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Let's face it - the girl is easy on the eye when she wants to be (literally, she's like that girl in Seinfeld
who looks better or worse depending on the light she's standing in) -
so it seems that the lighting was favourable during the shooting of Premonition.
Much like the popcornily entertaining Number 23, Premonition
sells itself on a pretty simple-yet-inticing one sentence premise and a
famous-but-not-to-famous lead star. And in that regard, Premonition
is pretty good value. You know exactly what you're in for (some general
spookiness and a twist ending) and you know not to go in expecting Citizen Kane.
The
flick, from director Mennan Yapo, tells of a devoted wife and mother
(Bullock) who is informed her husband (Julian McMahon) has been killed
in a car crash. The next day, she awakes to discover her husband is
actually alive. It seems there was no accident. It seems there was no
cop coming to her front door to inform her of the tragedy. It seems
there was no funeral. But wait - yep, the day after that, he’s dead
again! And so a pattern emerges.
From here it's a case of
Bullock trying to work out how she can prevent the accident from
happening, working out what day of the week it is, as well as solving a
whole bunch of mysterious circumstances which begin to show themselves.
Essentially, this is The Butterfly Effect meets Memento
with a chick thrown in the drivers seat. And by and large, it hits all
the right notes at all the right times. It's cleverly written, and is
as captivating and enthralling as something like this should be -
without ever heading into the "this is lame" territory of The Grudge or any number of "thrillers" getting theatrical releases these days.
The
final fifteen minutes may leave some scratching their heads or largely
unsatisfied, but there is enough good work put in for the first 80
minutes to forgive any misdemenours.
After all, it's just a popcorn flick!
EXTRAS
Nothing to spectacular here. There's the obvious: Audio Commentary, Making of Premonition, deleted scenes & gag reel.
The
real drawcards here is the Alternate Ending (which thankfully sheds
some light on the terrible choice of the final cut) as well as a rather
insightful featurette "Real Life of Premonitions: The Truth About
Seeing the Future" (which harks back to a similar extra which appears
on the Number 23 DVD).
Well worth grabbing on a Friday from the video store, with a pizza and some mates. Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 65%
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