Erased – 2 out of 5
Imagine waking up one morning and finding out that you no longer exist, that you are just scrubbed from the global system. Some might find that terrifying but as long as my debt was eliminated, I think it might be kinda alright with it. It would allow me to start over and find a life that is free from stress—or as free from it as it can possibly be. Erased plays with this idea but, sadly, other films have seemed to have done this one and have done it better.
 |
| This movie really needed a moment where Aaron Eckhart says, "My life has been...erased!" And then looks at the camera and winks. |
Ben Logan (Aaron Eckhart) is a single dad living in Belgium working for a tech company and raising his daughter Amy (Liana Liberato). One day, he heads into his office to find that the place is empty. When he starts to investigate, he finds no records of the work he’s been doing or that the company even existed. Digging deeper, he finds his coworkers have all been murdered and now the culprits are after him. There’s just one thing they didn’t plan for, Ben Logan has a mysterious past that has trained him for a life and death situation such as this. Now he must protect his daughter and stop the people behind this nefarious plot.
 |
| Now, if I walked in and my place of business looked like this, my first thought would be that I have the rest of the day off. |
Erased isn’t really a bad movie but it’s not one that is really doing much to be a good one. The performances are really great and, from a technical standpoint, the film looks great and is put together very well. Finally, the few action sequences that are provided are decent. The problem comes from the story and plot.
 |
| "Is there something on my face?" |
The main problem that held Erased back is that it’s not really doing anything to stand out beyond it having some really great performances. Sure, the visuals, lighting and editing work perfectly but the story and plot is where the film gets hung up. The mystery wasn’t that engaging, there was no sense of urgency, the conflict didn’t feel that dire and the lack of any direct antagonist or even decent faceless minions to chase after Ben and Amy really kept this film from being memorable. It never gets boring or dry but there just wasn’t much to latch onto and get engaged with. Matters are only made worse when you realize that many other thrillers have done this type of story and have done it significantly better.
 |
| This gentleman is meant to be the main tough guy but he looks exactly this interested in his work the entire film. |
Even the action in this one wasn’t that grabby. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it—in fact, there’s a great moment that involves an explosion that was pretty damn cool—but the issue I had with it was that it was all too serviceable. The fight choreography was smooth and looked great but it all felt like the small fighting moments in better films that fill up the space between the great, larger fight moments. The character of Ben Logan is no slouch when it concerns slamming fists into faces but he’s a long way from someone like Jason Bourne.
 |
| Logan isn't fighting the man, he just has a severe misunderstanding of the Heimlich maneuver. |
Erased isn’t a great movie but it’s not a bad one either. It has its moments and the cast is great but it’s essentially a serviceable thriller. The problem arrives is the fact the feature feels so serviceable that it basically becomes a bit generic and kinda forgettable.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar