The Butterfly Effect
Cinematography:
Matthew F. LeonettiComposer:
Michael SubyCast:
Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Melora Walters, Eric Stoltz, John Patrick Amedori, Elden Henson, Kevin G. Schmidt, Kevin Durand, William Lee Scott, Ethan Suplee (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Evan (Ashton Kutcher) makes the incredible discovery that he can use the notebooks as a vehicle enabling him to journey back into the past so that his adult mind occupies the body of his childhood self. He begins a series of attempts to re-direct history with the aim of saving his friends and loved ones from the traumas that have befallen them. But every time Evan changes something in the past, however small, he finds when he returns to the present that his actions have had unexpected and disastrous consequences. The harder he tries to make things go right, the less able he seems to create a reality that allows him and Kayleigh (Amy Smart) to live happily ever after. (Icon Home Entertainment)
(more)Videos (1)
Reviews (12)
Quite a disappointment. I expected something interesting, like Donnie Darko, but alas. The Butterfly Effect is a viewer-friendly film aimed at an undemanding younger audience, the games with time are only for effect and without any depth. It is watchable, but it doesn’t have a chance to win my heart.
()
The idea that we could travel back in time and change the past as we see fit is so appealing that even I sometimes get swept away by a film that tells this story. Here, however, the frequent illogicality of the plot spoiled the overall impression. Even Ashton Kutcher couldn’t save it. He is nice to look at, but unfortunately, that's about it. (65%)
()
This film’s numerous visual tricks, incredibly high-octane plot and mysterious atmosphere, supported by a beautifully mysterious and emotional soundtrack, will captivate you and give you a powerful and moving experience. But if you use your head more actively, you will repeatedly get tripped up. Some of the twists are solely for effect and diminish the sense of what happened before (why didn’t he return more times to that one moment and shape the circumstances so that everything would be perfect?!). Actually, the whole film is a less sophisticated version of Twelve Monkeys, but revolving not around the end of the world, but around love.
()
Where its genre brothers (for instance, 12 Monkeys or Donnie Darko) in their complexity are just starting to warm up they’re wheels of logic, The Butterfly Effect with its “plot based and time paradox" line are still standing at a red light. Even so, it’s still a good movie, especially in the first half. After that the screenwriters (and, because they also directed it, the directors too) start running out of breath and ideas, while Kutcher runs out of talent. The whole movie starts to sink into the waters of mediocrity, with one cliché after another, and only thanks to the timely ending it didn’t sink even lower.
()
During the first act the chills made a car track out of my back, about halfway through I had no idea were it was going and the unexpected shifts in the plot kept me on my toes, and by the end I was one more satisfied viewer. A dense atmosphere, excellent direction and an interesting story make The Butterfly Effect a movie that won't let you catch your breath. Then even the logical holes in the script and the fact that the theme of temporal paradoxes is not revelatory (and has been handled better in many other movies) can be forgiven. This film has a lot of appeal. And, by the way, Amy Smart is gorgeous.
()
Ads