Writer / director M. Night Shyamalan‘s most annoying filmmaking traits are on full display in his latest movie “Trap,” a psychological thriller that initially promises an engaging narrative but ultimately collapses into the void of ridiculous twists and turns. This is far from Shyamalan’s finest hour, and the film rambles and sputters into one of his most unbelievable and absurd revelations yet, one that is so inanely dumb that it’s impossible to suspend disbelief. The story follows everyday dad Cooper (Josh Hartnett) attending an afternoon concert with his teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue). Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan) is the hottest ticket in town, and Cooper splurged on floor tickets to make his little girl happy. Things seem fine until they’re not, and it’s revealed that Cooper is actually a serial killer nicknamed Butcher. Turns out the cops have set up a complex police blockade at the show with the intent on capturing him, and it’s clear he has no way out. Forced to use his wits to evade and escape, Cooper comes up with a series of clever distractions in order to keep his deep, dark secret hidden away from the FBI agent and criminal profiler in charge (Hayley Mills). The first half of the movie is compelling enough, with a tense atmosphere and a buildup that hints at a plot that could have some sophisticated intricacies. It’s fun to watch how Cooper’s mind works, and it’s uncomfortable once you realize you’re rooting for a serial murderer to escape. This is done reasonably well and is the best part of the movie. The second half, however, derails spectacularly. The story becomes increasingly convoluted and nonsensical, introducing a series of ludicrous twists that undermine any semblance of coherence. This is bad even for Shyamalan. Hartnett does a great job with his performance and is tasked with playing two men in one. He’s believable as the calm and goofy dad, but also switches to a dark psychopath on a dime. He’s by far the best part of the movie. Of course, while Harnett’s performance is one of the most enjoyable aspects, one of the film’s most glaring flaws is the weak turn from Saleka Shyamalan. I don’t want to pick on her as she is the director’s own daughter, but the forced nepotism reeks here. Saleka can’t act, she’s a mediocre singer and songwriter (a half dozen of her original songs are prominently featured during a majority of the film’s run time), and the movie comes across as being made solely to showcase M. Night’s kid while trying to make her a star. Her performance is as unconvincing as Harnett’s is credible. With a contrived and nonsensical plot, bad performances, and an illogical twist that will leave you more frustrated than entertained, “Trap” is another disappointing effort from a director who could do so much better. By: Louisa Moore / SCREEN ZEALOTS

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Quite the nosedive! I actually enjoyed the opening chunk of <em>'Trap'</em>, everything at the music concert is fairly well done and kept the intrigue alive for me. However, once events leave the arena the movie absolutely bombs its way to the finish. The last portion of the film is terrible viewing, it felt like it just kept going and going and going. There are plot holes aplenty, nonsensical 'twists' and character decisions/abilities. Cooper, played finely to be fair by Josh Hartnett, is absolutely some sort of big shot in his 'line of work', though makes some dumb mistakes. Though he is apparently capable of teleportation, based on one scene involving a limo. I'm not someone who needs every inch of a movie to make sense, I can enjoy something that's simply an entertaining watch; even with poorly crafted elements elsewhere in the movie. This, unfortunately, ends up being just bad. That is a shame, because I honestly did like (albeit mildly) the stuff at the venue. Very surprised to see the fairly good reception this has received so far on a few sites, I would not have predicted that but, hey, what do I know?

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Well the best bits of this are most definitely in the trailers! "Cooper" (Josh Hartnett) takes his daughter "Riley" (Ariel Donoghue) to see a "Lady Raven" (Saleka Shyamalan) concert only to find that when they are in the arena, the feds descend on the place like a ton of bricks and thanks to some secret information obtained from the guy who sells the T-shirts, we discover that it's all an elaborate trap to ensnare the "Butcher". As the name suggests, he's a brutal serial-chopper whom they know is at the concert. With the net tightening, we begin realise quickly who the identity of the murderer is and so now have to sit through an increasingly preposterous hundred minutes of cat and mouse with Hayley Mills hoping to catch her man. At times this does generate a bit of menace as he sees the openings to flee being systematically closed in front of him, and with his enthusiastic daughter in tow, his options are increasingly limited but in the end it's all peters out into a rather ridiculous ending that I found rather weak, implausible and disappointingly unoriginal. Hartnett just hasn't the manner to convince as the baddie and there's way too much concert-style material that suggests Miss Shyamalan asked her dad if she could have a film for Christmas. Too long and too feeble, sorry.

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