason. Sure it repeats a lot of horror titles but given their success and wide variety that can't really be helped. The message and the whole psychological mask this movie tries to sell out, completely hits the wall as you just want the movie to end and the whole "smart- jump-scare-repeat" really throws a great concept off.
The actors weren't something that shined, but most of them didn't really have anything to shine with or for as the characters are pretty much as cliché as it gets, once again a common trait in a slasher flick. The main character (I barely even remember her name really) is an exception, she is just a palette of characters slapped into one blob of randomness, if you try to drink every time her personality takes a full turn, you'll be drunk before half of the movie as she goes "geek-good girl-bad girl- tortured emo-like soul" every once in a while, it's hard to blame the actress not getting into it.
This movie also has romance...Somewhat. The romance feels forced, out of place, happens instantly and for absolutely no reason, it's just like "We're a thing one frame later" kind of thing. Some thing that people try to like in the movie is the ending, which is understanding for it's sort of a ripoff of a more classic flick with a possible sequel hint (?!). Also there was absolutely no reason for the ending and the time for it's explanation is wasted for more "smart" section instead of actual explanation.
The only thing the movie actually got right was the concept and the design of the Smiley as it really was the buying thing for me. In today's internet culture this kind of internet, urban legend movie just had to be made, I just can't help but wish it could've been made differently with psychological factor being the selling point not the cheap jump-scares. If you're ripping off movies, look at Grudge, The Eye (original) and so on instead of classic ones as over time, they've become a ripoff of themselves.
Overall this movie is awesome before it begins, after the starting point it completely fails to deliver, trying to be smart and psychological yet offering no connection with the characters or development, instead giving forced and fake jump-scares and declaring itself "horror" film. If only it was made the way it intends to it would've been so much more and given us another epic figure as Smiley deserves to share the spotlight with Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers and others...
To make my first and, probably, greatest gripe with this movie I have to announce this - "Smiley" had three jump-scares before the actual title of the film, is there some sort of record for that? This only gets worse as jump-scares come and go and just like epilepsy, that you may get from watching this movie, it does it in spasms. Few minutes with loads of jump-scares just shoved into a ball and slapped into your face. Oh and did I mention that most of the jump-scares are fake-outs as well? That is really disappointing as I felt that the concept was actually good and from the trailer alone, I was really hyped.
After the jump-scares end, the movie just goes into the "smart" mode where it tries to tell you some sort of message but fails miserably for some reason. Sure it repeats a lot of horror titles but given their success and wide variety that can't really be helped. The message and the whole psychological mask this movie tries to sell out, completely hits the wall as you just want the movie to end and the whole "smart- jump-scare-repeat" really throws a great concept off.
The actors weren't something that shined, but most of them didn't really have anything to shine with or for as the characters are pretty much as cliché as it gets, once again a common trait in a slasher flick. The main character (I barely even remember her name really) is an exception, she is just a palette of characters slapped into one blob of randomness, if you try to drink every time her personality takes a full turn, you'll be drunk before half of the movie as she goes "geek-good girl-bad girl- tortured emo-like soul" every once in a while, it's hard to blame the actress not getting into it.
This movie also has romance...Somewhat. The romance feels forced, out of place, happens instantly and for absolutely no reason, it's just like "We're a thing one frame later" kind of thing. Some thing that people try to like in the movie is the ending, which is understanding for it's sort of a ripoff of a more classic flick with a possible sequel hint (?!). Also there was absolutely no reason for the ending and the time for it's explanation is wasted for more "smart" section instead of actual explanation.
The only thing the movie actually got right was the concept and the design of the Smiley as it really was the buying thing for me. In today's internet culture this kind of internet, urban legend movie just had to be made, I just can't help but wish it could've been made differently with psychological factor being the selling point not the cheap jump-scares. If you're ripping off movies, look at Grudge, The Eye (original) and so on instead of classic ones as over time, they've become a ripoff of themselves.
Overall this movie is awesome before it begins, after the starting point it completely fails to deliver, trying to be smart and psychological yet offering no connection with the characters or development, instead giving forced and fake jump-scares and declaring itself "horror" film. If only it was made the way it intends to it would've been so much more and given us another epic figure as Smiley deserves to share the spotlight with Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers and others...