Review: The River "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"

Non Spoiler Review:

The first season of The River comes to an end as Emmet attempts to reforge his relationships with his family and crew. A random event throws the Magus into turmoil and forces the crew into a race against time to save Lincoln.

Like many episodes, Row, Row, Row Your Boat was a taut roller coaster ride, and I certainly was entertained. This week's paranormal bit was yet another take on a tried and true formula. Not much new here at all in that respect. The final minutes were the major twist that sets up a possible next season (which may or may not happen at this point). 

I'm interested enough to stick with the show, but given the body of episodes under its belt, The River needs to evolve beyond the supernatural riff of the week format, and really put a new spin on things. It gets marks for effort and certainly surpassed the other new genre shows this year. It would be unfortunate if it didn't get a chance to grow with a second season.

Spoilers Now!

Happy reunions abound on the Magus as Clark interviews everyone for their final reactions for his documentary. Only Jahel is pensive about how lucky they were to have seen the Bioúna and allowed to leave. And it's also time to get answers from Emmet.

Emmet explains he thought he was supposed to find something in the Amazon, but that's over. He should have died, and admits to failing Lena's father. Lena wants to know what the mark means. He confesses he thought she was meant for something special but he realizes now all the signs he's seen were signs to just get out. She presses him to know what the source is, but he prefers that she hate him rather than suffer from his knowledge.

Emmet tells Lincoln the tapes of the expedition will go in the fire, and no one will know what's happened. Then a shot comes through the window and hits Lincoln and kills (!) him. Distraught Tess demands someone confess to it. Accusations start getting tossed around, including to Kurt, as Clark reveals overhearing the conversation where he said he would put down Emmet. Kurt hands over his gun and tells them if he'd wanted them dead they would be.

As Jahel pilots the boat she hears static on the radio and asks if anyone is there. Emmet questions Tess about where she found Kurt. Then Jahel runs in and tells them there's a way to get Lincoln back from the dead—the Bioúna. But Emmet says there's some things they don't call upon.

In private Tess asks her to bring back her son no matter what it takes. The two of them perform the ritual in secret (which is being channelled to Jahel). Emmet runs in as the boat takes on water and Jahel creates mayhem. They run into the infirmary and find Lincoln alive and awake and he tells them it was Kurt who fired. Emmet is happy Lincoln is back, but confides his fear with Tess that they brought back something dark.

Jonas chats with Lincoln as he's recovering and having something to eat in the kitchen. Lincoln reveals he knows it was him, not Kurt, who shot him (in an attempt to kill Emmet). He didn't tell anyone because he has unfinished business with Kurt, and then kills Jonas.

Emmet thanks Clark for funding the expedition but Clark dismisses any gratitude and says he was just making a documentary and didn't expect to see him alive. He's hurt that Tess and Emmet are obviously getting back together. Emmet reviews the footage to catch up, including what just happened in the kitchen, except the video shows Jonas walking out after a friendly exchange, and Lincoln staring (evilly) at the camera.

Emilio reveals to Jahel that her mother isn't dead, and used her gift just as Jahel has done. She was unable to silence the voices but he won't tell her where she is. But it should serve as a warning to her.

Lincoln visit Kurt, who immediately recognizes he's not Lincoln. He beats up Kurt and tells him they've met before. Meanwhile Clark is drowning his sorrows about losing Tess in the kitchen when AJ comes in, and they both find blood dripping from the ceiling—Jonas' body.

Lena finds Lincoln on deck. He confesses he wants to be with her again, so they go inside to hook up, but he abruptly throws up as Emmet approaches and demands it let go of his son.

Lincoln is locked up and Emmet tells them he needs Lena to help free Lincoln from what has him. He's possessed by the black snake—the Bioúna itself. Emmet tries to get a dragonfly down his throat. The spirit remains too powerful and Emmet can't do it. So Tess goes to Kurt to plead for his help. She asks if he tried to kill her husband, and he says yes, but he isn't going to now.

Kurt apparently knows more than them about the Bioúna. The spirit has to be forced out by Lincoln so he advises they talk to him and not the demon. Emmet appeals to all that he's missed about his son's life and Lincoln's body rises, blowing out all the windows. AJ films something swimming away underwater.

Day 38. Apparently free, Lincoln apologizes for his behaviour, but Lena can't really deal with him. They are within two kilometers from exiting the Bioúna, and everyone seems to be making some amends after their arduous expedition. Except they realize the signal has been lost and they're not on the map anymore. They send up the drone which shows the river itself is closing and changing with the jungle. Lincoln says it's never going to let them go.

The Verdict:

After a string of supernatural themes—ghosts and demons, zombies, mad science, etc, the inevitable possession gets a role this week. It didn't really offer anything we haven't seen from any recent exorcism movie. Sure, it made for an interesting episode, but quite predictable, right down to the familiar he has to beat the demon himself idea.

Jonas' attempted murder of Emmet really got surprisingly little play (or real motivation), as did Kurt's story, which I'm guessing is planned for a next season (if there is one). It all came off pretty contrived, and relied on the pace of events, again, to divert attention from the plot holes. 

I'm hoping for a second season. I'm not entirely sold on the series yet, but would keep watching if it were to improve. The current television crop has very little innovation and The River can't be faulted for making an attempt at something different, even if it did slip into cliches after its impressive premiere. It's got a pretty decent cast of characters that can carry it forward, if given the chance.

The River "The Experiment"

 Non Spoiler Review:

The Magus crew explores the seemingly abandoned base, stumbling upon some startling discoveries (including another laptop everyone sits around and watches). The flashbacks fill in the backstory leading up to the expedition, as well as illuminate some details of Kurt's past.

