Ink

I must say I've rarely been torn about a movie that much. First off, for a low-budget indie production, this movie is great, no doubt. But how does it compare to the Hollywood productions with similar ideas?

The beginning is very strenuous to watch. It takes a long time before you will understand anything that's going on. This will not change until somewhere between the middle and the end, and thus frustrate many viewers.

The story itself is creative and refreshing, but very confusing, I guess you could call it an adult fairy tale. The movie raises questions about family values, moral obligations, self-esteem and shame, all of them well developed and executed.

The actors are mostly doing a good job, although some of the supporting actors' (one actress in particular) emotions are a bit too extreme to be believable, but this does not really disturb the illusion and is merely a minor inconvenience.

The effects are worth their money and quite impressive for a low-budget production.

What ultimately makes this movie worth watching, however, is the truly great ending. If you are patient enough to sit through the movie as a whole and pardon the few flaws in it, you will be rewarded with an emotional, surprising and heart-warming ending.

While I have stood idly by and read others comments on so many movies, I feel compelled to say something about this one. Truly a work of art, and it's an injustice that it is not more well known for I stumbled across this movie by chance and had heard nothing of it. This is far better than anything at the theaters now a days and was so well done in every aspect of it. A must see movie for anyone who gets a chance, like an escape away from the usual routine we are accustomed to.

From the beginning this movie will grab your attention. From the subtle effects that are done just right, to the acting from all parties of the cast. A very wholesome experience. Perhaps the rest of the film industry could take a lesson or two and make a decent movie like this and not waste millions of dollars on the junk they crank out on a daily basis.

Ink is a nicely done low-budget indie film with an interesting visual style. It's not a masterpiece, but it's really quite well done, despite some fairly weak acting (in some places it's downright cringe-worthy.) The dialog ranges from clever to humdrum, but I've heard worse in blockbusters from big studios, who don't have the excuse of a low budget and limited resources. The story is simple, but told in a non-linear fashion that I found interesting but never baffling. Nothing in the movie seemed arbitrary or random. It was obviously a labor of love, and I for one am willing to overlook the flaws and appreciate this film as a sincere and energetic effort by a director with potential.

John has worked hard to climb the corporate ladder from his humble origins but, unless something changes, his ambitions and grudges will destroy his relationship with his daughter Emma. At the same time, while the world sleeps at night, it is visited by Storytellers (who give people good dreams) and Incubi (who give people nightmares). When an interloper named Ink kidnaps Emma to hand her over to the Incubi, the Storytellers unite with a Pathfinder (who can influence what people do during their waking hours) to make things right.

I think I first saw this one with my brother around the time it was released. The fantasy world in its well-crafted story is very engaging. A few times the dialog felt a little off to me, but the characters are interesting and the actors do a good job of bringing them to life.

The description on the back of the DVD says its been compared to The Matrix, Brazil, and Dark City, which I sensed especially through the excellent camera work and cinematography. One scene in particular of the Pathfinder "stopping the flow" is very masterfully executed!

Ink follows the journey of eight year old Emma (Quinn Hunchar), who falls into a coma after she is kidnapped into a dreamworld by a mysterious monster, called Ink. In the real world Emma gets hospitalized after falling into a coma, but in the dreamworld she is being used by Ink as a pawn in a metaphysical war being fought between the forces of light and darkness.The forces of light are a group of people who give dreams to the living, known as storytellers, warriors, fighters, navigators and pathfinders. The forces of darkness, the Incubus, concurrently give nightmares to the living. Now Emma's only hope lies within her negligent father (Chris Kelly), a successful business man, as the forces of light cross over to the real world and try to alter his path to save Emma... What a crazy ride. Ink is unlike any other movie I know.Its definitely the most original movie I have ever seen and visually, it is quite stunning,the special effects really enhance the film.They're not state of the art GCI but they are tremendously effective.The soundtrack is wonderful and very suiting.The acting was good, specially Quinn Hunchar,this little girl is not only beautiful but she played her role with a maturity way beyond her age.The story its kind of a grown up fairy-tale and has an epic feeling to it,unfortunately it gets too confusing and complex at times,its one of those films you have to watch more then one time to fully comprehend everything that happened.My other complaint is the following: I think the movie is a bit all over the place.It has many great ideas and elements but it ends up being a bit messy.Having said that I'm amazed by what this director was able to accomplish with a low budget and probably not many resources.I see a LOT of great ideas here and I see a lot of potential.If Jamin Winans can do a film like this with this budget, I could only imagine what he would do with a Hollywood budget. In conclusion,Ink is a crazy and surreal journey that deserves to be seen.A very original and refreshing piece of work and the director is one to watch!

7/10