Prisoners is a gritty, incredibly well-acted, suspenseful, thought- provoking crime drama thriller. Unlike Taken or Man On Fire, Prisoners is full of emotions as a family is put through its darkest hours. The suspense never lets up. Throughout the film you feel Dover's pain, anger and moral struggles as he deals with this situation.
The director does a brilliant job keeping the audiences deep into the emotions of the family despite the fact that Dover himself kidnap Alex Jones, locks him up for days and brutally tortures him just to know the whereabouts of his daughter. This movie explores the issue of moral ambiguity, and it shows just how far desperation can change a loving father into a cruel, heartless person just to protect his own family. With his daughter's chance of survival diminishing each seconds, is Dover's action justified? That's a question for you to ponder.
The two leads, Hugh Jackman and Jack Gyllenhaal give the career best performance in my opinion. Jackman tears into scenes in a way we've never seen him and layers his character with plenty of affection, empathy, grief, and rage. It's his best dramatic endeavor he's ever done. As Detective Loki, Gyllenhaal stands firm and tall in one of the year's finest performances. Terrifically executed as a man disconnected from real emotion, he finds himself enamored by the mystery surrounding two missing girls. But the most surprising performance comes from Paul Dano. His character, Alex Jones was mentally-challenged, and has an IQ of that 10-year-old kid. This is a difficult character to play, but Paul manages to make that character his own by his superb portrayal of Alex.
The plot is a wonderful puzzle, unraveling slowly to reveal hidden layers of depth and complexity. At 153 minutes, the film is detailed, precise, and engaging nearly throughout. With a mix of top-notch cinematography, remarkably unsettling music, superb performances, and a thrilling/powerful story, Prisoners will definitely be one of this year's features that will surely be remembered.
Final Verdict: 8.5/10. If you love films that explore more than just entertainment, such as important themes and moral ambiguity as a whole, you cannot go wrong with Prisoners. I would not recommend skipping out on Prisoners unless you're of the type that prefers more lighthearted and fun movies.
The director does a brilliant job keeping the audiences deep into the emotions of the family despite the fact that Dover himself kidnap Alex Jones, locks him up for days and brutally tortures him just to know the whereabouts of his daughter. This movie explores the issue of moral ambiguity, and it shows just how far desperation can change a loving father into a cruel, heartless person just to protect his own family. With his daughter's chance of survival diminishing each seconds, is Dover's action justified? That's a question for you to ponder.
The two leads, Hugh Jackman and Jack Gyllenhaal give the career best performance in my opinion. Jackman tears into scenes in a way we've never seen him and layers his character with plenty of affection, empathy, grief, and rage. It's his best dramatic endeavor he's ever done. As Detective Loki, Gyllenhaal stands firm and tall in one of the year's finest performances. Terrifically executed as a man disconnected from real emotion, he finds himself enamored by the mystery surrounding two missing girls. But the most surprising performance comes from Paul Dano. His character, Alex Jones was mentally-challenged, and has an IQ of that 10-year-old kid. This is a difficult character to play, but Paul manages to make that character his own by his superb portrayal of Alex.
The plot is a wonderful puzzle, unraveling slowly to reveal hidden layers of depth and complexity. At 153 minutes, the film is detailed, precise, and engaging nearly throughout. With a mix of top-notch cinematography, remarkably unsettling music, superb performances, and a thrilling/powerful story, Prisoners will definitely be one of this year's features that will surely be remembered.
Final Verdict: 8.5/10. If you love films that explore more than just entertainment, such as important themes and moral ambiguity as a whole, you cannot go wrong with Prisoners. I would not recommend skipping out on Prisoners unless you're of the type that prefers more lighthearted and fun movies.