And Soon The Darkness

"Alone.  Stranded.  No One To Trust" shouts the box description of the next film, there's blurry tension ridden pictures, girls in bikinis, and Karl Urban looking angry...  In fact he seems to be pulling the same face he does in the Lord Of The Rings whenever someone mentions going into battle.  So today we'll have a look at And Soon The Darkness.

This is one of those films where the characters seem to lack simple common sense, two American girls are on a bike tour in Argentina but have decided to abandon the organised trip and go a wandering...  Alarm bells ringing yet?  They should be!

It's a simple plot, the girls find a hotel to stay in and decided to spend their final night in a local bar annoying the locals with skimpy outfits and an overeagerness for crappy pop on the jukebox.  Ellie, who apparently is a man eating nympho, decides to get it on with one of the regulars but is promptly blocked by friend Stephanie, when her chosen date doesn't like being turned down Michael (Urban) steps in being all manly and shirt roughing.

The following day Ellies behaviour causes a predictable fight between her and Stephanie which leads to their separation, when Steph returns Ellie is missing and the remainder of the film is a paint by numbers race to find her.

Here is the issue, there is nothing new in this film, tourists being kidnapped to be sold on to as sex slaves in some backwater town has been done numerous times before.  This film can't even really be described as a thriller, a promising opening sequence featuring the torture of one young woman is about as graphic as you're going to get.  The entire plot is focussed on Steph trying to find her friend, there is no mystery to this as it's so obvious from the start what is going on that there is noting to hold your attention; you know how this is going to end within the first 15 minutes.  It's one giant cupcake sized cliché with an extra sprinkling of unbelievable plot points.

It's one redeeming feature is the gorgeous scenery, there are lots of wide shots of the landscape whilst the girls explore making for some beautiful travelling scenes.  But like Barbie it's all beauty and no substance.  I'm sure some viewers will enjoy the view of the lead actresses strutting around in their bikinis, accompanied by some rather overly intrusive ass shots but this seems like a final act of desperation by the makers to get people watching.

The script isn't poor, it's average at best, the character of Steph comes across as a complete kill joy during the first half of the film and when she is trying to find Ellie she seems to lack the required urgency a situation like this would obviously garner.  In fact all the characters feel one dimensional, Ellie is the trouble maker, Steph is the prude and Michael is the brave man.

Urban still wasn't sure if he'd perfected the Bryan McFadden look enough for his Westlife Tribute Act.

I ended up watching this film as Karl Urban was in it, I quite enjoy his performances and find him a more understated actor.  As with the two actresses Heard and Yustman, Urban cannot fill out his role due to the constraints of the writing, they all have back stories which are touched upon in such a blink and you'll miss it type way that you really don't care about them as characters.

The cast do their best with what they have, with the exception of Cesar Vianco who plays Calvo the towns local law enforcement.  Vianco is unintentional comic relief due to his rather camp Spanish accent and crazy hair, you know from the moment he turns up that he's in on it he may as well be wearing a sign around his neck declaring "Alert!  Bad Guy Plot Twist!"

This film is one to be avoided, even if you're a fan of the cast there is little to make it interesting.  If you're looking for films with similar themes try Taken for a plot around tourists being kidnapped or A Perfect Getaway for a vacation based thriller, both are good choices.

If nothing else you'll take away from the film that you should never go on holiday with someone who'll sleep with anyone in sight because they attract kidnappers, be suspicious of any place where the locals are constantly passing silent messages to one another through dirty looks and don't ever trust a police man whos office implies he never solves any crimes...  Seriously how many missing persons posters did he have to display for Steph to twig something may be a bit wrong!