The River definitely stepped up the tension with an interesting direction, turning from supernatural aspects to mad science. I found it a lot more compelling that recent weeks, and the resolution achieved at the end, as well as the questions raised have got me more interested in where the series is going. It's all still very much cliché, but the strength is in the frenetic pacing that keeps the show moving even when the story elements aren't that original.

Spoilers Now!

As the group explores the abandoned base, Kurt phones someone named Hana and gets her voicemail. There's some music playing as they search inside the building. The source is a radio in an office, which also contains books on genetics. The room appears to be barricaded from the inside, with bloody footprints leading to Emmet's hat, and finally a room of bodies covered in bugs.

Lincoln volunteers to check it out but he can't find his father in there. Kurt tries his call again. There are about 20 bodies piled up and Clark urges Tess to leave but she's adamant they keep searching. Everyone realizes Kurt has disappeared, as he's following the sound of running water in a bathroom. Lincoln and Clark find what appears to be an operating room and white board full of genetic mapping that Lincoln handily identifies as pharmaceutical in nature. They finally find a dead tribesman suspended in fluid, bearing the same mark as Lena, plus claw marks on his back.

Kurt finds Rosetta (Rabbit) in the bathroom and she appears in shock. She tells them they're coming and they're hungry. They're intercepted by a man running towards them whom Kurt shoots several times. They make a break for the office as a bunch of zombies give chase, and barricade the door behind them. 

Seven months earlier, Lincoln learns of his father's disappearance while in class (and with an apparent girlfriend). Clark visited Tess to sell her on the idea of the TV show, but she's in a depression. He advises her that a signal has been detected in the Amazon. In Berlin, four months earlier, Kurt leaves Hana lying in bed for South America. He asks her to marry him before he goes. Two months prior, Lena is working at a fitness store, and has a seizure, claiming Emmet is still alive.

Rabbit is sorry for leaving Emmet, but she suggests they just open the door, because it will all be easier to die now. Emmet was there at the infirmary when she got there, and the doctors said he was going to be okay. But then they changed. Tess refuses to believe Emmet could be one of the zombies.

Lincoln recovers some doctors logs on video on a laptop. They recount their search for a specific gene sequence (from the body in the tank). The specimen was over 50 years old, but with the cardiovascular system of a teenager, so they created a retrovirus out of his genes to use as a cure. Someone breaks in and shoots all the doctors, telling them their research can't be made public. The virus is released in the infirmary and everyone changes. It must have gotten out and killed the rest on the outpost. The girl in the video is Hana.

Someone from inside the infirmary tries to signal them with a mirror. The zombies abruptly disappear, but Rabbit claims they only do so for a little while. But there are tunnels that connect the buildings, so they make an attempt to get to the infirmary. They realize they're walking among the zombies, who are, in fact, sleeping. Kurt finds Hana lying on the floor, and then he kills all of them.

They get to the infirmary, but realize the signal is just wind chimes. Tess has to face the fact Emmet's gone. But...they suddenly see a dragonfly that leads them to another room and a cocoon (!) —containing Emmet.

Cut to an Emmet video where he explains dragonflies retreat into a cocoon to regenerate. 

Tess slices into it and releases him with her knife. He's alive, and they make haste away from the base given it's nightfall and zombies start running after. Back at the Magus, the dog refuses to get on board, so they set sail and take some time to chill after their eventful day.

As Lincoln and Lena decompress, he lets her know that he has a girlfriend back in Chicago. The plan is to stop at the first village, and Tess advises Rabbit she can find her own way back home from there. She suggests Rabbit chooses her words carefully when the reporters come knocking on her door. Rabbit is left alone on deck and is grabbed by someone and killed (problem solved).

Kurt visits AJ in the video room and orders him to erase all the video he took that day. AJ wants to know what he's really doing there. Kurt whispers he's going to kill Emmet Cole. Then he spies the camera shot of the deck showing dead Rabbit. Kurt goes to the bridge and gets Jahel, sending her downstairs to Lincoln. It's Hana who's loose on the ship. Kurt won't shoot, and tries to get through to her, though ultimately has to put her down. There's still another aboard who attacks Tess, but Emmet appears in the nick of time and kills it. He asks how his funeral was.

The Verdict:
I liked, despite it being 28 Days Later on The River. Now that Emmet has been discovered I feel the show can really move forward for the finale and get into the mystery surrounding the source (and whatever it was at the base). Is Emmet crazy, though? Is that even Emmet? Jahel's warnings of demons come to mind, too, so who knows what is inhabiting his body.

As far as the zombie virus, it did provide some exciting (albeit derivative) tension. Has it been contained to the base, or is there a threat of contagion beyond it? The mix of science and the supernatural (always a delicate business) kind of works, with what looks like the attempt to seize the genetic strength of the jungle tribes and market it as a pharmaceutical for longevity.

Kurt gets some intriguing elements added to his backstory, suggesting he has knowledge on par with Emmet about what's going on. But did he bring back Hana himself or did she escape? How did he allow her to get away with everyone so close (and manage to handle a high maintenance zombie, of all things)? It's the little questions like these that one thinks about afterwards that are the more annoying aspects of the series. However, I'm a little more excited about checking out the finale, and hopeful for a possible renewal.

Review: The River "Doctor Emmet Cole"

Non Spoiler Review:

As the Magus crew reaches the climax of their search, Emmet's lost tapes are discovered, which reveal his journey to the find the Bioúna. The crew watches Emmet's final days before his disappearance, while attempting to track his whereabouts.

This one started out promising, with lots of mystery given it was told from Emmet's point of view. But it kind of dragged throughout the middle, and served more as set up for the season finale. It had a very Blair Witch feel to it. 

Doctor Emmet Cole was certainly better than last week, but the series has lost some of the edgier scares it showcased in the first few episodes and is leaning more towards sudden jumps versus the more disturbing elements (doll trees!) we saw at the beginning. I'm hoping it goes out on a high note (given a renewal looks pretty sketchy at right now).

