Jinn

I just got back from seeing "Jinn". To be honest, I hadn't even heard of it before. I saw it in the theater listings, looked up the movie, and saw it was filmed in Michigan, where I'm from, so I gave it a shot.

I really enjoyed this movie. The story was engaging and unique, and the acting was solid all around. It was a bit slow to get moving, but the final third of the movie and the ending were amazing. I loved the look and style of the movie. I LOVED the integration of aspects of the different Abrahamic spiritual traditions while still keeping the emphasis on Arabic/Muslim folklore. It's making me want to read up on some of that folklore myself, since I am unfamiliar with it. "Jinn" is only rated PG-13, but it's not a kids movie; it's just smarter and deeper than your average jump-scare torture porn with naked chicks types of "horror" movies.

As far as negatives go, I think the movie was a little schizophrenic in tone at times. It's not what I would call a pure horror movie, more of a horror plus supernatural action plus an unfortunate touch of "Fast and Furious". The overemphasis on the car was a huge distraction, and the connection between the filmmakers and the car is really strange. I guess they designed it specifically for this film and you can buy one? So you can continue the film experience in your real life? It is a cool looking car, but every time I saw it, it pulled me out of the narrative because I felt like I was watching a car commercial. Thankfully, it was only in a few scenes.

I definitely enjoyed "Jinn" and would recommend it to anyone looking for a more intellectual horror movie from a non-western perspective. Just try to ignore the car.

P.S. There is a brief scene at the end of the credits; I don't mean the scene in the church but later at the very end.

While watching this movie, all I could think was "Bro I need some khobza and hummus." After suffering through the first 60 minutes, I was left completely mind boggled by this horrible attempt at a movie. This movie would have been better without a director. All the guy did was make a stupid camaro and parade it around town. He put himself in the movie because he knew it would be the only time anyone would see him on screen. Overall, the acting, writing, directing, and soundtrack were all garbage. Please don't watch this abomination of a motion picture even if they give you a free ticket. Hopefully the jinns don't get me for watching this insulting spectacle.

Jinn is a film which can't decide whether it's a horror flick, a sci-fi/ fantasy romp, or an origin story launch for an independent noir graphic novel hero (please note, I have no idea if Jinn is based off a comic, but they're obviously trying to force-start a franchise.) Like the film's protagonists who attempt to create a super amalgamation of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, only to have it come across as vaguely anti-Muslim and awkward, (and the 'edgy' sound track choices which just end up being bafflingly bizarre,) this mix doesn't quite work, and the film would have been better served choosing one genre, and doing it well, instead of all and fumbling through it. There are some genuinely creepy moments, which are ruined by the comedy, and the comedy is in turn ruined by the complete, posturing cheesiness of some of characters and dialogs. Several plot devices could have come straight from their TVTropes.com pages, and certain scenes feel almost as if they were lifted from famous, better-made, movies.

The production value is very high, which helps and hinders. There are many actors with recognizable faces doing the very best they can; some extremely expensive camera shots; well-done (and plentiful) effects; fighting and driving stunts; and seriously, what is the point of the sports car? The high production values prevent the film from be a crappy delight, but make the confusing plot bearable to watch. Watching Jinn, you'll wonder who in the world would pour so much money into a movie who's plot and screen play feel more like a made-for-TV film you stumble onto after midnight on the Sifi channel than the big budget blockbuster it longs to be.

If you like films like "Season of the Witch," "Outlander," or random, independent movies from Red Box, you'll probably like Jinn, but otherwise, this is a film to watch with a bunch of drunk friends and make fun of, though there are other, better, choices for that.

Interesting thing about Jinn, it feels like a low-key Fantasy film, like The Lord of the Rings with out money. Low-Key Sci-fi films are more common, such as recently released Under the Skin or last years' Her, but I can't recall a low key Fantasy film, in which The Fantasy elements are not so played up visually, but are integrated mostly in the story content.

