Elevator (2011) Reviews

• Crazy elevator ride

  mathiashauglid2012-01-19

  I got to see this one on it's world premiere yesterday, at the Tromso International Film Festival. Not knowing what I could expect from this hardly known Norwegian director, Stig Svendsen, I was still hoping to see a nerve wrecking thriller about modern day terrorism. The film started out as expected, but it seemed very unoriginal at first. The main characters seemed too familiar and too smooth. Additionally I found a couple of the actors weren't any good. But as the film got going, it turned out this wasn't at all a dead serious thriller. A couple of really watchable characters showed up, and the scripted turned humorous, in a quite successful way. The film goes on as a rare mix of comedy and thriller, that actually works brilliantly. The filmmakers have successfully combined a serious situation with humor, and the result is one crazy elevator ride. It owes a lot to traditional action comedy films, but at the same time it really is something of it's own. It's rare to see such entertaining films and especially films about such a relevant topic.

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• Has its ups and downs

  movieman_kev2012-08-22

  Nine diverse people get stranded in an elevator of a corporate building after the head honcho's spoiled daughter hits the emergency button. Soon a person with a makeshift bomb makes his or her devious intentions known. This movie, while filled with movie clichés, still manages to be somewhat tense and pretty watchable due to fairly competent acting from almost everyone involved (I personally didn't care for either the kid nor Joey Slotnick, the latter I can't recall anything good he's been in). It's not the best movie about people stuck in elevators but it's not the worst either.

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• A slow but steady ride

  bowmanblue2014-09-15

  Take a look at the title: Elevator. What do you think this movie will be about? Well, you're probably right. Pretty much the whole film is set in the elevator. If you think you'll like a film that simply and deliberately stays put, then give it a go. Many comparisons have been drawn to the film 'Devil,' which is also primarily set inside an elevator (the only major difference is that Elevator is not supernatural). The story is about nine people, trapped in an elevator with a bomb. When you have a film that writes itself into a corner with its location, you need to establish the characters pretty quickly. Here, we mostly have stereotypes. In some ways it's good because we can basically read each and every one of them straight away. In others ways it smacks of lazy writing. Elevator can best be described as a 'thriller.' However, some may question how 'thrilling' a film can be set inside a box. It's basically about their attempts at escaping. If you think you can stand the whole ninety minutes in a box with them, it may be for you. It certainly won't be to everyone's tastes, but I didn't feel like I'd completely wasted ninety minutes of my life.

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• Yeah, nice suspense thriller, well, NO it isn't

  tecnogaming2012-09-28

  For a moment I think i was going to see a great movie, the first minutes are very well developed and the music and effects are very well put together in the right moments to create tension and panic, but... the movie shortcomings are way bigger than the good points. Minor spoilers ahead... For starters, character inconsistencies. The characters turn from heroes to whiners from one second to the other, we have some kind of creepy 13 years old girl who, BY NO MEANS, unless is possessed by the devil itself will laugh at this tragedy or will try to press the buttons of the elevator when SOMEONE is trying to get out! This, it is simply not credible and in fact, ridiculous, unless of course we're talking with Carrie here. We have a terrible claustrophobic comedian guy who after the elevator is stopped, suddenly it's decease disappears and then decides to behave like a hero. We have a coward who sleeps with other women that tries to force the escape in the most possible stupid way because he too decides to behave like a hero. I could go on and on and then we reach the second biggest flaw of this movie. Forced situations with no explanations 1 hour stuck in the elevator with the head of the corporation in there and NOBODY respond to this guys when they ask in the alarm button, NOBODY, in fact, they just leave and do not answer, NOBODY TRIED to reach them and try to get them out, even BEFORE there is any sign that there is a bomb in the elevator. They are basically left stranded with no outside help even when we are supposed to believe that this is getting in the news of the world! This addition of inconsistencies turns this possible great movie in the first act into a totally insane and dumb movie in the second act. Last point, decisions. The decisions taken by the passengers are beyond stupid, in one point one of the guys just want to go out of the elevator to press the external button so the elevator can move, he is in the top spot and he just decide to press the "down" button? YEAH RIGHT! I WILL DO THAT TOO, If I wanted to be cut in half!. If the bomb is not sensitive to movement, why in the name of god doesn't this guys take it out of the passenger and throw it out of the elevator? Later in the movie you will see why and even when the director tried to be dramatic in the setting, its just stupid because you will see a thousand ways more easier to take this bomb out than the solution this guys decides to implement. End minor spoilers... The first 30 minutes are very well executed but after that, the movie went downhill, horrible last act, only a nice "sentence" in the conclusion and a totally unnecessary stupid dialog to close the movie... this turned a nice possibility in a total low B-grade movie. The movie does developed in a way that lead you to believe there is something else and there will leave you hanging up until you see the credits and ask yourself what dafuq did I just saw? It's like the producers/director had to end the movie somehow and screw themselves in the last 30 minutes just for the sake of it. Really, it's not worth the effort put into the first act, it's not worth the effort period, if you want to see a more intelligent movie about an elevator please go see DEVIL. Even when that movie was fantasy and this a suspense-thriller, the actions and consequences seem a lot more credible there than in this "elevator" nonsense, this in itself is a nice paradox. 4 out of 10 just because of the nice music.

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• I took the stairs after watching it

  doublebky2012-09-15

  So this gem is now available on Netflix and I recommend it. Well acted and pretty well paced little film about a group of strangers (well a few know each other but I will not say how) that get on an elevator. By interesting means, the elevator gets stuck and from there, the film really takes off as the group is in severe danger. The cast of characters are perfectly suited for this kind of film. A little something for everyone if you will. Being slightly claustrophobic myself, I felt the tension in the elevator. The characters really play off each other well (especially the wise-cracking comic and the snotty little girl)and you sense that once you figure out the trouble, that it seems genuine and real. A very short movie (a little over an hour and 15 minutes long), the last 10 minutes really were not needed, I think it was just added to make the length of the movie more industry standard acceptable. A fast catchy beginning sets an early pace that never really dulls. 6.25 out of 10. Good enough for a watch and some popcorn.

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