The Cinefessions crew loves sharing their opinions on films, but not every movie can get the attention it deserves with a full review. Enter the Cinefessions’ Capsule Reviews. These capsule reviews cover five of the most important aspects of a film, which allow the crew to deliver their opinions on any movie clearly, decisively, and with brevity. These are not our full thoughts on any film, just a highlighting of the major pros and/or cons.
Title: Don’t Blink (2014)The whole cast does a really solid job, but Brian Austin Green is definitely the stand out. He is subdued most of the time, which allows for his moments of larger emotion to stand out. Zack Ward – who got the snot beat out of him when he was a little boy in A Christmas Story – also does a nice job, but he plays more of a one dimensional character.
Story & Script
There’s definitely an interesting story here about a group of friends who are disappearing one by one in the blink of an eye without any explanation. The problem is that I would have liked to have been given some more insight into why exactly this was happening, or what was happened to the ones that disappeared. The characters through out some theories, but not one of them is any good. I can appreciate that the movie doesn’t want to give any easy answers, but it would be nice to receive some hints to what I was watching for an hour and a half.
Direction
Travis Oates does a really spectacular job here. He lets the actors drive the plot forward, always giving them enough time to live in each moment. He isn’t afraid of spending 20-30 seconds on one shot of an actor’s face as they come to a realization, or simply try to figure out what to do next. I always appreciate this, and Oates delivers it throughout the entire film. It makes for a slower moving film, which works in its favor.
Intangibles
The fact that the director was able to stick so truly to the idea that the person only disappears when no one is looking is really detailed and executed flawlessly. There’s a scene in the kitchen as the group is about to make dinner where I was actively trying to call Oates out for screwing up, but then seconds later I was left smiling because he did it yet again. It makes for a fun viewing experience when the director does his best to account for all the small details.
Rewatchability
I would watch this again just because I want to see if there are any other small details that may reveal more about the end of the film.
The Verdict
Don’t Blink is a good film, but don’t go in expecting any answers, let alone easy ones. It is light horror and sci-fi, but quite enjoyable.
Branden has been a film fan since he was young, roaming the halls of Blockbuster Video, trying to find the grossest, scariest looking VHS covers to rent and watch alone in the basement. It wasn’t until recently, though, that Branden started seeking out the classics of cinema, and began to develop his true passion for the art form. Branden approaches each film with the unique perspective of having studied the art from the inside, having both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in acting. He has been a film critic since 2010, and has previously written for Inside Pulse Movies, We Love Cult, and Diehard Gamefan. His biggest achievement as a film critic, to date, has been founding Cinefessions and turning it from a personal blog to a true film website, housing hundreds of film and television reviews, and dozens of podcasts.