The movie takes place in modern times like The Percy Jackson series, but unlike Percy Jackson, I don't think the film had any money for anything too flamboyant, but I will say that the visual effects they did have were done well.

The visual effects made for a very dark and eerie villain with the Jinn, a group of Sentiment beings briefly mention in the bible as creatures God made in the same essence as The Angels and Man, and now wish to take back the world they walked on first, due to their jealousy of man

Although the protagonist of the movie had the looks but seemed a little stiff, possibly not use to being the center of a movie, I'm glad they did not use a typically white actor as the dashing hero.

I went to go see this movie because I saw Ray Park had a role in it. We all remember Ray Park from his breakthrough role as Darth Maul in episode one. During his 15 minutes they mention he was a skilled marshal artist. Unless I'm missing a movie or two, I never really seen him do a Marshal arts film, and with Jinn, I still haven't. The movie lacks the adventure I was expecting from it.

The story itself was good but I feel it was not laid out well enough or maybe fantasy is not met to be done low-key. At the end of the movie they say their is more to come, but I don't think this movie is good enough to get a better sequel funded.

This potentially intriguing movie ruined my whole day for a vast number of reasons. I had come across the trailer for this, and being a fan of atmospheric supernatural thrillers, it looked appealing. Thus, I planned a whole day around going out to see this film theatrically in its limited release. Sadly, it failed on so many levels that I literally stopped caring about it halfway through, which made for a horrendously difficult sit for the next 50 minutes.

"Jinn" apparently has its mythology based on Middle Eastern folklore, but provides the most bare minimum exposition to get any of its ideas across. Thus, concepts and characters are poorly defined. It has concepts that are mentioned in relation to man, jinn, and angels - yet introduces nothing regarding angels anywhere in its narrative. As it goes along, you get the idea that Ray Park's character could potentially be an angel from the abilities he demonstrates, but nope, that potentially interesting idea never comes to be. The Jinn themselves are not well explained in the supposed mythology this film is attempting to setup and utilize. This film ultimately fails to flesh out or develop anything on a compelling level. The characters are not explored, leaving them as very two dimensional people despite having some potentially good quality talents here like William Atherton. It was at the point, nestled in the second act, where characters typically are fleshed out and given more depth and focus that I realized this film had no intention of caring at all about its characters. Everyone is given a shallow setup with no further development beyond that, and instead, the film throws a lot of flashy imagery and effects to use its sleek appearance mask its shortcomings.

"Jinn" also heavily lacks in excitement until well passed the point where I stopped giving a damn about it. The talents of Ray Park are grossly wasted here with a very tame and very brief martial arts showing, and a super slow motion fight scene that amounts to one of the most boring sequences of the film. The filmmakers also surely had no intention of building up legitimate scares or suspense. Jump scares are all it has to offer in that regard, and as I said, the action fails to excite at all. It also features some suped up concept car that the director clearly put far more effort and energy into integrating into this film than he did anything else.

I honestly stopped giving a damn about halfway through the film because the makers of this film never bothered to give me anything worth giving a damn about. You have to establish, develop, and build up your characters primarily, and that's exactly what this film never takes the time to do. Thus, it's exactly why I lost all interest in this, and felt embarrassed walking out of the theatre at the end of it. Also, despite the Jinn being a threat to the entire whole of humanity, the scope of this film is extremely narrow, and feels a lot like a forgettable late 1990's direct-to-video movie. It just lacks ambition, originality, intelligence, and scope to make it succeed on any creative level at all.

"Jinn" does have a very moody look to it with good quality cinematography, and the CGI effects work is quite high grade. However, good visuals and some nice effects cannot make-up for a lackluster script and lazy storytelling. The acting isn't poor, but it fails to compel an audience's interest. Do not bother paying to see this movie. There is a vast catalog of far superior works in this genre to watch and enjoy thoroughly than this such as The Prophecy, Constantine, Solomon Kane, or any episode of Supernatural. Don't waste your time, and don't encourage a sequel to a well below average movie like this because its end credits literally are asking you to do so.