Spoilers Now!

Day 28. Lena wants to go home now that her father is gone, so Lincoln is trying to think of ways to get her out of the Amazon. She tells him to go to the falls first to search for Emmet and admits she can wait. When they arrive at the waterfall they find Russ' camera bag, with tapes that Clark takes to the Magus to piece together. The gang sits down to watch.

On the Magus 5 - 10 months before, Russ and the crew are waiting for Emmet, who appears to be meditating in his cabin. A dragonfly goes into his mouth and he wakes. He informs Lena (via the camera) that they're nearing the falls, and he's heard a song on his journey that he tries to decipher. Russ balks at going to the falls, but Emmet explains the Bioúna are testing them to see if they're strong enough, and reveals he's been talking to Lena (and also mentions how she's kind of the chosen one given her birthmark). They get into a big fight. Russ stays behind on the Magus while Emmet and two others (plus a dog) go on ahead.

Four days later they're in the jungle, and Emmet comes clean about the tribe they're searching for—rumoured to be extremely healthy. They believe they're angels guarding a secret—one source of the magic.

As the present-day crew watch, Tess is happy to hear Emmet admit he still loves her, that he doesn't feel separated. They hear the word Il Tunchi—Jahel warns that's not a spirit, but a demon, that will come to kill them, and urges them not to watch. Meanwhile, Lena reveals to Jonas that she set the whole satellite link up to find her father. 

As night falls, Emmet finds crew member Manny skinned in the tree. They're hounded by a shrieking in the jungle, but Emmet whistles the song back—the spirit is a riddle and they've solved it, passing the test. His camera girl doesn't want to go any further and disappears in the morning, taking some of his gear.

But the dog finally catches up with him to provide some company. Emmet demonstrates an ability—conjuring a fire in his hands. He drinks some tainted water and gets sick. He manages to call Lincoln on the satellite phone, but his son is busy and has to go, so Emmet says his good-bye.

In the present, Lincoln feels the guilt of dismissing the call. And for some odd reason, Lena only now notices the weird mark on the back of her neck. Clark and Tess sit down to watch the next batch of footage.

Emmet breaks his ankle, so opts to make his way to the river. He realizes he can't make it. The whistling starts again, but he's too weak to reply. Emmet closes his eyes and some natives take him away (with the camera, fortunately), where he's cared for and wakes up. Then he's taken to what appears to be an army base and left there. 

The Magus crew take off in hot pursuit and find the dog. The outpost is in ruins and appears abandoned.

The Verdict:
Emmet's point of view was a welcome perspective, and it gave him a chance to make piece with his family via the camera. I was expecting a lot more chills and scares, though, and was left disappointed with the odd ending of him reaching some kind of civilization (though it's apparently been ransacked by the end).

I had to chuckle when Emmet was being carried through the jungle and one of the natives was considerate enough to bring along the camera and film them. The Magus crew also got through the jungle pretty damn quick to catch up to his location too. The writers obviously wanted to keep things moving briskly, so I can't fault them for that.

I'm not confident in The River's future after this season so I'm hoping for an edgier final two episodes that will bring some sort of closure to the series if necessary. It's been a decent venture that surpasses some of the other attempts at genre story telling lately. I wouldn't mind seeing it get the chance to grow.

Review: The River "Peaches"

Non Spoiler Review:

While travelling at night, the Magus hits a mysterious ship, which brings them into contact with a crew of environmentalists. All is not right, however. Lena is annoyed that everyone seems to forget her father is missing, too, while Lincoln begins to show some jealousy about the relationship between her and Jonas. 

Peaches was the weakest in the series so far, obviously set up to hit some key plot points. The paranormal feature this week is a classic horror cliché, so it didn't offer any new twist (nor any scares), and really, the crew doesn't even bat an eye anymore at anything less than a horde of zombies. It all didn't wrap up very well, either, with hasty explanations, if any at all.

Spoilers Now!

Day 22. Lena notes that everyone keeps forgetting her father was on the expedition and is so focused on Emmet. Jonas is one of the first who tells her he admired Russ. They're still following Jonas' route down the river where Emmet was searching for some people who would help show him the way. While making up time by travelling at night, the Magus hits another boat. Then it disappears.

The engines have taken enough damage Emilio needs parts. While they're stranded, Jonas finds Lena some tapes of her father, prompting some obvious jealousy from Lincoln at all the attention she's showing him.

Lincoln wants to take the boats ahead instead of trying to call for help. Then Tess picks up another ship on the radio, the Exodus, and they rendezvous with the crew. They're environmentalists who are after some illegal loggers and can exchange spare parts for donations to the cause. All very convenient.

Emilio begins repairs, while both crews are on the Magus having dinner. Jonas spies someone on the Exodus so convinces Lena to come with him to investigate. Kurt gets suspicious so goes into the control room to check out the surveillance, overhearing two of the other crew members talking about getting them to their boat, and they're no good to them dead. Kurt takes the Exodus captain aside and orders him to get his crew off the boat now without any trouble. Kurt shoots him twice when he tries to attack, but he doesn't die.

On the Exodus, Lena and Jonas open up a locked room and find her father! Russ freaks out and yells that they can't have her too. Kurt's in there too (somehow), and explains these people aren't people. Russ recounts he was brought on board, chained, and when the sun came up, one of the Exodus crew was alive again and could leave. Yes, it's a ghost ship. The crew can't leave the river unless they find someone to replace them. There are four of them in the hold, so they only need one more to replace everyone.

In the engine room, one of the crew comes down to see Jahel. He suggests she come back to his boat with him, but she sends him away. Tess is talking with the other woman crew member about Emmet. She informs her the map is all wrong but they have an accurate one on the Exodus, so Tess goes over to their ship. That's when she apologizes to Tess and tells her it's her turn to be trapped now.

