Release Date – 8/7/09
Cliff and Cydney just got married and decide to have their honeymoon in Hawaii. They plan to hike through the jungle to a desolate beach not widely open to the public. Along the way they meet two other couples. Nick and Gina are a wild couple just enjoying a vacation. Kale and Cleo are a bunch of weirdoes who seem a bit anti-social. A news report goes out about a newly married couple who is murdered and Cliff and Cydney suspect one of the new people they met could be the killer. It’s a “whodunit” movie until a terrible twist which sends it into cliché slasher chases victim storyline.
Steve Zahn is the nerdy Cliff character, probably on his vacation more to sight see than spend actual time with his new wife. Milla Jovovich is Cydney who wants a little loving from her husband but he’s all business. This movie is about them. They are constantly worried about the killers reportedly somewhere on the same island in Hawaii. Timothy Olyphant is the former military man Nick who seems a bit off his rocker. Kiele Sanchez plays Gina, his girlfriend who is just a Southern chick relaxing with her man on vacation. They’re suspects in the viewer’s mind due to some awkward activity. Chris Hemsworth and Marley Shelton are Kale and Cleo, the obvious suspects also because they seem a bit evil in everything they do. Do you think its going to be the obvious choice, the hinted at choice, or something entirely different? That’s the premise of the movie for over an hour.
The final half hour is when everything is revealed. A flashback scene plays to inform the viewer exactly why this twist just happened. That’s bad writing right there. If a big twist is impossible to explain besides through flashbacks to stuff that didn’t even happen in normal course of the movie then its hard to accept it. I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen and I was correct but I had no idea how they would pull it off. In the end it didn’t work for me. David Twohy, who is recently best known for writing/directing Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick, failed with his story. Directing-wise he did a good job. The Hawaiian scenery is nice and its not your typical run around in the dark type horror movie. Its very bright and vibrant through most of the flick. He gets all he can out his actors and they each fit into their role pretty well to setup the viewer for a guessing game. But the script sucked mainly due to the twist. If a twist ruins an entire movie, then you cant go back and watch it again.
IMDB – 7/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 53%
Movie Wiseguys – 5/10
