View Full Version : Mothman Prophecies - Disappointing Ending!
Just seen The Mothman Prophecies (Check out my DVD Times review - link is in my sig) and found the film to be very engaging, except that the ending left too many unresolved issues lingering in my head. You can forgive a film like Eyes Wide Shut, but Mothman needed more fine tuning.
Dr Derek Doctors
01-03-2002, 08:41
I'd agree that the ending doesn't exactly tie things up, but I found the package as a whole pretty satisfying.
And at least the ending wasn't on the same level of awfulness as Sphere. :)
the_edge30
01-03-2002, 19:38
I thought Sphere was good, read the book if you wanna know more, but i thought the film handled it very well.
Looking forward to seeing this!
CHRIS!
I saw it last night and I really enjoyed it. I spent the whole movie kind of wondring what was going on, but I was hooked. The ending brought it all together so I kind of knew what had transpired but it's not perfect, it left me with a LOAD of questions.
Gere was superb.
A good movie. :)
Dr Derek Doctors
02-03-2002, 11:08
Originally posted by the_edge30
I thought Sphere was good, read the book if you wanna know more, but i thought the film handled it very well.
Looking forward to seeing this!
CHRIS!
Well, I thought that Sphere had loads of really good bits, in particular the scene with all the books and I really enjoyed it until the end, which I felt was on the level of putting "and then I woke up" at the end of a story.
Ol' Blue Eyes
02-03-2002, 19:04
I thought Mothman was a very effective chiller, in fact it actually had me quite scared. It's rare to see a big-budget, big-star movie that creates such a sense of dread and foreboding. If you enjoyed The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Stir Of Echoes, you should appreciate it.
DO NOT READ WHAT'S BELOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT AND INTEND TO.
If the ending feels unsatisfying, maybe it's because the sense of dread leads you to expect something really terrible at the end (like the director's last film, Arlington Road) but the film's also about Richard Gere learning to give up his obsession with what happened to his wife and when he decides to get on with his life by not taking that phone call, he breaks the cycle and is able to change the predestined events - that's how I saw it anyway.
Morpheus2000
02-03-2002, 23:36
The Mothman Prophecies is inspired by true events in which the makers have distorted the facts. John Klein (Richard Gere) is driving home with his wife one night when they are involved in a bizarre car crash. A couple of weeks later his wife dies in hospital, but beforehand she sketches her visions of the Mothman.
John never really paid much attention to his wife's delusions until two years later when he travels four hundred miles in the space of ninety minutes. He finds himself in Point Pleasant, West Virginia where he discovers other people have had strange events and visions occurring in their lives.
The story is very far fetched, but done in a very convincing manner. Performances are excellent from everybody, particularly from Gere as he plays the distraught reporter convincingly. Cinematography is also excellent and at times giving the impression another party is watching the proceedings.
Director Mark Pellington (Arlington Road) moves the film along at a moderate pace and keeps the tension mounting from the apprehension of the Mothman. If you enjoy The Twilight Zone or The X-Files you should love this. Overall a very good film with some brilliant twists and turns as the viewer is brought on a journey from which there's no escape.
Morpheus2000
02-03-2002, 23:39
Originally posted by Ol' Blue Eyes
I thought Mothman was a very effective chiller, in fact it actually had me quite scared. It's rare to see a big-budget, big-star movie that creates such a sense of dread and foreboding. If you enjoyed The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Stir Of Echoes, you should appreciate it.
DO NOT READ WHAT'S BELOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT AND INTEND TO.
If the ending feels unsatisfying, maybe it's because the sense of dread leads you to expect something really terrible at the end (like the director's last film, Arlington Road) but the film's also about Richard Gere learning to give up his obsession with what happened to his wife and when he decides to get on with his life by not taking that phone call, he breaks the cycle and is able to change the predestined events - that's how I saw it anyway.
Are you sure the wife is dead? Remember she questioned Connie about John?
Ol' Blue Eyes
03-03-2002, 07:39
Originally posted by Morpheus2000
Are you sure the wife is dead? Remember she questioned Connie about John?
I think that was the Mothman assuming the wife's form, like it would have been him on the phone if Gere had picked it up.
I thought the film was excellent, especially compared to other recent genre examples. Yes, very like an episode of the X Files, but miles better than the movie version of the show. It’s not the formulaic absolutely-nothing-new-to-offer pap that we normally get of a horror movie – The Gift, Stir of Echoes, What Lies Beneath, Long Time Dead, etc. And (thankfully) Gere is fine.