Tess wakes up in the hold and is reunited with Russ and the others. They're being taken east to wait the sunrise. She wants to know about her husband so Russ (given they have some time on their hands) explains Emmet was losing it, believing everything was connected and obsessed with finding the source. He went off on foot when they lost the Magus. 

Lincoln is finally starting to question where everyone is and concludes they've been kidnapped, so wakes Clark to find the Exodus leaving. Jonas rigs up a camera to broadcast to the Magus so they can home in on the signal. Lincoln and Clark don't see it and take off in pursuit of the Exodus in the boat, but luckily Jahel does see the mayday and radios their position to Lincoln and fills him in about the phantom crew.

Kurt busts them out while Lincoln and Clark climb aboard. They shoot the crew, and that does nothing, but fire seems to scare them inside. Russ explains he can't go given there's no one to replace him and he's already dead anyway. He tells Lena to go on with her life so he can move on. Lincoln drags her into the boat and they leave the Exodus as the sun rises and it burns away.

The Verdict:

Peaches was a lazily written episode, leaving lots of stuff unexplained and rushed. It dragged in the middle (during the overly long dinner scenes) and then charged to a last minute ending which I didn't really understand. I guess I could have missed some key dialogue (likely from Jahel) that burning the boat would send the spirits on their way (and not condemn them to eternal torment).

The ghost ship idea is nothing new either, and its crew sparked suspicion from the start. It was a story of convenience—supplying the Magus the parts they needed to repair the ship and get some further information from Russ before dispatching him (hopefully) to the afterlife.

That's all I have to comment on. Otherwise the characters were their normal selves (though this captain thing seems to have gone to Tess' head). And it's really getting noticeable (as I mentioned in last week's recap) how at ease the entire crew is about the crazy stuff they see on a regular basis and Jahel's ability to provide the paranormal background on every encounter. Maybe Emmet should have taken her along with him.

Review: The River "A Better Man"

Non Spoiler Review:

The question of who's captain on the Magus comes up when the trail on Emmet runs cold and the crew finds a mysterious survivor in the jungle with ties to the expedition. The survivor brings a host of problems with him, leading to some tough decisions about his fate.

A Better Man was a decent episode that had more supernatural shenanigans for the crew to deal with (and take pretty well, considering). There's a tendency sometimes to throw really crazy paranormal stuff at the camera just for effect, rather than any actual purpose. Nothing spectacular this time, but the series is likely saving its big stuff for the final episodes and seems to be focusing on developing the cast of characters.

Spoilers Now!

The crew rendezvous with a boat of supplies to restock. Tess has run out of possible leads in the search, so they opt to head into an uncharted region and draw the map as they go. Clark notes there's an absent of leadership—just a bunch of suggestions from everyone. Tess declares she's captain. Clark muses that something will happen to make everyone show their true colours. 

Suddenly they spy a man hanging from the trees—one of Emmet's cameramen, Jonas. The body is recently dead—only he's not. He starts freaking out in the tree. They bring him aboard and find him suffering from malaria, among other problems. Tess realizes Jonas' cellphone might contain the GPS coordinates to find Emmet. 

A flashback to 2010 shows Jonas audition video to be Emmet's cameraman. It was Lena who interviewed and hired him, and there seems to be some flirtation going on. Clark reviews Emmet's footage and finds some dealing with a tribal funeral. Jonas had wanted to film it, but Emmet orders him not to. Jonas uses his cell phone camera to take a video anyway.

Kurt knows how to treat malaria and has survived it himself, so takes over Jonas' care. Lena can't reach anyone on the radio for a medevac so Lincoln wants to head back to get to a hospital. Tess is reluctant, though ultimately opts to go with his decision and turn around. A splatter of blood suddenly appears on the window. It's a bird. Then the whole boat is bombarded by a torrent of dead birds. 

Lena says there's a major storm nearby that could have caused it. That means they're stuck where they are for the time being. Jahel seems to be unnerved about something and Clark sees her and her father arguing in the engine room over what appears to be a tarot card and the word el colgardo. He asks about it and learns it's the hanging man. She warns it's no storm that's coming.

Jonas is missing from the infirmary and turns up in the editing room reviewing old tapes. One of their crew was snared by a vine that appeared to try to drag her away. Emmet is on film yelling at him for putting all their lives in danger. He takes the tape and leaves.

Lincoln tracks him down and he explains he doesn't know how or when he got lost in the jungle. He's reunited with Lena, but then asks where Emmet and the crew are, only just learning that they're all missing. Jonas was the first to get separated months ago. 

All Emmet told his crew was that they were on a path, and otherwise he wasn't part of the inner circle. Emilio calls everyone out to look at the approaching storm. Jahel spies Jonas about to toss the tape overboard. The storm is actually a swarm of bugs that forces everyone inside. Lincoln figures the storm blew them in. Clark suggests Jonas is causing it. Tess asks Jahel her opinion. Jonas abruptly has a seizure but Lincoln brings him out of it.

Jahel gets Lincoln to pick a card and he draws the hanging man. She tries again and he picks the same card. And again and again. Tess retrieves Jonas' cell phone from outside and brings it to Clark, which has the incriminating video of the tribal funeral. Kurt has heard the story of the hanged man—a grave robber punished with the torment of dying but not the satisfaction of death. Then a noose of vines falls from the trees outside. Everyone reviews the video and Jahel says they won't stop until they get Jonas. Lincoln takes Jonas' side.

Clark demands to see the missing videotape, so Jonas produces it. The rest of the footage shows that Emmet left Jonas in the jungle to save the crew from the wrath of the Bioúna. The vines came down and hung him, and he was hanging there all this time without dying. 

