Mirrors is a 2008 American supernatural horror film directed by Alexandre Aja, starring Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, and Amy Smart. In a bid to pull his shattered life back together, troubled ex-cop Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland) takes a job as a security guard at the burned-out ruins of a once-prosperous department store. As Ben patrols the charred hallways, he begins to see horrifying images in the ornate mirrors that still adorn the walls. Ben soon realizes that a malevolent force is using the mirrors to gain entrance into this world, threatening the lives of his wife (Paula Patton) and children.
Apparently, This movie was originally scripted as a straightforward remake of the 2003 South Korean horror film Geoul Sokeuro (2003). However, once Alexandre Aja was brought on board and read the script, he was dissatisfied with the particulars of the original film's story. He changed the story dramatically. At this point, he had already made a few of my favorites such as HIGH TENSION and his HILLS HAVE EYES remake, and going in I was excited to see if this movie was anything more than another early 2000s flop.
The opening scene of this movie is as wonderfully violent as it is absurd. A security guard runs through a subway station until he enters a room he cannot escape and starts begging his reflection in a mirror for his life. His reflection uses a shard of glass to slice into its own throat with a massive Sweeny Todd level of blood. Thank you Greg Nicetero, Hell yeah, let's fucking go...
And where are we going exactly? to meet Ben Carson, a stereotype-suspended police detective hamming it up with either Nic Cage's anger or droopy dog hopelessness. He's a hard protagonist to like, mirrored (haha) by his equally corny and plastic-feeling family. The more you watch this movie, the more you realize this isnt what you wanted it to be. This movie feels like somebody wanted to do the most depressing version of Night at the Museum possible, except instead of a museum It's a department store that caught fire a few years ago and is now full of evil mirror demons that make you hallucinate some crazy shit.
Ben Carson is a god-awful protagonist, seemingly only capable of either Nicholas Cage-level anger or droopy dog-level mopiness. He's a stereotype ex-cop with a stereotyped divorced wife, which must be terribly difficult for his stereotype son. A whole family of unlikable and uninteresting characters that really remove any emotional weight this movie could have potentially had, and there are nowhere near enough kills or suspense scenes to make this worth your time.
Rotten Tomatoes reported that 14% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 87 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads "Inconsistency and listless plot make this horror remake a less-than-frightening time at the movies."
Even with Greg Nicotero doing the effects, even with Alexander Aja directing, and even if you only have movies from 2008 to choose from, you can do better than this.
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