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Overall Rating : 7.5/10
Directed By : Franck Khalfoun
Rachel Nichols (The Woods)
Wes Bentley (American Beauty)
Philip Akin (Cube 2: Hypercube)
Stephanie Moore (Cube Zero)
Supplied By : Summit Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : March. 31, 2008
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| PLOT The last employee to leave her office building on Christmas Eve, ambitious corporate climber Angela (Rachel Nichols) arrives in the deserted parking garage only to discover her car won't start. She’s relieved when Thomas (Wes Bentley), a seemingly friendly security guard comes along and offers to help. Unable to get the engine to start, he invites Angela to share a small Christmas meal with him. She laughs off the invitation but it quickly becomes clear her situation is no laughing matter. Angered by her refusal, the psychopathic Thomas knocks her out and ties her up in his office. Coming to, Angela realizes that the only way she will live to see Christmas morning is to find a way to escape from P2. |
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| THE REVIEW It's Christmastime, and hard working business woman Angela can't wait to visit her family in New Jersey for the holidays. But first she still has some work to do at her LA office, in which she stay late. With everyone now gone, it's late and Angela begins to make ser way to her car on parking level P2, but she is surprised to find that when she gets there that her car won't start. Here she meets Thomas, the overnight parking attendant, who seems to be more than a helping hand. Before long it is clear that Thomas is smitten by Angela, a woman with whom he watches come and go, day in and day out at work - he makes a few advances at Angela but when she declines the offers, his well-hidden psychotic side emerges. When Thomas' obsession erupts, he sets out to make sure that this is one Christmas that Angela will never forget. With this film, Actor, turned Director, makes his directorial debut, helming a script co-written by he and his protege, Alexandre Aja (Director of HIGH TENSION and THE HILLS HAVE EYES (2006), along with Grégory Levasseur(co-writer of HIGH TENSION). Together in P2, they have created yet another thrill-ride, one that preys on some of the most common fears; being alone, being stalked, and being trapped, and the overall feeling of being helpless. In P2, the character of Angela experiences all of these fears, and through the film's great writing, we as an audience do too. In reality, P2, has a very simple plot, one that could've been very boring if not handled correctly. The setup is that we have a young woman who gets locked up in a parking garage while attempting to leave, it turns out that she's not alone and that someone's trying to kill her. The film takes place in basically one location for the entire film, the cast is rather minimal, yeah it could've been a snooze-fest, but I have to give it to the filmmakers here, because they really found ways to make an otherwise thin story, both gripping and intriguing. Through the course of the film, we see Angela(Rachel Nichols) taken through the ringer, and at some instances you might even question if she will survive or not. The film is consistent at keeping the audience involved and watching on. While watching, I couldn't help but to realize that there is no denying the suspense of the film and that it was clever and genuine. There were often times during the film, where you were under the impression that the film's end loomed near, only to notice that you were not very many minutes into it. Thus you wondered, just how in the hell it would continue, and better yet, make sense. But in the end, they did it - each and every time you think Angela will get away, yet another obstacle is thrown in her way,in one way or another, and each of them, seemingly more clever than the next. Before seeing this I had high hopes for it, but due to Franck Khalfoun directing, who is an actor making his debut, I wondered if P2 would be just another film of lost potential. I can now safely say that P2 was a film that started with potential initially, and it kept it intact, as Khalfoun, handles the material quite competently for a first time Director. I was impressed with a number of scenes shot, here, but perhaps the one that stands out the most would be the scene in which a stalled elevator is turned more or less into a manmade waterfall, flooding it's confines with Angela trapped inside. Not only was this scene stylishly done, but it also created a good amount of suspense as well. Minus a few supporting actors, the film relies solely on the film's 2 stars, Rachel Nichols and Wes Bentley, both of whom give great performances in my opinion. I have seen Nichols in a few minor roles, like the hot, i'll-fated babysitter in the remake of THE AMITYVILLE HORROR and the snobby bitch in Lucky McKee's Witch tale, THE WOODS, but it is in P2 that she is in a starring role, it was also her chance to validate herself, and prove of being more than just a beauty. Believe me, in this film she still is a beauty, showing off her curves better than ever, but if you look past the superficial things, Nichols here has a very solid performance, and assists in making this film what it is. In the beginning, Angela appears to be classy, with her country-girl side well hidden, and by the film's end she is blood-soaked beaten but determined. The one who is viciously stalking Angela is a somewhat deranged security guard named Thomas, portrayed rather dementedly by Wes Bentley. The character of Tom is of high contrast to the bordering Emo character of Ricky that Bentley played a few years back in AMERICAN BEAUTY, so I was curious as to how he would handle the character. All I can say is, gone is the white plastic bag, and in place is an overly delusional and psychotic demeanor. For the most part Bentley makes it work, and is believable, but there were a few moments where he may have been throwing him out there a little too much(for example, making his eyes big and "scary" too frequently), other than that, the performance was quite effective, if not chilling. Overall, P2 is an excellent film that had my interest throughout with it's many twist and turns, all the way to it's action packed end. |
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| GORE
METER 4.5/10 A head bashing, one getting rammed with a car....repeatedly, a stabbing, a gouged eye and other minor cuts and splatters. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 4/10 The team of 'tomandandy'(THE COVENANT) scoring, of whom I am a fan of. the score was rather of a light suspenseful tone, not as prominent as some of their scores in other films, but it's decent. The rest of the soundtrack features a few Christmas tracks. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM P2 was just as good as I expected, and wanted it to be - it's not flawless by no means, but with some movies, you just don't care - and this would be one of them. The film had the kind of suspense you would see in an Alfred Hitchcock or Brian DePalma(Who is probably my favorite all time Director - and he also is influenced by Hitchcock) film, it keeps you involved and intrigued. It's not in the traditional sense, but yes P2 is a Christmas Horror film, and with some of the good ones that already exist (SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT and BLACK CHRISTMAS '74), P2 would be a great inclusion for yearly Christmas viewing - at least on my list. I recommend. This DVD will be available on April 8, 2008 |
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