The ship is battered by the storm. Lincoln is still defending Jonas while Kurt wants to return him to the jungle. Tess knows Jonas is their best hope for finding Emmet, so wants to know what he was doing there. He was looking for magic, theorizing that it comes from a single source. He points to an area on the map he was heading and says that's all he knows. Tess orders him off the ship despite her son's protests. Lincoln pulls a gun and tells them he doesn't deserve to be tortured for his mistake.

Jonas grabs his phone, runs out and says he won't let anyone else get hurt. He climbs up and puts himself into the noose after smashing his phone. A light rises from it (the freed spirit) and Jonas is released, still alive.

The next day the skies are clear and the boat is back on the move and everyone seems to be getting along again. Clark asks Jonas to be his cameraman. 

Tess joins her son as he reviews the lost tape. Lincoln is still shocked his mother would sacrifice someone. They're surprised when one of Emmet's videos addresses them both and says he needs them to understand why he went there without them. He knows Lincoln didn't love the exploring and Tess always held her tongue. He regrets leaving Jonas behind and wonders if a better man could have found another way. He doesn't expect them to forgive him.

The Verdict:
Not too much to comment on this week. Nothing really great, nothing terrible. The plot served to introduce Jonas and provide a direction for the search in coming weeks. He also seems like he'll be a source of some jealousy for Lincoln. His sudden sacrifice at the end really wrapped things up conveniently for everyone else and avoided a nasty confrontation (for the writers) to resolve.

It looks like Tess is in charge until someone says she isn't. After all the conflict over leadership, everybody apparently woke up the next morning willing to let everything slide and be friends again. Almost as much as a stretch believing that the crew immediately looks to a supernatural explanation to whatever they encounter now.

Review: Chronicle

Non Spoiler Review:

Chronicle is the latest entry in the found footage genre, directed by Josh Trank and written by Max Landis. After tackling the paranormal and monsters, it's now super-heroes that get the shaky-cam treatment. I walked in really hoping this movie lived up to the very intriguing trailer.

The film deals with three high school seniors. Shy and emotionally damaged Andrew has decided to film every aspect of his life (something that doesn't make him any less of an outcast among his high school peers). One night at a rave, Andrew, Steve and Matt's lives are brought together when they find a mysterious alien-like object that has a startling effect on all of them—super-powers. Chronicle charts their evolution and growing friendship as the trio begins to hone their talent.

The plot focuses on the effects super-powers would have on three young men—one relatively normal, the other an over-achieving extrovert, and an emotionally (and physically) abused introvert. It's really the dynamic between these three actors (Michael B. Jordan, Dane DeHaan and Alex Russell) that is the main strength of the script. The high school scenes and general interaction all feel very genuine, and there's no one who comes off as a caricature.

Another major strength is that Chronicle avoids any focus on where their powers come from, besides the initial encounter. It's all a big mystery, and while some fans might want a breakdown of exactly what happened to them, and an itemized list of their power levels, this was about the characters and how each handle their life changing abilities.

Watching the first half of the film I felt it was all very good, but nothing spectacular (comparing it to my expectations from the trailer). However, the final stretch really knocked things out of the park, delivering the same level of tension as Cloverfield during its climactic battle.

I always wonder how someone would actually react to receiving such abilities. Perhaps the three of them took it a bit more cavalierly than I would think. Though, to be fair, the film does jump ahead a few weeks after the exposure, so we're spared all the shock and awe of them coming to terms with it. There's also the other end of the spectrum—how would the media react to extraordinary and inexplicable super-shenannigans happening on camera in a major city? We get some of that too.

There's little to criticize once you buy into the concept. As with all found footage movies, there's a necessary suspension of disbelief that so much of everyone's life could be captured on film. Though they do take pains to explain this and work it into the plot, as well. There is also a variety of other camera footage (surveillance and cell phone cameras, etc) that provide additional perspectives.

In many ways it's a modern tragedy. It's not terribly complex (the trajectory of Andrew is no surprise), but it works so well just because it doesn't try to achieve any more than it is. If all the character development isn't your thing, the climax is quite intense and provides a very gritty and suitably over-the-top conclusion for a super-hero flick. If you really don't enjoy the found footage genre, this likely won't change your mind. But if Cloverfield rocked your world like me, then you should really walk out of this one satisfied.

Review: The River "Los Ciegos"

Non Spoiler Review:
A more secular episode of The River, coming off the heavily supernatural premiere. A malady afflicts the group as they explore some new leads, bringing them into contact with a tribe who seems to want to test them as being worthy of survival in their jungle.

Los Ciegos is another tensely written episode that really worked. In addition to the threat, we got lots of character development. Many preconceptions about the crew are thrown out the window as they respond to this latest crisis.

Spoilers Now!
The gang search a cave mentioned in Emmet's journal, and find some bodies with the eyes cut out, though they're neither Emmet nor Lena's father. That night speedy time lapse cam captures a native approaching the tents. By morning there are odd white markings scrawled around camp and piles of stones and little animal skulls (creepily Blair Witch). Everyone gets up.

Jahel (the walking paranormal encyclopedia) explains they are the Morcegos, given the expedition has crossed onto their land, and they're watching to see if they are worthy to pass through the jungle. Then they realize Emilio is missing and find him outside of camp. He can't see.

Lincoln suggests he was exposed to a neurotoxin. AJ starts balking at being the one carrying all the camera gear. When they hear screeching in the woods, Clark panics and fires his gun, shooting what turns out to be a boar instead. Jahel warns the Morcegos won't be happy about taking a life. Then Tess begins to go blind.

The group returns to the Magus. Kurt is worried about a contagion and wants Clark to cancel the expedition, so the producer confronts him that he knows Kurt has his own radio that he regular talks through and wants him to get help if their lives are on the line. Meanwhile, Jahel uses the ship's radio to try to call for help, but begins to go blind herself. Kurt moves the ship to the middle of the river. 

