Review: ‘Mirrors’

Ram Man:

Every morning I am always afraid to look in the mirror for fear of a really nasty case of bed-head. After viewing Alexandre Aja’s (P2, The Hills Have Eyes 2) latest thriller “Mirrors” that nasty reflection just might kill you!

Kiefer Sutherland is Ben Carson, an ex-NYPD officer suspended from the force following an accidental shooting that resulted in the death of a fellow officer. The suspension causes Ben to hit the bottle and he in turn becomes separated from his wife Amy (Paula Patton) an NYPD coroner and his two kids Michael (Cameron Boyce) & Daisey (Erica Gluck). Ben is forced to move in with his sister Angela (Amy Smart) and try to get his life back on track. Ben, sober for months, takes a job as a overnight security guard watching a burned out department store. OK … why???? if it is burned out there is nothing to steal, but its a paycheck. after a couple tours through Ben begins to notice hand prints on the mirrors at the store that wont go away. He then begins to see strange things at home. Little sis Angela has the words of wisdom of the film … “QUIT” and “get a day job so you can try to get your family back”. One problem, these mirrors are possessed, and have a thing for the night watchmen… they kill them and their entire family. Ben begins to put the pieces together when he receives a package from the previous guard (who he never met before and was dead before he took the job) that contained stories about the store, employees and the fire. The Mirrors who are vengeful strike back at Ben by killing his sister Angela in a Jaw-dropping fashion. You see whatever happens in the mirrors… happens to you in real life! Ben takes down and covers all the mirrors in his wife’s house. His is a bit too late because the mirror network is faster than the Internet and his son Micheal is already having visions.

After a couple of these I have learned one thing..do background checks! Surprise! The store is built over an old psychiatric hospital that was closed down after all of the patients turned up dead. Or were they. Ben Carson, who shares his wardrobe with jack Bauer (Hoodies R Us) tracks down the sole survivor from the hospital Anna Esseker (Mary Beth Peil). Anna, now an elderly Nun, explains to Ben that she was possessed by a demon and he was drawn out into the mirrors while in the hospital and he wants he back to return with all of the soles he has collected in the mirrors. Ben forces Anna to return and straps her down just as all the demons and mirrors begin to shatter. Simultaneously Amy and the kids are saved from the retaliation of the mirrors in the house. Ben now is forced to face and kill the demon and put an end to his nightmare.

Mirrors, while not screened for critics (usually a sign the movie blows) is not a bad thriller by today’s standards. Sutherland just serves as a constant reminder the next season of 24 is on the way. Change up the wardrobe at least. Also while the kill shots are fantasise and we get to see every inch of Amy Smart, the scenes to make you jump are not frequent enough. The movie is predictable until the end. The ending will have you exiting satisfied and spooked. I put “Mirrors” near the middle of the road among thriller/horror flicks, but it may have you taking a second look at your reflection coming out of the shower.

[rating:3/5]

Travis:

‘Mirrors’ is the first feature film we’ve seen from Kiefer Sutherland in some years now, with him being such a devout supporter and component of the tiringly popular ’24’ TV series. Funny thing is, this movie plays a lot like Jack Bauer is crossing over from a series about political terrorism to a movie about supernatural terrorism. Kiefer can’t seem to shake that Jack Bauer persona and it’s starting to make me think they’re the same person… NOOO, Really! Slightly off topic, but I believe a very relevant question to ask… What ever happened to the Kiefer Sutherland we saw so briefly emerge in a great (and perhaps strange) little film called ‘Freeway’?

‘Mirrors’ starts out much like many similar new psychological, supernatural horror movies have of late, unoriginal and even a tad boring. Honestly, I had trouble finding an empathetic bone in my body for Jack, I mean Ben Carson, a currently “unemployed” NYPD detective who apparently gunned down an officer, although it’s never explained how or why. He’s struggling terribly to overcome this tragedy and has unfortunately resorted to alcoholism, from which he is now recovering. In an effort to help support his seperated family and his sister with which he lives, Ben takes a night security job at an old condemned department store that burned several years ago. Once on the job, Ben quickly learns that something’s not right about this building and there’s more to the over-abundance of clean mirrors than meets the eye. From here, the “I’m not crazy, this is really happening” factor kicks in as Ben tries to convince everyone and anyone that the mirrors are killing people while everyone and anyone figures it’s just a combination of Ben’s alcoholism and his inability to fully come to terms with the tragedy in his life.

After about the halfway point, ‘Mirrors’ does pick up and the pace livens enough to be entertaining, but there’s still a minimal amount of originality for me to truly recommend this film. It’s a technically well-made movie but from a storytelling perspective the film just sort of drags and sputters. Directed by Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes), I was really surprised that there wasn’t more significant graphic content in the film. The one and only scene that I felt shined from this extreme horror point-of-view was when his sister met here tragic, gruesome and untimely death at the hands of the mirrors. Other than this, the ending was the only element that made ‘Mirrors’ stand out at all… but, even then I felt a nagging similarity to a film known as ‘The Sixth Sense’ whereas the ending is kind of a cheap shot, SURPRISE, I gotcha type of ending.

[rating:2/5]