FALLEN (2016)

Genre: Fantasy
Director: Scott Hicks
Cast: Addison Timlin, Jeremy Irvine, Harrison Gilbertson, Joely Richardson, Lola Kirke, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, Daisy Head, Hermione Corfield, Malachi Kirby
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films  
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 10 November 2016

Synopsis: Based on the worldwide bestselling book series, Fallen is seen through the eyes of Lucinda "Luce" Price, a strong-willed seventeen-year-old living a seemingly ordinary life until she is accused of a crime she didn't commit. Sent off to the imposing Sword & Cross reform school, Luce finds herself being courted by two young men to whom she feels oddly connected. Isolated and haunted by strange visions, Luce begins to unravel the secrets of her past and discovers the two men are fallen angels, competing for her love for centuries. Luce must choose where her feelings lie, pitting Heaven against Hell in an epic battle over true love.

Movie Review:

Not to be confused with the 1998 supernatural thriller starring Denzel Washington, this Fallen is more in line with other YA fantasies such as Twilight, The Mortal Instruments and Beautiful Creatures. Unfortunately, it comes a little too late and offers way to little to satisfy even the hardcore YA crowd.

Clearly lacking the flair and budget of its predecessors, Fallen is based on a series of successful books by Lauren Kate, the first being published a year after the release of Twilight the movie. And not to discredit the work of Kate, it seems that the eerily familiar template of Twilight has been stamped on it even though it’s eight years since the phenomenal box-office success of it.

Lucinda (Addison Timlin) who believes she can see mysterious combusting shadows from time to time voluntary sent herself to a boarding school named Sword and Cross, a gloomy place where strange wayward students enrolled. There she met Daniel (Jeremy Irvin), the handsome boy who loves to doodle in class and Cam (Harrison Gilbertson), the rebel and troublemaker. In addition, there’s her talkative roommate and best friend, Penn (Lola Kirke) and a few other creepy students, one who happens to know about her dark past. Lucinda feels she has known Daniel for the longest time though he quickly brushes it off. Is it a result of reincarnation? Or is Lucinda’s sickness getting worse? Or perhaps there’s more to Daniel and Cam.

For those who actually care about the background of the movie, it’s about fallen angels hiding in the mortal world after Lucifer fell out with God. The war is ongoing and every angel must choose a side in the end. This is the interesting part of the story that never really delves on. While there are no vampires or werewolves here, there’s an almost perfect looking angel and a rebellious one vying for the love of a girl. A painful love triangle sounds awfully familiar if you know what I mean. Despite its relatively brief runtime, Fallen is content in delivering long pauses especially when it comes to scenes of boy meets girl. Lucinda meets Cam for the first time. Cue in a long pause. Lucinda then meets Daniel. Cue in a long pause. Lucinda meets Daniel in the courtyard. Cue in a long pause. Lucinda meets Daniel in the swimming pool. Cue in a long pause.  

Seriously we get it! We don’t need countless long pauses to understand the torture, the pain, the deep love suffered by the two lovebirds. What the audiences need is more background and story to feel for the characters instead of lingering shots of Daniel and Lucinda staring blankly at each other. If this is the setup for more adventures of fallen angels and demons then the filmmakers have practically wasted the chance.

Australian filmmaker Scott Hicks directed this gig though it’s best you stick to his 1996’s Shine. The U.S. distributor for Fallen happens to be Relativity Media, coincidentally the fallen movie company. The budget for this is touted to be US$40 million on the contrary the entire affair looks like a $4 million botched job. If other better done YA franchises liked Divergent has sputter before they reach the finishing point, chances are we are not likely to see another Lucinda’s outing on the screen again.   

Movie Rating:

(A battle between angels and demons? More like a slow painful romance affair that goes nowhere by the time the credits rolled)

Review by Linus Tee