Clark reviews Emmet's tapes for a clue, but he suffers the same symptoms. He stumbles into Tess, and the two blindly talk about what they're going to do. Clark let's spill how much he cares for her, and Tess warns him of the tapes recording what they say and wants them erased. They don't know that Lincoln is watching them.

Lena has learned from the journals of a neurotoxin used in blow darts and there's a special plant whose sap can neutralize it. It grows at elevations of 750 metres. Lincoln and Kurt prepare to go, but blind Clark accidently startles Kurt and he stabs him. 

Jahel goes off to find fishing line to stitch him up and Tess follows after. Lincoln uses the privacy to ask Clark how long he was having an affair with his mother. Meanwhile, one of the Morcegos has boarded the boat. Jahel screams, prompting everyone to lock themselves in where they are. Lincoln's trapped with Clark, while Jahel's with Tess and Emilio, and they communicate on the shortwave. Lincoln has to cauterize Clark's wound (blind!).

Lena, Kurt and AJ get to shore and are immediately chased by Morcegos. They hide in the brush and Lena is covered in centipedes. When they're safe, Kurt and Lena are both blind, leaving just AJ to lead the way. AJ decides it's a better idea to abandon them all and find civilization himself. He promises he'll send a helicopter when he gets back. 

Clark thinks he's going to die so wants Lincoln to know the truth. Tess never did anything wrong. Emmet left her and needed to do one last trip. She was done with all the exploring and begged him to stay, but he chose to go over remaining with her. She never cheated on him given they were separated already and she was trying to move on.

The Morcegos are trying to find a way into the cabins. Clark decides to be a hero so knocks out Lincoln and yells out that if they want to judge someone then they can kill him and spare everyone else. The rest hear him on the shortwave, but it works. The Morcegos back away and even leave Clark alone.

AJ unwittingly stumbles upon the tree from the journal illustration and gets to the miracle bulb underneath the roots. The tunnel collapses on him, but he's saved by the Morcegos who drag him out and he makes his way back to Lena and Kurt. Meanwhile, Kurt is whispering on his radio that the crew will never find Emmet or the Source, and will be dead shortly. AJ arrives and the crew get back together for Lincoln to administer the antidote.

Tess and Lincoln have a chat after everything gets back to (relative) normalcy. He lets her know it's okay for her to move on after they find Emmet. But Tess wants her family back and says she should never have let it come apart. Meanwhile sad Clark watches from the control room. Kurt arrives to apologize for stabbing him. Clark isn't as forgiving of him.

The Verdict:
The story really worked as a tense piece of drama and kept me interested the whole way through. The behaviour of all the characters this week made for a great episode—particular Clark transitioning from the cliched TV producer to a more well-rounded individual who cares about the people around him. Even AJ and Kurt had some interesting growth, and we find out that, despite the particular motivations driving the crew, it's not all black and white.

Kurt doesn't seem to be outrightly hostile to the group (unless they appear to get close to finding Emmet), and his communication seems to imply that he's only there to ensure they don't find the source (rather than looking for it himself). Who's he working for?

Review: The River "Magus / Marbeley"

Non Spoiler Review:

The River is another highly anticipated series produced by Steven Spielberg (who gets a black eye for the disappointing Terra Nova) and the makers of Paranormal Activity. This is probably the first in the found footage genre for television and involves a family's search for a famous explorer gone missing in the Amazon.

The classic two-hour premiere (which can sometimes be a chore to sit through—Terra Nova, Alcatraz...) hit the ground running and moved at a frenetic pace. This one really rocked, and I have to say it's probably the best network series premiere I've seen in years since Lost .

The characters are all pretty interesting. There are no glaringly annoying or poorly cast members of the expedition, and all are fairly believable in the context of the extraordinary circumstances they're immediately thrust in. Enough happens in the first hour to successfully accelerate the plot into the next half. 

Does it scare? I'm pretty accustomed to horror movies these days, so it's not a scary show. However, there are creepy, chilling and tense scenes, and someone with a taste for the bizarre is definitely behind the wheel. Given the The River appears to only have another six episodes, I don't see a problem maintaining this kind of pacing and am anxious to see how it plays out.

My only criticism is the conceit of the found footage and the omnipresent cameras (including a hovering drone). We accept that even in the most dangerous moment, someone has their wits about them to pick up the camera and shoot everything. There are also a few flashbacks that obviously cannot be filmed. But I'm willing to accept all that. I highly recommend the series for anyone looking for action, adventure, mystery and some creepy Paranormal Activity chills.

Spoilers Now!
Magus

Nature series The Undiscovered Country with Emmet Cole premiered in 1988 and aired 22 years. He and his wife Tess and son Lincoln became famous televising their lives of exploration. Emmet was reported missing and the search for him ended after six months. The footage accounts the story of those who kept searching...

Tess doesn't believe her husband is dead and plans to continue the search with the help of a network-funded expedition. Emmet's beacon has been discovered in the Amazon, but her son Lincoln doesn't believe they'll find him alive and wants to get on with his life away from the cameras. The network will only pay if both of them go, with plans to film it as part of a new series. Lincoln is ultimately coerced into agreeing, but makes no secret of the fact he and his father hated each other.

Later, in Brazil, they assemble their team to find Emmet's ship (The Magus)—Clark Quietly is series producer (of both the new and old shows). AJ and Sammy are lead and second cameraman. Emilio was the Magus' mechanic (that Emmet made a point of not including on the last expedition), and his daughter Jahel, who can't speak English and seems to have some sort of paranormal perception (she's seen ghosts and used to have ghost friends). Captain Kurt heads private security. 

They find the beacon but can't locate the boat, so Kurt investigates underwater and they pull up the tiny device attached to a cage, with the door bent as though something broke out. Tess refuses to believe he's dead but Lincoln wants to go home. 

