Monday, July 25, 2011

Kidnapped (2011)


Click.... inhale..... pufff.......

Reviewed by Cigarette Smoking Man A
It took me awhile to finally find this movie. It received rave recommendations even before it was out so I was really anxious to watch it. I went into the movie without much anticipation or expectations as I didn't want to read the review knowing what to expect, so I will keep this review as spoiler-free as possible. I can say that what makes this movie so successful is all down to editing and the director Miguel Angel Vivas's vision on how a powerful kidnap movie should be. From the start of the movie viewers will notice the way the movie was shot, almost handy cam-like with tight cropping to bring viewers into the movie instead of just being the person sitting in front of the TV screen. It works brilliantly as every single scene is further intensified as you are forced to absorb everything that happens in the movie, good or bad.

The movie starts off innocently enough with an ordinary well-to-do family moving into a new house. From there we are introduce to the characters one by one. The hardworking dad yearning for a better life for his family, the nagging mom getting into little squabbles with the young teenage daughter. How the story flows is that the director plans to make the start of the movie as mundane or as ordinary as any normal household, therefore viewers can immediately identify themselves with the family mentioned. Then what the director did later was to positioned them in a world of clusterfuck with the kidnappers breaking into their home thus throwing the viewers off-guard with how any normal father/husband would've react if their family is in danger. The movie doesn't throw blood around for cheap thrills, the violent scenes are there because its a necessity to progress through the movie. There are some scene that will definitely leave viewers mouth agape, thanks to the tight cropping technique they incorporated into the movie. Its not that its anything that we gore fans haven't seen, but with that editing technique, that particular scene was extremely powerful and violent.

The movie is gripping with flawless acting, especially from the teenage daughter, Isa (Manuelle Velles) who surprising didn't have much experience in acting in Spain nor was she that famous to begin with. There's this one scene, I'm guessing, was a homage to Irreversible, the french triller starring Monica Belucci. Kidnapped is, in some ways similar to Irreversible. But I can tell you both are quality movies that excels at what they are trying to achieve, that is, a damn good thriller that will have you gripping the seat until the movie ends. Download here for the Spanish version with english hardsub instead of the fucktup dubbed version.

4 OUT OF 5 CIGGIES

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