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Though it poses a good moral dilemma, `Skulls' is presented in such an implausible way as to render it crippled at birth. Luke McNamara is a small town boy of modest means attending an Ivy League institution that is never really named but is obviously Yale. He is hoping to be called for membership into the Skulls, a secret society of great status and power. Members of this society have the doors of power, wealth and influence thrown wide to them. This is a dream come true for Luke, who spends much of his time fretting over the hundreds of thousands in student loans he is incurring. When he discovers that one of the members has committed a felony, he is torn between his desire for wealth, his loyalty to a friend, and his conscience.

Writer John Pogue (`U.S. Marshals') has conjured up a good moralistic tale, but it is so full of ridiculous premises that it becomes laughable. This is supposed to be a secret society where other than the members themselves, no one knows who the members are. Yet, Pogue and director Rob Cohen present it in such a way that they may as well be advertising their identities on TV. The building where the secret meetings take place is prominently marked with a Skull, and only members have keys to the building. So, Duh, anyone seen entering the building must be a Skull. New members get brand new $50,000 automobiles and $100,000 in cash, as if no one will notice this sudden burst of good fortune. The new members are branded on their wrist and we are supposed to believe that they will never be seen by anyone without their wristwatch on. The list of inconceivability goes on ad nauseam.

The acting is generally quite good. Joshua Jackson (`Cruel Intentions', `Urban Legend') is excellent as Luke. He plays the part with just the right combination of idealistic zeal and moral grounding. He gets great support from Paul Walker (`She's All That', `Varsity Blues') as Caleb Mandrake, the spoiled rich kid trying to step out of his father's shadow. Craig T. Nelson gives a wonderfully nefarious performance as the chairman of the Skulls and Caleb's father.

Maybe secret societies exist, and maybe they don't. The fact that no one is sure indicates that if they are more than mere myths, they are a lot more secret than depicted here. I rated this film a 6/10. It is an interesting idea that loses credibility in the telling.

Mix schlocky but hilarious Hollywood hack dialogue with equally schlocky but hilarious Hollywood hack plotting, and you get a potent 1-2 sucker punch to your intellect...I call it...THE SKULLS. A delightfully silly movie, it moves briskly through semi-serious conflicts and silly conspiracies, and all with the the intelligence of your average CBS movie of the week. But it has a sense of momentum that you can't escape, and soon your on a ride that combines equal parts laughs and smiles, nothing too grim, but a (for what it is) fanatical devotion to its own plot devices. The maguffin of the Skulls society is their rule book, a device that comes to charming use late in the movie. William Peterson's senator reminds Joshua Jackson repeatedly that every conflict, every ordeal, can be solved within the rule book...and indeed within the world of the Skulls, this book does hold all the answers. Dropping hints here and there as to how it'll all end, the movie has a charming level of mystery, no more sinister or thrilling than The Da Vinci Code, but thankfully much less serious in its handling.

One of my favorite scenes is one of the stupidest. The chosen boys are given a grand reception with the many distinguished alumni on a remote island that at times resembles Alcatraz and Hogwarts School for Wizards. The boys are given expensive diving watches (an obvious product placement) and then dressed in tuxedos where they shake hands and shift uncomfortably in their cumberbunds...until the director inexplicably cranks out Creed onto the soundtrack ("Can You Take Me Higher" no less!) and then this huge door opens and out walk whatever waif models were hot in 2000. And they strut out as if on a runway, no sense of acting in any of their faces, and it's pure schlock...and I love it!

Rob Cohen went on to XXX and then tanked with Stealth, but this shows what people in Hollywood saw in the guy. The film is fun, never too heavy, and perfectly suited for a fall evening with your none-too-intellectual school friends OR consumed in 12 minute intervals on TNT. It's plotted swiftly and compellingly enough to justify its running time...another honor not bestowed on The Da Vinci Code. Basically, it's perfectly mindless, harmless fun, with a better than average cast who seem to revel in the camp of it all. Enjoy when you got nothing better to do.

This is one of those pretty entertaining-yet-not memorable stories. It's about a "secret society" in an Ivy League school and a subsequent cover-up of a murder. There is a neat little twist about a half hour before the end of the film.

The college kids in here are no-name actors but all credible not offensive or annoying. The film is nicely photographed. Apparently, the film was successful enough to spawn a sequel, so that infers this has enough going for it to check it out if you haven't watched it.

It's okay, but don't expect anything super. However, I have a good friend who thinks this movie is super, and he's usually very critical.

Joshua Jackson plays a very smart student who is eager to get into law school. Then he is approached by Paul Walker's character who manages to get him to join a secret society only for the smartest of the smartest students known as The Skulls. It seems that everything is going well but then things start to get much more darker.

