Knowing

I, Robot was a pure studio movie – expensive, spectacular and bombastic, but also shallow and superficial. Knowing is a smaller, more modest film but also more personal and sensitive. Too bad that the not-very-original subject matter and weaker ending overshadow the otherwise perfect screenwriting and editing work, where everything from the detailed depiction of the characters and action dynamics to horror elements is delivered in precisely measured doses. Not to mention the fact that the special effects are not just self-serving eye candy, but are subordinate to a story with a soul. And I haven’t seen Nick Cage in such a well-fitting role for a while. Knowing is a high-quality small film that I’m rating higher than I expected. (09/02/2009)

Not counting Star Trek, Knowing is the best sci-fi film in a very long time (The Day The Earth Stood Still and I Am Legend are not even close). Proyas is a master of atmosphere and his splendid direction and eye-candy visuals made me fully immerse in the film and enjoy it in a way I hadn’t expected. I didn’t even care that I had a vague idea of the twist due to some spoiling moron. Actually, it’s not even that hard to guess quite early on, but it doesn’t matter much because the most important thing here is the atmosphere. My only quibbles are addressed at the not very good CGI, some annoying father-son conversations and the overall predictability (which, actually, is quite nonsense for a film that works with fate and predestination). Cage is more than bearable, he’s finally made a good film after a long time. For me, very satisfied 4 stars (though they could have left out the final field escapade…) (06/28/2009)

If Nicolas Cage has something to act in, he does it. In the case of Knowing, he was lucky to have both a decently atmospheric and chillingly escalating script and a director who really knows how to play with films. After a long time, Knowing is a Cage film (i.e., starring Cage) that I can recommend to just about anyone. Suspenseful from the beginning until the great final 25 minutes, with decent special effects and Marc Beltrami's music, which you will notice especially during the more dramatic scenes. Clean four stars, good job! (06/12/2010)

Thrilling atmosphere and visual effects. Proyas is one of the few directors who knows how to utilize the technical aspects of a film to the fullest, which means not only as a showcase of current technologies, but as a fully-fledged plot attribute. The solid beginning is unfortunately marred the quite clumsy ending – a blend of kitsch and pathos – and at times I even felt that the director didn't know where to go. In the last minutes, it was quite a mess. Knowing could have turned out much better. Cage is bearable after a long time, even in a non-action role. (01/02/2010)

Most of the time I thought that critics had hurt Knowing, because it is a thrilling and suggestive disaster film that surpasses its even more expensive colleagues thanks to Proyas' directing and great visuals. However, the biblical finale turns the tolerable ridiculousness into something very close to farce. One tends to forgive disaster films their plot holes and the strange (un)motivation of the characters, but the moment the creators hit you with heavy metaphysical calibers, you can now veto the tolerance. Knowing clearly suffers from ambitions that were too high. If it had stayed more grounded, it would be amongst the top films of the genre. Nicolas Cage saying a sentence like "how do I save the world?" would be a problem even in a much better-thought-out film. [65%] (07/15/2009)