Prémonitions

Take " Dead zone" and " Manhunter" and you have Solace.

I won't tell you much about the plot but the film is in the title.

Wasn't entirely sure what I was going to watch because of the trailer but was very pleasantly surprised.

I left the theatre wondering who was the bad guy...or indeed IF there was a bad guy.Fantastic cinematography and use of special effects with blistering performances all around.

A number of reviews have mentioned that this copies a lot of genres but for me it nods a wink in homage to psycho-thrillers to which the director obviously adores.

Absolutely riveting direction takes this from a Sunday matinée to a Saturday night blockbuster which Tony Hopkins comfortably revels in.

Colin Farrell is superb as the protagonist ( or is he)?

I challenge you to not enjoy this for what it is.

Bring on the DVD so I can watch again and sumise!!

The premise where Psychics are helping the police to find killers are a very common thing in movies and TV series and maybe in real life. They won't tell you who the killer is. Just bits and pieces of information, sometimes misleading or misinterpreting.

The same goes for "Solace" a rather naive supernatural thriller which gains substance and becomes interesting because of the presence of veteran multi-awarded actor Anthony Hopkins. Colin Farrell is also in this but maybe he is miscast.

The direction and editing might bother some people but I personally found it OK. Lots of digital Effects, slow motions, quick distorted editing, are always a way to present visions or memories, and this movie has plenty.

One of the problems of "Solace" is that it has a strong statement about a rather delicate matter which I won't reveal because ultimately is the motive of the villain. It's like a moral that forces you to accept it, without expressing the opposite side which is equally strong.

Overall: You won't waste your time with this one. Is a decent Supernatural Thriller and Anthony Hopkins is effortlessly great. In my opinion though skip the obvious moral, or give it some more thought.

Firstly, I liked this movie very much. What I didn't like were 2 things: the story was a bit lame (the directing makes it unpredictable) but otherwise the story was flatly OK. The second thing: the tempo and the editing were fast as if it were a TV series. Other than that, it was excellent. The mood of the movie with its colors and lenses and frames was different than anything I've seen, as if the director intentionally wanted to give this genre a different approach. Thus the contre point description: it's too fast and too lucid to belong to this genre. That being said, I can reiterate now and say I liked this movie. It worked for me. It's surprisingly haunting, fresh, it doesn't bore you for a second and it keeps building up. Other than the lame story and the fast editing tempo it's a great effort by an amateur genius (the director). It lingers in your mind, the contre point aspect, the score, the script, the performance by the actors. It's really worth a watch.

When I first seen this on the shelf at my library, I thought it looks pretty good. When I seen this I thought this is a damn good movie with a good story and really good performances.

The film is basically your typical serial killer goes on a rampage and FBI agents must stop him formula, but this film is refreshingly done with great twists and takes interesting turns along the way.

The performances from Anthony Hopkins, Colin Farrell, Jefferey Dean Morgan and Abbie Cornish were very good, everyone brought their A-game in this. Jefferey and Abbie play FBI agents and Anthony is a doctor who is physic who from what I can tell, is a cop, and the FBI uses him from time to time on really difficult cases. On this case, the killer there after is just like Anthony's character, a physic ,and has them follow his bazaar riddles and clues, which is really cool.

I know it won't happen but I kinda want to see a sequel to this because the concept is fresh, this film could be a franchise. Originally this was the sequel to Seven that started Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt but was changed to this instead, I think at the time New Line Cinema didn't like it or it never got of the ground, but I'm glad it was rescued and made as this instead. Besides Seven is very hard to franchise if you think about it.

The action scenes are good and the story is cool it's one of these edge of your seat kinda flicks, with a great ending that I will not spoil.

I give it a 7/10. A good movie that I can't recommend enough to you. See it.

It's hard to believe than an interesting idea with such a casting for the main roles can end up being such a mediocre movie.

The script is not great, it definitely has its flaws, but what really bothered me is the camera work and cinematography. It really makes this movie look cheap. Even though there is a decent budget (big actors, cars being destroyed..), the style is completely absent. The shaky camera and quick zooms look horrible and distracting in this kind of movie, it's like the director made a couple of action movies and didn't know how to film this. It's a very dark story, with very dark characters and dialogs, but the visual mood tells a completely different story, and if you're aware of this aspect of a movie, it will definitely spoil this one like it happened to me.

Another big annoyance was the character Joe (J. D. Morgan), which was supposed to be a burned down cop with a big mess on his hands, but then he walks around with a gentle smile, being cool and nice and sharing some lovely scenes with his happy family. I actually like the actor, but it seems that he wasn't really guided into the character. Complete kill of mood. There were lots of moments where the characters kind of lose the touch with the nature of the story and I found that very distracting. This was supposed to be a sequel for Se7en. Compare it with that and you'll see exactly what I mean.

I'm sure lots of people will find this movie good, watchable. I feel like it had the potential to be way better, but the director failed to set the mood right.

I'm actually glad they didn't make this into a sequel for Se7en.