On the face of it, it seems like a brilliant idea for a movie. A good breakaway from the typical teen movie. However, it didn't really make good use of the potential it had to be a great movie. The story was made too thin than it should have been and some other details including character development and about this secret society itself were left rather sketchy.

I believe that if these details are elaborated on then this would be a much better and more memorable movie than it actually is.

The Skulls is a thinly veiled allusion to one of the purportedly most secret of all secret societies, Skull and Bones, the Yale group to which George Bush (the former president) belonged. You know all about those secret societies; they breed smart, rich young men who will put other smart, rich young men in power, and then those men will put other smart, rich young men in power, and so forth and yadda yadda yadda. You can find out all sorts of things about Skull and Bones online, and I suppose there's a chance some of those things are actually true. But for the purposes of this movie - and this review - suffice to say that The Skulls is a small group mostly made up of rich white kids who get paid scholarships, free cars, free women, the whole works. And what does this secret society ask for in return? Unbound loyalty, of course. Unquestioning and absolute loyalty, kind of like the Mob, really, only the Mob is more overtly criminal.

The story focuses on Luke, a townie at Yale University. Luke wants to go to law school, but the tuition's a little high. He's parentless and low on funds, so of course he's prime pickings for The Skulls. Will he join them? Darn tootin' he will, despite the protests of his best friend and this hot young blonde he likes. They try to reason with him, believing their friendship is stronger than his need to be a lawyer, but they're wrong. If they were right, we'd have no movie.

So he joins, and wouldn't you know it, all kinds of bad things happen to poor Luke. There's murder, there's corruption, and gosh and golly, our boy just doesn't know who to trust. More twists than a Poe novel; the only problem is, they're not believable twists. If you're cynical about this kind of movie (as I am), you'll laugh out loud many times, both at the acting and the dialogue. The worst offense is in the timing, quite frankly. At no point are we led to believe that this society could be a GOOD thing. We know immediately it's bad. See, I think to be truly sinister you need to wear a mask of credibility. If I already know how bad you are, I won't be as afraid of you or as startled when you actually do something despicable.

This is a real chucklefest, in the same vein as Final Destination, Urban Legends, I Know What You Did Last Summer (both movies), and even the Scream movies, which I didn't care for (but I know many of you did, so whatcha gonna do). You have an attractive cast spouting incredible lines in unbelievable situations. The old moviegoer in us wonders what Jimmy Stewart or Gregory Peck would have done in this movie when they were younger (and, in Stewart's case, alive), but that's probably a philosophical debate best left to denizens of the old critics' home. As for me, I'd say pass on The Skulls - it's as hollow as its name might imply.

I just saw The Skulls and I loved it! The characters were very believable in my opinion. After reading most of these reviews, I think a lot of people are overanalyzing so they never really got to sit back and enjoy the movie for what it was.

Joshua Jackson did a good job as Luke McNamara. He could have done it a little better, but all in all, his acting was very well done.

Leslie Bibb did a neat job as well. She was an awesome female character and looked nice on screen with Joshua.

Paul Walker did an amazing job of adding that complex aura to Caleb Mandrake. I think he was the best part of this movie. He has always done a really wonderful job of expressing emotions through those beautiful eyes and he did it again in The Skulls.

I'd give it a 9/10

Not having seen this film when it first was released, we took a chance when it showed on cable recently. Despite the general bad comments from all contributors of this film in IMDb, Rob Cohen's "The Skulls", shows some interesting aspects about a secret society in one Ivy League university.

First of all, it's almost inconceivably how a "townie" like Lucas McNamara, can enter this society, which is clearly intended for the rich boys that attend the university. If ever there was someone who had no chance in being a candidate, it was Luke McNamara. But then, Lucas' character is thrown in to show a contrast in the proceedings, otherwise the film would have been unwatchable if it only concentrated in these boring rich boys.

Films like "The Skulls", and other thrillers, thrive in the paranoia factor that is created around the situation. In this case, it shows how a few misguided individuals want to control everything where their members are influential figures. In this case it is the judge that aspires to be the next supreme court nominee, something that has some actual interest, since the president of the United States, a secret society member himself, has had to choose people to fill key vacancies in the government.

The best assets of the film lie in the crisp cinematography by Shane Hurlbut, who does wonder with his camera. The fine editing of the film by Peter Amundson shows outstanding quality that makes "The Skulls" a film that is easy to watch. Mr. Cohen has an eye for camera placement that shows in the different settings in the film.

One wishes Rob Cohen luck with his next undertaking because she demonstrates he knows his craft well.

