Trap: No Way Out

I'm not really into Saleka Shyamalan's shallow pop for teenage girls, but who I absolutely enjoyed was the fan-tas-tic Josh Hartnett. Every look he gave, every twitch of his face, was completely telling of the momentary situation he was in. Great performance. And M. Night Shyamalan proves once again what he's been strongest at his entire career. Namely, coming up with a completely original, unorthodox concept that he has always alternately managed to follow through with. And that's true here too. The first half, about the search for an exit from the encirclement, is a great piece of screenwriting, but unfortunately, after the twist in the middle and Lady Raven's involvement in the plot, it stopped being interesting. Firstly because of the haphazard logic and also because Shymalan's daughter simply doesn't have the acting skills to pull this off. But all things considered, after the terrible Glass, when I had already broken my stick over Shyamalan, I actually liked his last two films quite a bit beyond my expectations. It's not a return to the limelight, more like a light echo of his great beginnings. (03.09.2024)

Schon das Thema mit der Hauptfigur – ein charismatischer und gleichzeitig beunruhigender Killer, der versucht, aus einer öffentlichen Falle zu entkommen – ist in dem Genre ungewöhnlich. Und Shyamalan hat sowohl seine Suche nach einem Ausweg sorgfältig geschrieben und inszeniert als auch seine psychopathischen Wahrnehmungen und Reaktionen auf unerwartete Stresssituationen glaubhaft dargestellt. Und zwar nicht nur in der Falle, sondern auch – und vor allem – außerhalb davon. Der interessant besetzte und treffend spielende Josh Hartnett. Das Fehlen einer großen Shyamalan-Pointe hat mich nicht gestört, der Film arbeitet mit der Spannung gekonnt und schlängelt sich durch unvorhersehbare Wendungen. Manchmal übertreibt er es mit den Fähigkeiten des Protagonisten, aber nicht so sehr, dass er das Vertrauen des Zuschauers verliert oder lächerlich wird. Erfreulich sind auch Anspielungen wie Shyamalan als Konzertmitarbeiter, bei dem seine reale Tochter Saleka (die Papa sicher gerne ähnlich berühmt sehen würde) singt oder das unauffällige „The Watchers“-Logo auf einem Haus im Hintergrund, als Titel des Films seiner anderen Tochter Ishana, der ein paar Monate vor diesem Film in die Kinos kam. (12.08.2024)

M. Night Shyamalan kommt immer mit einer interessanten und verlockenden Prämisse, die ich aber wirklich lieber in den Händen eines anderen Schöpfers sehen würde als in seinen eigenen. Split aus seinen Filmen der letzten Jahre erhält zwar mit Abstand die beste Note, aber sein knapper Ansatz und seine unlogischen Absurditäten verärgern mich wirklich. Gerade das Drehbuch hier verlässt sich auf absolute Zufälle und Gelegenheiten wie kein anderes. Etwas muss ich jedoch zugeben, Josh Hartnett genießt die saftige Rolle hier absolut, und dank ihm genießt es auch der Zuschauer. (14.09.2024)

Der Regisseur sowie der Hauptdarsteller brauchen dringend einen Neustart ihrer Karriere. Es tut mir leid, dass dieser Film ihnen höchstwahrscheinlich nicht dabei helfen wird, obwohl sie es beide verdient hätten. Ein ausgezeichnetes Thema, eine richtig dosierte Spannung, die Frage des Gewissens, wem wir in der Geschichte die Daumen drücken und zu welchem Preis, ab und zu Humor und die bezaubernde Tochter des Regisseurs vor allem in ihrer Gesangsrolle. Meine kleinen Kritikpunkte richten sich gegen die letzten ca. zwanzig Minuten, die zu kompliziert und ziemlich unrealistisch waren, aber vielleicht war das ja Absicht?! (21.08.2024)

The trailers for Trap were awesome and it was tempting to see two comebacks: M. Night Shyamalan and Josh Hartnett, but it only half came to fruition, unfortunately. The film is a bit too basic for Shyamalan, everything is quite clearly laid out, there are not enough surprises and, most importantly, it lacks the typical Shyamalan twist, which is probably the biggest disappointment. The concept with the killer at a concert is pretty cool, Saleka Shyamalan looks good and sings well, but nothing really happens and everything interesting is already in the trailer. It's not even as suspenseful, smart and intense as it seemed at first glance. But it’s not all is bad, Hartnett gives a decent performance as a psychopath and thankfully the film never gets boring, I just won't it film again for sure and streaming would have suited it better. Too bad there weren't some murders and a mind fuck twist. 55% (04.08.2024)

This movie is a trap. The trailer and premise hint at something that the viewer only receives in a limited fashion, and instead of suppressing doubt, it only escalates. Despite the potential, the character psychology is treated superficially, and there isn't even a moment where the firefighter-butcher drops a wedding ring on the floor and realizes why no one has caught him yet. I'm not as enthusiastic about Hartnett; he often overacts, much like he did under the parachute with Kate Beckinsale. I also disagree with the crucial idea from the FBI profiler specialist. Among the dads who have to listen to hours of squealing from fanatical teenage girls over glitzy consumer pop music, there might not be just one with murderous tendencies... (03.09.2024)

A cute premise, original and enjoyable, plus an extremely likeable Josh Hartnett as a laid-back dad at a concert of his daughter's favourite singer. Pity about the few hallucinatory coincidences that take the edge off the thrilling cat-and-mouse game. Still, a very satisfying M. Night Shyamalan, who this time was mostly having fun and promoting his daughter's singing career. What a great dad. (01.09.2024)

I must appreciate the fact that the trailer only shows less than half of the film, so the whole second half is hidden from the viewer and we have no idea what will happen and where the plot will go. Next, I have to point out Josh Hartnett's acting, this is literally his one-man show and a showcase of an A-list performance, backed by M. Night Shyamalan's experience (though not always successful or apt), all brought to perfection. But the rest of it is just so... well. The first half on the show is fantastic, the gradual revelation of who the killer is, how he's going to get out and all these detours from the main line to the surrounding corners looking for an escape were all great, suspenseful and most importantly entertaining. The problem comes in the second half, which I would have taken without reservations if it made even a little bit of sense. Unfortunately, it gradually snowballed and piled nonsense upon nonsense until gradually the limits of what I could tolerate began to overflow. There was no shortage of suspense here either, for the most part, but the incredible "twists and turns" made it a very weak finish to a ending that was itself also silly. Unlike many others, I'm not yet dismissing Shyamalan and I still like quite a lot of his stuff (Knock at the Cabin), but here I have to admit it's a drastic downward slide from him and his attempt to make an "ordinary" thing may well have backfired as he wanted to make so much that he lost himself in it and got swallowed up in it. Pure average, the rating of which will depend on your tolerance level... That said, the film still has something to it, it's just probably not as intense as everyone expected from the trailers. (03.08.2024)