Panic Room

An old-house thriller retrofitted for the 21st century without any touch of unneeded flash, Panic Room is scary enough to do for downtown living what Jaws did for beaches.

The movie, which suggests a combination of "Wait Until Dark" and "Rear Window," not only takes your breath away on an aesthetic level, it eloquently evokes the mother's and daughter's vulnerability.

May actually appeal more to women than men because of the steely heroine, the pitting of love of family against love of filthy lucre -- and the mom-fights-back plot.

Defies logic, the laws of physics and almost anyone's willingness to believe in it. But darned if it doesn't also keep us riveted to our seats.

What's surprising about this traditional thriller, moderately successful but not completely satisfying, is exactly how genteel and unsurprising the execution turns out to be.

I was never bored but only occasionally interested.

Might be entertaining for those who like seeing a terrified teenage girl watch a loved one get beaten to a pulp while she slides into a diabetic coma. For the rest of us it's both stagnant and vaguely unpleasant.

Panic Room is a near-perfect suspense thriller by Fincher. Every aspect of it is intelligent, and the product is a very successful film. The movie benefits highly from the amazing cinematography. The camera pans the rooms, shows creative camera angles, and never misses an opportunity to produce amazing visuals. Fincher is the second master of suspense right next to Hitchcock himself, and knows how to keep us engaged and entertained throughout the film. The end result is a well-played, carefully executed, thrilling movie that never skips a beat.

A Tightly Wound Claustrophobic Thriller Where the House Itself Becomes an Inescapable Panic Room.130831 (3.0)The film itself is essentially a sealed chamber and a panic room. It treats external information beyond that scope as unimportant. The movie itself is a locked room, Meg and Sarah's house is a locked room, and the panic room within it is a complete, impenetrable chamber. If it is Jodie Foster, I can stay awake throughout the film—that belief proved to be absolute truth. The movie focuses purely and simply on what truly matters. It does not particularly concern itself with the couple's divorce, the actions of the police, Junior's grandfather and family background, or real estate intricacies. Meg and Sarah's house is grand and immense, even allowing them to see the open sky through the ceiling, yet it is thoroughly fortified against outsiders. This house, a solid sealed fortress from the start, is breached from above by Burnham, the security specialist. However, that breach only served to increase the number of people trapped inside the locked space. Even the intruders cannot leave the house. Because they were fundamentally ordinary people, they experienced the very same fears as regular individuals. With innocent people caught inside their meticulously planned inheritance heist, they turned into home-invasion robbers, and ultimately into murderers. The biggest coward among them is Raoul. A mere bus driver trying to act charismatic to take part in a grand scheme, he brought a mask and even a gun precisely because he was a coward. Various unpredictable variables arise because of him, just as multiple variables emerge thanks to sharp-witted Meg. The tense urgency of external communication connecting and disconnecting is captured exceptionally well throughout the film. Smashing security cameras, **** light bulbs so shadows won't show, and locking doors—Meg was far too formidable at generating sheer suspense to be dismissed as an ordinary mother. It felt like she was pouring out every bit of craft honed across countless films. Kristen Stewart's performance was quite good as well; I wonder if her acting became stiffer as she grew older or if it is because she constantly plays chic, detached roles. In any case, her portrayal of seizures and her childlike vulnerability were done remarkably well—or perhaps it seemed that way because she was actually a child back then? Burnham, who killed his accomplice, upheld his personal conscience, and was caught while fleeing, releases the 22 bearer bonds with a look of pure desolation when the police tell him to open his hands; watching 22 million dollars scatter into the air was quite a spectacle. For reference, Junior was Harry from "Requiem for a Dream"—his style changed completely. I thought he was Ryan Gosling at first, but it turns out he is the famous Jared Leto. Directed by David Fincher, the 2002 suspense thriller film "Panic Room" stars Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart as a newly divorced mother and her diabetic daughter who seek refuge inside a fortified safe room when three burglars invade their newly purchased Manhattan brownstone in search of a hidden fortune.

Music videos or shorts aside, David Fincher’s Panic Room came at a time when he was actually at the peak of his powers after having already produced Fight Club (1999) and soon to deliver Zodiac (2005). That said, these works are so strong that Panic Room feels like a lesser work. That’s not to say that there isn’t much to admire, though. It’s a tried-and-tested, home invasion formula but Fincher has a solid handling on the tension and injects some technical wizardry that adds to the overall setting. The performances are also excellent and much as it isn’t exactly fresh material, Fincher is able to extract just enough mileage.

i told you, i don't hurt people.. Panic Room Ticking for almost 2 hours, it seems a bit long and stretched considering its premise (it could have easily been of around 90 minutes), it needed a better editing to satisfy the viewers in the end but other than that it works for the most part of it. David Fincher doesn't compromise on the execution but seems a little irresponsible on the editing part and as far as David Koepp's screenplay is concerned; its perspective is interesting enough to invest in it, but lacks on proving a point. Jodie Foster is good in her part and is supported well by great cast like Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto and Kristen Stewart. Panic Room is a fine popcorn entertainer that roots for the big bucks but fails to go deep and take risks which then leads into a shallow soulless feature that looks good in a first glimpse but nothing beyond that.

Hard for me to score this, as, as a piece of entertainment I thought it was a zero, I was so bored. And it was 100% joyless. As a piece of art, definitely not a zero. More like a 5 or a 6. But I'll score it mostly as a piece of entertainment and give it two.