The Reaping Review
by Sean Lynch
Not since the critical panning of Jersey Girl have I ever seen or heard the elite group of reviewers in such a tizz over their combined hatred of one particular movie. Perhaps
because it deals with religion, perhaps because it's a half-baked
horror flick, or perhaps it's because the critics favourite Golden Girl
(Hillary Swank) opted to take on such a commercial piece of fluff. Whatever the reason, they collectively think The Reaping is a steaming pile of shit. So
in an attempt to go against the grain of popular belief, I'm going to
put my neck on the line and say that this isn't too bad at all. Heck,
what does it matter what the reviewers say anyway? If I recall
correctly, there was a time when a few people claimed that Dreamgirls was okay - and then every man and his dog jumped on board and claimed Eddie Murphy was the new Messiah. But
much like waking up next to a strange girl after a big night on the
booze, we're all destined to look back at this year's Oscars and go
"Did we really do that? Did we really give him an Oscar nod?". Let's face it - the crowds don't even listen to reviewers anyway. Just look at the likes of Ghost Rider or 2Fast2Furious.
Both were lambasted by critics (although, in fairness, they were
actually pretty big pieces of junk) but went onto make over $100
million each in the US.This latest horror flick (which, to be honest, is no better or worse than flicks like Exorcist: The Beginning or the rejigged Amityville Horror or even The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
follows a former Christian missionary, who lost her faith after her
family was tragically killed. She has since become a world-renowned
expert in disproving religious phenomena (as most do, but it begs the
question - how much does a job like that pay?). But when
she investigates a small Louisiana town that is suffering from what
appears to be reminiscent of the Biblical plagues, she realizes that
science cannot explain what is happening, and she must regain her faith
to combat the dark forces threatening the community. Look, it's
not brilliant. It's pretty cheesy entertainment - but who walks into a
flick of this genre expecting anything else? At the end of
the day, despite what you may read from the hoity toity film reviewers
across the world, the reason everyone is so keen on stump-f**king The Reaping
into an early grave due simply to the presence of Swank. They expect
much more from her. If Tom Welling or the hot cheerleader chick from Heroes was the headline act here, I doubt anyone would be kicking up a stink. If
you love your schlocky horror/spiritual flicks, then you might just
have yourself a decent Friday night movie on your hands. However if
you're a snooty New York film reviewer maybe you should realise
that even an Oscar sweetheart like Swank has to eat too, and a chunky
cheque for the odd horror flick is a pretty good way to do so. In a word: Underrated. 3 out
of 5 The Reaping
Australian
release: 19th April,
2007
Cast: Hilary Swank, AnnaSophia Robb, David Morrissey, Idris Elba, Manolo Cardona
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Website: Click
here.
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