Eric Bana returns to the screen with this week's Deliver Us From Evil.
With a highly original (wink wink) name like Deliver Us From Evil, what could possibly go wrong? A lot.
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| "Hey. Just wondering if my career is down there?" |
This latest in a long string of "based on real events" demonic possession movies plays like a middling version of Se7en mixed with a sloppy dose of the buddy cop genre, topped off with every movie about soul ravaging demons that we've seen in the last 40 or so years. And just when you think it can't get any worse, it slips from just above average to nonsensical tripe that has no basis in reality whatsoever. If you're gonna claim "real events", please make me believe.
Deliver Us From Evil is a true testament to how totally average this genre has become as it pushes Eric Bana's career further into the careening abyss of mediocrity. While Bana isn't necessarily bad in the movie, he doesn't have much to play with considering the weak script, the cheesy religious morality tale, and an altogether poor foundation for a movie that would have been better left in development hell where it rightfully belongs. In a era when almost every other horror flick is about possession, you better think of something original or devoutly mind blowing because audiences (like me) are sick of the same old bag of tricks.
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| "You! You over there! Have you seen it? Have YOU seen my career?" |
The only stand out qualities of Deliver Us From Evil are the eerie Gothic tones and the blood curdling makeup work. Yet, these two items never stood a chance of doing battle with a weakly written script, lack of character development and totally average jump scares. Honestly, its hard to not feel bad for Bana. He's way above this type of ineptitude but seems to be spinning his creative wheels with major flop after major flop. And sadly for him, Deliver Us From Evil is another in a string of total misfires for both his career and audiences alike.
If you're into pain and suffering while watching Joel McHale try to play a bad ass, then you're a total sadist that deserves an eternity in hell as Deliver Us From Evil plays on constant repeat in the background. Other than that, this is one of the worst derivative movies of the summer that rapes many better genre entries in the high hopes that audiences might buy its below average qualities.
-CG