In life, people learn to like all kinds of things. In time, they will realize there are groups for these interests. Some groups are just for recreational reasons, while others can be for more serious topics. There are also some people who don't even know about it. The reason is for the amount of power or influence these associations may have on society. The thing is, what most of these secret cliques have in real life is the capability to conceal itself so far that it is very hard to pinpoint. This of course leads only to a very select few who can speak to it but in the end, sound like they're out of their mind. In short, conspiracy nuts. That's essentially the topic of focus in this feature film. It's an interesting idea, but the overall execution is just average. It's nothing out of the ordinary.

Written by John Pogue (U. S. Marshals (1998)), the plot is about your everyday looking college student Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson) hoping to be a success after he graduates. He, his best friend Will (Hill Harper) and close female friend Chloe (Leslie Bibb) very much share the same values. Additionally, they all think a group known as "The Skulls" is one of the strangest ones around. That is until Luke is brought in to join them. That's when things turn all upside down for him. Again, the idea of secretly powerful societies is not an uncommon plot but if done right, can be captivating to watch. This unfortunately is just watered-down. For one, the group is publicly known but operates secretly. It's a bit contradictory to say the least. Who operates a tight ship with sloppy security? How is that even allowable?

That's just one question out of many. The group has a rule book of over 100 things to follow by. Yet, there seem to be a lot of loose ends hanging around. Additionally, while the group is promoted internally as being able to effect outcomes elsewhere, there's no examples of it. Much of everything is so vague someone could assume they could impact anything. That's not the only odd thing going on. Once Luke the protagonist and his "soul mate" Caleb Mandrake (Paul Walker) meet at their first initiation, Luke's character flips to the exact opposite of the values to Will and Chloe. It's not that Luke is an unlikeable character, but he is a clichéd dull one. It's surprising director Rob Cohen who wasn't fresh to the job by this point didn't callout any of these issues.

Not even Caleb Mandrake is consistent in his character arc. One moment he's saying one thing and the next he's doing the exact opposite. That's not saying the acting is unwatchable though. Joshua Jackson is believable as the lead. It's just his character is motivationally confused. Paul Walker who at the time was mostly unknown still pulls in a performance that mostly makes sense for the story. Leslie Bibb is also okay despite her character falling into the expected clichés as well. She would later have roles in Trick 'r Treat (2007) and Iron Man (2008). What's more interesting is that William Petersen is also in this movie as a member of The Skulls and would later share screen time with Hill Harper in the CSI shows. There's also appearances from Christopher McDonald, Craig T. Nelson and Steve Harris.

The camerawork was acceptable for the picture. Shot by Shane Hurlbut, the camera makes use of its surroundings as well as incorporating dizzying shots to convey hysteria. This is pretty good considering this was his first theatrical film credit. Also done acceptably was the film score composed by Randy Edelman. While known for having more stock sounding music, Edelman does create a main theme for the story. It's not the most memorable, but it's not really forgettable either. Better that than just soundscape textural noise produced by other composers. What Edelman relies on for this work is piano keys to convey the feeling of the tracks. Thankfully the album is very much easy listening as well. Like usual though, Edelman's albums do not consist of much runtime. So best not to expect too much.

The crew behind the camera and actors performing do their jobs like they should. It's just the writing that challenges those things and weighs it down. The premise seems sloppily put together and the character arcs are erratic.

This film is great, trashy fun. Of course, it's impossible to take it seriously. It has such incredible, unbelievable situations than to enjoy it one has to see it as an unintentional comedy. My best scene in that sense would be when Joshua Jackson is interned by the baddies in a madhouse. It's such a ridiculous scene that you can't help laughing at it. The second-best situation would be the duel, and the father, telling his son after being shot the immortal line "You're not worth the trouble". Take it easy and laugh out loud.

formulaic and schmaltzy, this movie brings on the napping nods in a hurry. you don't even have to be tired. when you find your face in your popcorn, try and keep watching for a bit, because there's some nice shots of paul walker without his shirt on. one crack-up is when the directors try to make the film look stylish and avant-garde by using a shaky cam during one scene. don't even rent it, wait for it on tv.

While his character was believable, I could NOT take Joshua Jackson seriously in this film at all. He reminds me too much of Joe from Blue's Clues. Overall the movie was OKAY...wasn't too thrilled with it, but hey, at least I got to see Paul Walker! ;).

6/10

This movie was better than I had anticipated. I liked all the action scenes in the movie, and the whole cover-up thing. I really liked the twists and turns too. The audience was able to relate to Luke. Also, newcomer Leslie Bibb was great for her first real air time. I liked the movie, but the ending could have used some retooling. I mean, it was a little too shabby for me. However, I would enjoy watching it again when out on video. I believe the majority of the people would enjoy this original action ride. Good movie, most of the time!