By day four they resupply at a village where Lena drops in by helicopter after finding out about their expedition. Her father (cameraman Russ Landry) is missing with Emmet (all of them also appeared on the Undiscovered Country, and she and Lincoln were friends as children). She thinks she's found the only place the Magus could be—Bioúna—a place Jahel warns them not to go. 

They take a small boat inside, find and board the Magus. They immediately hear an odd groaning from inside and realize it's coming from the panic room. The door is welded shut from the outside. The cutting takes awhile, so Clark and Tess go into the editing bay and get the systems working. Lena goes in search of medical supplies for whatever they find in the room. Emilio is down in engineering with Jahel (who's pretty sure it isn't Emmet in there). Tess rummages through Emmet's quarters. 

The crew break inside but find the room empty, except for some odd ritualistic drawings and a blanket covering something. He pulls it back and then something explodes out (throwing Lena back) and escapes in the mayhem.

Lena has a wound on her leg so Lincoln tends to it, then he proceeds to punch out AJ for taking pictures rather than helping. They return to the panic room to examine the scene—food is left out and they find a photo of a man, Cam Travers, one of their producers, whom Emmet insisted on bringing on the expedition instead of Clark. Emmet had radioed Lena that Travers died of a fever (Tess isn't pleased to hear he spoke with her before he died). Lena then goes to Emmet's quarters and searches for some files.

On previous expeditions, Emilio explains, Emmet was beginning to spend a lot of nights off the ship, but told Emilio he was protected by magic. Jahel interrupts and warns that whatever it was in the panic room has tasted blood. She claims it's a dry spirit, sent back by the Devil to wander in search of blood. Emmet used blood to lure and capture it. Now it's fed with Lena's blood, growing strong enough to hunt. 

Lincoln announces they're leaving, but Tess refuses, and then they find the raft has been slashed, while the other one has floated away. Lincoln accuses Clark, but they're interrupted by some growling in the trees. Emilio needs two days to get the Magus moving. Lincoln says he has two hours to make high tide to push them out.

While work on the engines begins, Lena takes Lincoln and Tess to some tapes that Emmet made her promise to destroy in case something happened to him. They have a look and see he was involved in a host of odd rituals with some local tribes. Then they review his logs that it killed half the crew. It being Travers, who was thought buried. Emmet used the soul trap to draw the spirit into the panic room. The further they go into the Bioúna, the more physics appear to break down. 

Tess is angry Emmet never told him about this new quest. Her son is curious why he went off without her and accuses her of cheating on his father, and maybe guilt brought her to the Amazon. Clark seems to think if that thing is Travers he would know if Emmet is dead or alive.

The engines start up so they begin to push off, but the ship strikes something. AJ grabs his camera and goes off in search. Sammy follows but is killed. Whatever it is breaks the engines.

Lincoln decides to try to snare it with the soul catcher. Tess runs out with the photograph of Travers and demands to know if Emmet is alive. She gets thrown around by the ghost, but Lincoln lures it with blood and traps it in the soul catcher, which he tosses overboard. Tess finds a message scratched on her that Emmet is alive.

Clark reviews all the footage with AJ and the other cameras he's set up on board. He sees Kurt on one attempting to mess with the cameras and then alert someone by radio that Emmet may be alive and may have found the source, and if so, he'll put him down. 

Tess admits to Lincoln she thought she knew his father. The last tape had him heading west to the mountains, but they can go home. Lincoln disagrees, saying he's alive and she was right to drag them out there. He'll review the tapes and track him to see what he was on to. He wants to find the magic.

Marbeley

Day eight. Emilio has fully repaired the engines. They just need a place to continue their search. There are 104 tapes and no way to put them in any kind of order to establish a timeline. Lena remembers Emmet was bit by a bug on the hand, so they track the progress of the bite on the tapes to put things in perspective. They manage to establish eight possible sights and pick one to start. 

When Jahel is sleeping a dragonfly crawls into her mouth. She rises and goes to Lincoln's bunk, then to Tess, who wakes up. She warns (in English) she shouldn't have come here and needs to let him go. It's Emmet. Take Lincoln and go. Jahel then has a seizure. 

Everyone finds Tess' story a bit hard to swallow, but Kurt suggests it might be wise to turn around and go back. She's not going to. Lena points out the final tapes have him in the mountains talking to some kind of local militia. 

Lincoln wonders why Emmet came to Lena for medical help, but she suggests he resents that he has a medical degree and his father came to her instead. When they disembark in the jungle, they immediately find a colonial graveyard, then a noise that leads them to a little girl. Only it's a monkey with a doll's face on its head and everyone is thoroughly freaked. In fact the trees are full of dolls. Lena explains they're spirit trees and the locals bring gifts to appease the spirits. Lincoln finds his old teddy bear Marbeley and assumes Emmet must have put it there.

Kurt decides to make camp there for the night and AJ sets up cameras in the trees. Lincoln grabs his bear from the tree and one of the dolls turns its head to him as he walks back. 

Flashback to a young Lincoln memory when Emmet shares a moment with his son, telling the story of a shaman who told him life and death are the same weight on a clock. His wife made him a necklace explaining one day he would meet a child who was strong enough. So he gives it to him Lincoln. 

Lincoln admits to Lena he and his father barely spoke the year before he went missing, so he's interested that she and Emmet communicated. She thought he lost Marbeley years ago when he was 16 after Lincoln pitched him into the Indian Ocean and went off to boarding school. Lena suggests Emmet was just trying to protect him in coming to her instead of Lincoln. Emmet felt he could risk her. 

With everyone asleep Lincoln is suddenly yanked out of his tent into the trees. He runs back and tells them they're all leaving, despite Kurt advising against it. They head off but Tess is grabbed by something in the shallow water. AJ says he saw a dead hand grab her.

