Trap review

 

The latest movie written an directed by M. Night Shyamalan is a game of cat and mouse. Josh Hartnett stars as a father named Cooper who is seemingly hiding a sinister secret. On the day that his daughter's favorite musician is holding a concert he faces a major battle of wits to try and escape the police who're hunting a killer dubbed only as ''The Butcher'' will he outwit everyone and escape? or will things come to a dramatic conclusion?? on paper Trap is a really fantastic idea. In execution it is equal parts brilliant and brutal. It's a movie of two halves and once we leave the whole concert situation behind it just keeps going and going leading to a overly confluted and needless post concert arc. 

Josh Hartnett is the one true standout in Trap. He is absolutely brilliant here. Always on edge while trying to remain calm for his daughter on her big day of seeing her favorite person in concert. His mask slowly begins to slip more and more as he manuvers around the backstage area attempting to find exits from the building where a seemingly endless amount of security FBI and police are waiting. He plays the role almost too perfectly as his sheer quirkness makes you feel on edge as he really could flip at any second leading to destructive circumstances.

M. Night Shyamalan is hit or miss with his movies. For all the good he's done like The Sixth Sense and Signs there is some real stinkers too like The Last Airbender and The Happening. Trap sort of falls into the middle as it starts off great, goes along rather smoothly before sadly descending into a muddled mess of too many ideas for an ending all shoved together in an attempt to keep you on the edge of your seat. Trap is certainly not bad, it's a return to form for Hartnett who steals the show easily. With a better script and some fluff cut out Trap could've been so much better. As it is however it's a decent game of cat and mouse that'll leave you feeling half full. A decent watch!

★★★