I wasn't really sure if I'd like the movie. As another reviewer put it, "The Skulls is not art. In fact it's pretty bad but some films are just made to entertain." If you haven't seen this film for quite some time, then I highly suggest that you do see it soon. There's really no way to classify or categorize this film. The film is dark, brooding, intense and most of all depressing. Great performances help to enhance this amazing story of friendship and violence. It's an amazing work and everything I had hoped for. The real centerpiece of the film is its acting. This film was nearly perfect, but sadly still not made for everyone. I award it 7 out of 10.

The Skulls was definitely an interesting concept, and contained some truly intriguing moments however good writing alone could not save this film. The bad acting (especially by Jackson and Harper) overshadows what could have been otherwise great moments in the film. However as a whole the acting did not affect the integrity and overall quality of the film. It truly does make one wonder, what this film could have been, had they actually attempted to cast better actors. The film was good, but left more to be desired. Its still entertainment and a viewer could do much worse than this movie, however they most likely could also do much better. Unless you have nothing better to watch and have two hours to waste, you should try your hand at another movie. The idea alone of The Skulls as a secret society was most likely what spawned the sequels, not this film.

I just saw "The Skulls." Wow. It's bad.

If I might, I'd like to share with you a comparison that eluminates some of the more glarring problems I had with Rob Cohen's latest "thriller." I am currently an undergraduate student at a fairly exclusive university; much like Luke McNamara. He is alledgedly a poor college student who came from a rough background, and has to pinch every penny to afford his higher education. I make no such claims, but I live in a cramped dorm room that is still one of the bigger ones on campus. Luke lives in a gigantic "dorm room" filled with ample furniture, and several rooms, all with hardwood floors. For a poor guy, he's pretty well off.

Enough of that; what you want to hear about are the titular Skulls, a "Secret" Society on campus that gives its members everything they ever wanted... (insert dramatic music) ...but at a terrible price.

I put secret in quotes up there, because much is made of the idea of Secret Societies on college campuses and how well-guarded their secrets are, and how everyone wants to know all about them. Here are my tips to people looking to start their own societies, taking what I learned from watching "The Skulls"

-Branding your members makes them pretty easy to identify.

-Mood lighting, and well-timed light cues really adds drama to those initiation ceremonies.

-If you don't want people to know where you live, don't put a gigantic Skull on top of your mansion.

-Before you drug people, let them know that they are going to wake up inside a sealed coffin, so they immediately know where they are when they wake up, and how to get out (Given the relative ease with which the Skull recruits jump out of SEALED coffins I can only assume they were warned in advance).

Not very secretive. I'm surprised they don't advertise in the college newspaper. The movie defies logic and general interest at every term. Drama and tension are manufactured out of forced moments, incredible cheesy music, ridiculous lighting (Every single scene in "The Skulls" seems to take place in late afternoon), and often thin air. I laughed at the opening title card, the bizarre love scene, the lengthy metaphors, the terrible dialogue, and general insanity that goes around in the Skulls.

Additional highlights include gas torches flicked on with a switch, Craig T. ("Coach") Nelson as a villain who's about as intimidating as Dick Dastardly from "Wacky Races," a very poorly edited chase scene, and two times in which the director really wants you to think the characters are going to get shot...and boy does he sure pull the wool over your eyes! Tragic really.

"The Skulls" is a manufactured movie. Everything is artificial and fake, and I loved laughing at every minute of it.

OK the plot is old hat (a secret society that rules the government and covers up a murder or two) but the movie is entertaining. The plot is relatively intelligent and fast-moving; the cast is uniformally good--even Joshua Jackson!; there's no graphic gore (or nudity); and the action scenes are well-done and exciting. Not a great film by any means, but a fun, action-filled, entertaining two hours. Just don't think about it too much afterwards.

My father recommended this movie. I don't remember much from the movie, I have to watch it again. The subject is interesting.

The thing we do for friends. Back in college, it would be fun to go out and see a movie with friends, even if I had no interest in it. The Skulls would fit in that category. I had no reason to go see this movie, I had never once seen an episode of Dawson's Creek, where star of The Skulls, Joshua Jackson, became a star, so my interest was not peaked by him being in it. I liked the show Coach, but I had no yearning to see Craig T. Nelson in a movie. So there I am, in a movie theater hoping that my night could have been salvaged. It wasn't. This movie stunk from first frame to last frame. The plot? Some college guy wants to become a member of a secret society on it's Connecticut campus (but it's NOT Yale, repeat NOT Yale, Yale must had seen an advance on this movie and wisely stayed away), then after joining the boy's club, want's out for reasons that would give away what little interesting plot points there are. The idea of secret societies should have made a good movie, but it didn't. Cliché plot devices, plot twists for the sole purpose of having a plot twist, uninspired acting, and a lot of other pointlessness that prevented me from having an otherwise fantastic evening. If you are looking for entertainment, stay away. But if you want to have one more night with Pacey or Coach, by all means, still stay away from this movie. Their shows should be on DVD now.