It did feel like Lynch Lite a lot of the time- inc the first meeting between Gere and Patton, the out-of-focus shots and Gere’s head butting of a mirror (identical to Agent Cooper’s in the last Twin Peaks episode).
The ending is fine, certainly in terms of the plot. Just because M. Night Shyamalan repeated his last trick on his second major film, don’t expect Pellington to do the same. Different agenda folks, and the untied strands here should be left that way – on reflection it’s the whole point of the film. If the ending is a let down at all it’s due to the formulaic big action finale, slightly at odds with the rest of it in tone (something I felt could even have been fixed in post production).
From January 1st this year I’ve been on a mission to watch absolutely every major cinema release. Almost 50% of them have been less than good and I’ve thought of throwing in the towel. So it’s always nice to see one that holds my attention from start to finish. Recommended.
Originally posted by McD
From January 1st this year I’ve been on a mission to watch absolutely every major cinema release. Almost 50% of them have been less than good and I’ve thought of throwing in the towel. So it’s always nice to see one that holds my attention from start to finish. Recommended.
Ive seen every major cinema release since last summer, and I feel the same as you about the quality of releases. However, since last summer I haven't paid for any of the films and I still feel that way! :(
GrossePointeJack
05-03-2002, 22:13
In regards to the ending it was nice to see there was NO CGI used from what i could tell - although there were a very few CGI shots used, the bulk of it seemed to be Live-action work.
Quite refreshing.
Cap'n Al
07-03-2002, 08:10
I thought it was excellent; incredibly atmospheric, with an intelligent script, and it was also incredibly frightening in parts, rather to my surprise. Highly, highly recommended. As for the ending, I'm not quite sure how it could be seen as a disappointment...
Originally posted by Raphph
Ive seen every major cinema release since last summer, and I feel the same as you about the quality of releases. However, since last summer I haven't paid for any of the films and I still feel that way! :(
A second look at Mothman makes me wonder if there were clues to it being a possible misunderstanding all along. The mothman’s red eyes that affected Gere’s wife, can be seen on the road she was driving as part of some roadworks. No two pictures of Gere’s wife look alike enough to make any kind of I.D. And hints are given that Will Patton may have a history of being slightly nuts. It still leaves a fair bit unexplained I suppose…
Anyway - I’m happy to report that since The Mothman Prophecies, both The Son’s Room and Bully have been just as good if not better. It’s been looking up – although with The Shipping News, the poorly reviewed Hearts In Atlantis and We Were Soldiers on next week’s list, I fear an imminent slide!
If anyone fancies The Son’s Room (a lovely, if slight, little Italian film about loss) you’ll have to act quickly. I was the only one in the cinema for the first time since Turner & Hooch in my schooldays. I left my mobile on and everyfink!
BOZZDUDE
07-03-2002, 17:58
Saw this last night and found it interesting but not somthing I could rave about.I thought it played like an over long episode of the X-Files but without the Moulder and Skully chemistry.
Will Patton stood out for me amongst an ok cast.
Really looking forward to We Were Soldiers tomorrow.:D
Tyler Durden
09-03-2002, 23:17
Sorry to rain on the parade here but I saw The Mothman Prophecies tonight and its the worse film I've seen this year. I felt it was too long by at least 30 mins. In a film like this you need to feel for the characters, I was just bored by them :(. As for the ending it came as no surprise to me at all.
At least I didn't have to pay to see it, thanks to those lovely people over at the Sugar Puffs factory ;)
Tiffany Bradford
07-06-2002, 14:03
Originally posted by Tyler Durden
Sorry to rain on the parade here but I saw The Mothman Prophecies tonight and its the worse film I've seen this year. I felt it was too long by at least 30 mins. In a film like this you need to feel for the characters, I was just bored by them :(. As for the ending it came as no surprise to me at all.
*Hi-fives Tyler Durden*
I had heard so many good things about this film and rented it thinking I was in for a treat - I was wrong.
It started off with so much potential, but quickly became boring and predictable. I was absolutely appalled at the scene involving Linney and Gere when she tried to keep him on the phone in order to prevent him from talking with his dead wife The scene seemed to go on forever.
The only real chill in the film for me was the scene in which Gere is standing outside the diner, and his dead wife passes him on the pavement - it creeped me out
The ending wasn't a disappointment because they had innundated the film with clues - you didn't have to be a Mensa Candidate to work out what was going to happen.
It's a shame - it could have been so much more.
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