Rating of
3.5/4
Creepy family movie #3186
memento_mori - wrote on 07/22/13
Stoker is from the director Park chan-wook, a truly incredible director, who made one of my favorite foreign films of all time: Oldboy.
Even though Stoker is not as good as Oldboy, it manages to still be a very impressive movie.
It is ripe with things I like to see: Troubled characters, philosophical dialogue and the question of sanity. The overall look of the film is pleasing to the eyes, as well.
Mia Wasikowska has come a long way since Alice In Wonderland and I am surprised how many risks she takes in this film. You could definitely tell she wanted out of that typical PG-13 zone and in my opinion pulled it off here quite smoothly; she's very talented.
The dialogue is beyond creepy, the storytelling is frightening and some shots in this movie are just masterful. Seriously. Stanley Kubrick level Masterful.
It is also very beautifully paced. The story or premise at hand was never rushed, the movie took its time to make a point and drew conclusions when they were ready, with just enough implicitness left, like a trail of smoke ascending from the main character's rifle.
There comes always the risk of making a disappointing movie after a string of good movies. In this case, Park chan-wook falls into the same category, but I give him credit. It's hard to top your best film with an even better film, but for what we were given, I'm more than satisfied.
Stoker is a masterful movie of suspense, great character change and development and eye-candy cinematography. It is one of the better movies so far this year.