Lena remembers Emmet recounting a legend about the abandoned one, a little girl who played by herself in the forest. Her doll fell into the river so she went in after it and drowned. Her body was never found and her spirit gets lonely, so brings others to the river to drown. Locals began bringing her gifts so they would leave their families alone. That explains the dolls, and Lincoln suspects it's a British colonial family. Kurt notices he has the teddy bear and tells him to give it back. Lincoln returns it to the tree. The bear falls to the ground. Lincoln ties it again. It falls. Kurt takes it and secures it back. Then a whole bunch of dolls fall down.

Everyone takes off running back to the Magus, but they end up back at the doll tree. Tess is suddenly missing and they find her being dragged back into the water, so they jump in after, but she's gone. The ghost wants her mother, so Lincoln goes to the colonial burial ground and finds a woman's gravestone, digs up the body and takes it to the water. He hopes it's the little girl's mother, and begs to have his own returned. Finally a hand rises from the open grave and Tess climbs out. Everyone is thoroughly freaked.

On the Magus, Jahel begins to wake up. She wants to keep the spirit so they can find Emmet. Emilio warns her the longer she holds onto a spirit the more it takes when it leaves, and he can't lose her like her mother. Emmet speaks through her, grabs him and tells him he has to protect them.

Come morning they get back to the Magus. Lincoln goes to Jahel, who is still in bed, trying to communicate with his father. Lincoln wants him to know he understands. There's a whole world of things he never knew about, and Emmet was trying to protect him all this time. Jahel coughs up the dragonfly and it flies out a window. She apologizes that she couldn't hold on, but she could feel that he's alive.

Lincoln retrieves an old lunchbox that contains the necklace his father gave him and he puts it on. He chats with Lena after as they decompress about their overly stressful day. Then, in a flashback to 1989, Emmet films the two children, and as he zooms in he sees a mark on Lena's neck that matches the necklace. 

The Verdict:

I pretty much said it all in my intro. I'm totally sold on this, and quite excited that it's going to be a limited number of episodes (so far) which forces the writers to edit themselves.

The bizarre bits really work—monkey wearing mask, dragonfly in mouth, the absolute absurdity of camping overnight in the jungle next to a graveyard and a tree full of creepy dolls.

The pilot successfully launched a lot of mysteries. Aside from the larger supernatural scope, there are equally intriguing bits—Kurt's true mission on the expedition, Tess' reason for coming, and the notion that Lena is far more important than anyone realizes.

Sure, the characters do seem to accept a paranormal influence without question right from the beginning, and I've mentioned the everywhere cameras. But stuff like that isn't a big deal when the story is that good.

Review: Paranormal Activity 3

Non Spoiler Review:

Paranormal Activity 3 is set in 1988 (except for a very brief prologue in 2005). Katie (Chloe Csengery) and little sister Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown) are living with their mother Julie (Lauren Bittner) and her new boyfriend Dennis in quite a lavish late 80s house. Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith) videotapes weddings for a living. Kristi starts talking about her imaginary friend Toby after a shower of dust from a minor earthquake reveals an odd shape in the bedroom caught on camera. Dennis is intrigued and sets up his equipment throughout the house to see what he can find. As expected, he finds a lot, and the mystery of Toby, along with the greater storyline involving the girls, their mother, and future Katie's experience, gets filled in.

Full disclosure—I did not see Paranormal Activity 2, but loved the first film for its effective chills. So I felt I could go into this prequel without worrying too much about what transpired in the previous one. To its credit, someone unfamiliar with the trilogy can still enjoy this one without feeling they've missed out on too much (and can then go on to enjoy the first with a different perspective).

I enjoyed the late 80s feel of the movie, though the family house seemed a bit overly extravagant for a single mother. Like Micah in the first, Dennis is extremely likable and the audience certainly feels sympathy for him having to investigate the mystery with little help from his girlfriend, who would much rather just ignore everything before it's too late. That being said, he is basically an 80s version of Micah, so there's nothing different that really stands out about him. The child actors do deliver some convincing performances, as well.

As far as scares, there's nothing new and exciting that will leave you sleeping with the lights on. For me, the first film's three-toed footprints in the powder and attic door askew really can't be topped for chills, and nothing here creates the same effect for me. But the long, silent camera pans succeed in building anticipation for the inevitable shocks.

However...there are some big criticisms.

First, Toby's manifestations tend to be increasingly more powerful. While the first movie really had only one big moment when it dragged Katie out of bed, this one had Toby exhibiting a lot of strength without any real explanation—lifting up a child, as well as the entire contents of the kitchen. Yes, this isn't a movie based in reality, but at least some rules should be followed, in my opinion, and the more subtle actions can be far more eerie than blatant showboating on the part of the entity.

There are HUGE discrepancies between what is seen in the trailer, and what we get in the movie. The scenes of Kristi jumping off the landing and walking up the stairs, a psychic making an appearance, and the house burning down as was mentioned in the first film—none of those are actually in the movie. So when it abruptly ended, I was left scratching my head trying to figure out where those scenes might belong. That may not bother some people, but I really hate getting lead on by a trailer.

This franchise is heading towards another sequel, which can explain why they've changed their mind about the ending. But given what I know of the first movie, there are too many lingering continuity problems. I would have preferred they focus more on this one rather than future installments and tied things together better.

But Paranormal Activity 3 does succeed in delivering some creepiness. Perhaps not as strong as the first, depending on what scares you. For me, the scenes where Toby's size and presence was hinted at in the room was more eerie than creaking doors and flashing lights. If you're a fan of the series, it's worth seeing in the theatre for some chills, and you'll leave with a very good sense of what is going on with the family and how Toby got there. Newbies can also enjoy the novelty of this particular found footage entry, but it's ultimately just another chapter in the Paranormal Activity franchise.