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Posted By: Ralph Wiggum at 4:24pm, November 11, 2008
A tribute to 'Saw' or just a mindless ripoff?
This film is so 'Saw' inspired that it beggars belief. Everything from the cameras, TV monitors, strange keys screams "We just watched Saw and thought we'd make our own". However, this film lacks the imagination or intrigue of 'Saw' and instead offers a confusing, rushed plotline that doesn't actually make a lot of sense.
Granted, it does serve up a decent amount of gore, but these scenes are pointless and feel removed from the story as we know nothing about the circumstances. I also felt ripped off when the film attempted to give a vague explanation for the baddie's twisted behaviour, which was completely laughable.
Be sure to watch the alternate ending for what is possibly the most 'Saw' inspired scene in the entire film! I'm still chuckling at this...
I honestly don't know what audience this film will appeal to, if any. All in all, don't waste your time as there are so many exciting and original films out there and this ain't one of em.
Pros:
*At least the sets from Saw I got used again.
*Brothers should do more things together after childhood.
*At least someone got some in this flix.
Cons:
*Uh, what woman gets tortured fully clothed these days?
*Makes Saw and Hostel look like The Ben-Hur's Of Torture Porn.
And no movie should be able to do that.
*Elisha Cuthbert needs to really get her's in a movie at least once.
Honestly, what made this damn thing so unrated in the first place?!!? True example of bad modern-day horror that even looked like it borrowed sets from the Saw movies. An incredible waste of time.
While I'm on my soapbox, lemme shout out my general distaste for Elisha Cuthbert. First she stars in The Girl Next Door about a porn star and doesn't get naked. Then in House of Wax, she doesn't get waxed. Now in this crapfest, she's kidnapped but the worse that happens to her is someone puts a fake rubber scar on her face?!!? Amazing. If the girl's not going to go further in these extreme roles she shouldn't be here in the first place. There's plenty of pretty blonde actresses out there that will. Give them the chance.
Also, I should mention that this movie in no way whatsoever can compare to the Saw or Hostel movies in brutality, it just doesn't have scenes to compare. The only torture going on in here clearly is for the viewer.
Posted By: Protecious at 1:27pm, September 30, 2008
Disapointing and unoriginal, i felt captive watching this whole movie without fast forwarding it like i should have, predictable as a horror film gets, acting was not that well done, you dont care about any characters and the plot is something ripped off right from the hostel, saw type of storylines and obviously that is the audience they are meaning to target for this ridiculous movie.
Ya it really wasnt that good of a movie, the only reason why I think I liked it was because I was stoned at the time. Other than that its just your averege Saw rip-off.
"The film's protagonist is Jennifer Tree (played by 24's Elisha Cuthbert), a fashion model in spirit of Paris Hilton and the like. She is drugged at a promotional event by an unknown assailant and awakens in a mysterious room. She is exposed to various forms of physical and psychological torture including: drinking a smoothie composed of various facial organs, being drenched with an acidic substance, and being forced to murder a dog. Throughout this entire process, Jennifer is exposed to recorded interviews she has given in which she describes her fears and inhibitions. Her captor also entertains her with home videos of victims (who are brutally tortured). Eventually Jennifer meets another prisoner named Gary with who she bonds. They attempt to escape and reach the captor's vehicle before sleeping gas emerges from the air conditioning vents. They awaken in a torture chair and Gary's molar is forcefully removed by the still-in-shadows villain. After they return, Gary and Jennifer copulate in the darkness and Gary leaves their now-shared cell with a key! Gasp, you guessed it, he is the villain! However, his brother helps him with his hobby. Gary admits to his brother Ben (who is introduced for the first time) that he is falling in love with Jennifer. Ben doesn't like this plan, and Gary kills him.
A few minutes later, the police arrive looking for Jennifer and Gary kills them. Anyone with any understanding of police culture will recognize how poorly these officers act. They allow Gary to leave the room for "tea" and ask to watch a ball game (Maybe police training academies should show this clip on opening day). Anyway, Gary returns to Jennifer's cell and admits he has killed the captors. He leads Jennifer upstairs but she discovers the slain police officers. Gary then chases her because she has discovered his secret and she kills him. She walks out and the film ends.
As you might guess, Captivity is a dark film but not a literary dark. It's literally a dark film. The first half of it shows Jennifer's or Gary's face in total darkness but with a beam of light focusing on her or his face. The background is nearly invisible. There is hardly any accompanying music to alleviate the difficulty of focusing on one point in the image (I found the problem to be magnified when viewing the DVD on an HD television). At least the film brightens in its last half. Furthermore, there is no expository detail provided in the first half of the film. Jennifer is abducted and we are forced to somehow sympathize with her. If only we knew anything about her, maybe (just maybe) we could do that. The only information we are given about her life occurs via the interviews Gary plays for her. We also don't see Gary (or maybe Ben?)as the torturer until later in the film. So our freak show has no reason for wanting to kidnap her.
The film does improve a little in its second half. When Gary appears, Jennifer actually speaks something intelligible but most of the dialog (until the ending standoff) is whispered. You'll be adjusting the volume the entire time to hear what they say. Even though they speak, we still learn nothing about either character. Gary isn't given any reason to torture his victims. His brother Ben is even more poorly developed than he is. Ben appears to tell Gary not to fall in love with Jennifer and then dies. Why is Ben even there? He doesn't add anything meaningful to the plot nor does he foil another character. Also, the police officers are equally unimportant. They, too, are killed off before they can do anything meaningful to the story.
Captivity has been seen as a pseudo-feminist film and also as a critique of pampered female celebrities. While I applaud the effort (if there was one from director Joffé), this film isn't either. Gary is revealed to have several other female victims. He keeps a detailed photographic journal of his endeavors. Perhaps he has a scientific curiosity about how soon women will give into consensual sex but it isn't clear. Jennifer, nevertheless, triumphs over him but the other victims hadn't the same luck. One woman's success doesn't justify several others' deaths. Jennifer's own personal torture doesn't acceptably critique celebrity culture either. Such inhumane treatment isn't effective individual criticism.
When watching Captivity, I couldn't help but notice its similarities to Eyes without a Face. Both films involve a young woman being held against her will and female disfigurement but the Eyes without a Face is an effective horror film. It balances its grisly images with proper character development, chilling music, and an eerie atmosphere. Captivity fails in all the aforementioned ways and the final result is a disgusting and bloody film." --doctorsmoothlove, imdb.com
Hmmmm??? I really don't know what to say about this one! It could have been amazing and groundbreaking but it was just BAD!!! Boring stupid dull and I fell asleep in the theater... I HAVE NEVER IN MY HOLE LIFE HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP IN A MOVIE THEATER!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't even ask for my money back cause I slept through it!!! I give CAPTIVITY 1 washed up blonde actress out of 1000 washed up blonde actresses!!!
I saw this in America and when i arrived back to AUSTRALIA was waiting for it to be released. It got released in July 2007 in US and May 2008 for AUS. I think it was released in AUS cinemas to make more money rather than direct to dvd. It was boring and predictable and had really nothing to go WOW! at
*SPOLIER*
just to say at the start of he film it isn't a girl being murdered, its a guy, at the end you learn that after escaping that she turns into a killer herself which is the guy that is murdered at the start of the film also seen at the end. sorry just fixing the mistake by th BD REVIEW.
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