The 2012 suspense film “ATM” starred three, talented, young
stars, but failed to deliver a bone-chilling film to match. That’s what I
think, and apparently, most critics think so too.
Story and Concept: I
loved the concept. It’s what most experts would call a “claustrophobic thriller”.
Why claustrophobic? ‘Cause it features three officemates trapped inside a
little ATM. I loved the idea of having a strange man trapping people inside an
ATM in the middle of the night. It’s what I would call an adventure. But the
plot didn’t fulfill most of my expectations.
Most of the story didn’t make sense. Who’s that mysterious
person? What does he want with Cory, Emily and David (the main characters, respectively)? Why
did he trap them there? Questions that, up until the end of the film, were not
answered.
The plot twist would have been great, but I kinda wanted to
know what was happening in the first place. Plot twist? Good. Twisting a plot
that nobody understood? Bad idea.
Setting: In my
psychotic opinion, the setting was great: An ATM in the middle of an empty
parking lot, late, late at night. A mysterious man has appeared out of nowhere,
and he looked dangerous. They were safe, only because the ATM’s doors were
locked from the inside. But they’re wondering why the man hasn’t busted in yet
(‘cause I’m sure he could) Nevertheless, if they chose to stay inside, they
would freeze to death because of the wintry temperature. The setting was good.
It provided just enough scary detail to horrify a claustrophobic.
Acting: Like I
said, the actors were good. It’s the story that brought it all down. The
characters lacked common sense, and that’s what ultimately led to their demise.
I mean, the strange man didn’t even have a gun! AND there were three of them,
against one person who was only smart enough to kill a rabbit. Unfortunately,
the characters seemed to have the I.Q. of a rabbit. That figures.
Sound: My only
complaint: The Christmas song at the beginning made it seem like a comedy movie
for me. Only until the ATM scene did I realize that I signed up for horror. The
rest of the soundtrack was good.
Direction: Can we
blame the director for a badly-explained plot? Maybe. But I don’t think so. The
direction was good. It did feel like a credible horror film. I only felt it
lacked certain details. In fact, I would have liked the movie if everything
made sense.
Overall: I would
give it a 2 out of 5 rating. It scored two points for a good cast, a good
setting, a good premise and a good plot twist. It lost two points for not being
able to tie it all up into one great movie. AND it lost another point for not
giving the characters the sense which is common: Common sense!
There you have it folks, my review for the 2012 movie “ATM”.
All I can say is there’s no point in crying over spilled milk. Hey, maybe next
time.
Here's what other critics said: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/atm/
Directed by: David Brooks
Written by: Chris Sparling
Cast:
Brian Geraghty as David Hargrove
Josh Peck as Cory Thompson
Alice Eve as Emily Brandt