Flatliners is dead on arrival

Movie Title: Flatliners

Grade: D+

Rating: PG-13, 108 minutes

In a Nutshell: This Flatliners movie remake is dead on arrival. I really liked the original Flatliners movie with 1990 Kevin Bacon, so I was interested to see how this remake would compare.

I was pleased to see Keifer Sutherland appear in this movie, since he was in the original, although his role is much different.
Speaking of the original, it’s better.

Uplifting theme:

I liked the phrase “dialogue of human knowledge” that Kiefer Sutherland’s character talked about.
Life, death, and somewhere in between.
Take responsibility for your actions. The message at the end is explained by one of the characters when she says, “It’s not enough to apologize. We have to face up to what we’ve done and then forgive ourselves.”
Restitution for wrongs committed in the past.

Things I liked:

I liked the idea of exploring near death experiences, but the film goes into a jump-scare horror genre, rather than taking a deeper philosophical approach.
SPOILER: Ellen Page is fun to watch in anything, so I was surprised that she actually dies half-way through the movie, leaving us with characters that aren’t as interesting.

Things I didn’t like:

· It tries to be a thriller-horror movie, as well as a medical thriller, but the mixture is very messy and makes the flow of the movie die.

Stupid sound effects.
It never explains certain aspects of the plot, like how the med students are able to be physically touched by their hallucinations.

Tips for parents:

Deadly car crash.
Creepy jumps and scares.
Med students volunteer to die. Make sure your kids know that is extremely dangerous and stupid!
Pre-marital sex.
A girl flips the bird.
Some profanity.

Be sure to check out the original Flatliners