There are many
unique problems with Static, Todd
Levin’s directorial debut, but all of its assets are borrowed from better
films. The premise is similar to The
Strangers or The Stranger Within,
with a young girl (Sara Paxton) appearing at the door of a troubled couple late
at night, and all hell erupts from her visit. If only it were enough to take
the best from better films, but it doesn’t outweigh the amount of originally
poor decisions made in Static. The
most difficult aspect is the weighty storyline of grieving parents at the center of a
genre film.
Jonathan Dade (Milo Ventimiglia) is a
famed author grieving the loss of his son with his wife, Addie (Sarah Shahi),
giving us protagonists who seem to have come from a Stephen King novel. The
mysterious girl’s intentions quickly come into question, and then become
irrelevant as all three are attacked by a group of men wearing masks. Even
locked in their own home they aren’t safe from the faceless attackers with
unknown motivation. When all is finally revealed, it resembles a number of
other films with cliché twist endings. Perhaps if this film had done it first
we may have been impressed, but now it just feels like lazy filmmaking.
Aside from an awful ending that
explains everything perfectly, there are many issues with Static. The first problem is the lack of excitement. When the
intruders finally do attack, it can get suspenseful, but it takes far too long
for this to happen. And once it does happen, there isn’t much at stake when the
intruders don’t seem determined to hurt anyone as much as just stalk around
their property menacingly. Stylistically, Static
has a great deal going for it, though there are just too many random ideas in
the dreary screenplay to highlight them properly.
The bonus features include writer,
producer and editor’s commentary track, making for a commentary with many
random voices floating around. The Blu-ray 3D release includes three discs,
with an additional 2D Blu-ray and DVD also included. The odd thing about this
movie is the minimized effect that the 3D appears to have on the visuals. Much
of the film seems indifferent to the medium.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Disc Features: /10
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