Movies about aliens have been some of the most interesting films of all time. From “E.T.” to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” some of the best films involve creatures from beyond our galaxy, but after watching “The Fourth Kind,” I realized that aliens are real. Not because the movie was so believable, but because this director must have been probed one too many times to make a film this bad.
“The Fourth Kind” is half “real” camera footage of an alien abduction case, and half actors portraying the events in the story. Dr. Abigail Tyler (Jovovich) is a psychologist in Nome, Ala. A year after her husband’s murder, she receives four patients proclaiming they are being haunted by an owl. Somehow Tyler connects the owls to aliens and believes the cases are linked together through alien activity that her husband spent his life trying to prove exist. With help from colleague Awolowa Odusami (Hakeem Kae-Kazim), they hypnotize all the patients in hopes of gathering information to solve their problem. The hypnotisms turn in to alien-like exorcisms. The next day the patients inexplicably go on a killing spree. The sheriff (Patton) does not like what’s happening in his small town, and Dr. Abigail must disobey the law in order to solve Nome’s problem.
Jovovich is not a good actress, and I think this movie proves my point. Her bad acting brings down this already miserable movie. Unfortunately, she’s the best actor in this film. Kae-Kazim has such a bad role that he had no prayer of looking good. Patton is the worst actor in this film. I have no idea why he had a fake accent since no one else that was from Alaska in the film had it.
The plot definitely steals a little from “The Blair Witch Project,” but that was an Oscar worthy film compared to this garbage. The idea of alien abductions has been done numerous times, and “Fourth” brings nothing new to the table. It disturbs me that someone out there believes that the home camera footage is real, because that was done horribly. There was no true suspense, because the story relied on those terrible camera sequences for every action scene.
Director and writer Olatunde Osunsanmi should offer a refund to everyone who saw this movie. It grossed $12 million its opening weekend, and I blame the clever television ads for this tragedy. His style is sloppy, and the writing sounds like a 12-year-old holding a dictionary. The constant close ups of owls is hilarious, but the most appalling scenes are the ones that spin you around the actors telling you to watch out for aliens.
The score by Atli ‘f4rvarsson was by far the worst score of the year. I cannot believe that in post-production they heard this vile sound and thought it was good enough for a theatrical film. The only good part about the music is that it plays really loud during dialogue, so I did not have to hear some of the mind numbing script. The sound effects are guaranteed to make you laugh a couple times, but they have nothing on the parts where Milla Jovovich screams bloody murder for “her baby.”
Overall, this is one of the most worthless films I have ever seen. Everyone involved with this movie should take a look in the mirror, and ask if a career change wouldn’t be a wiser option. Never spend money on this movie, and if you already did, I’m sorry.
