Review: The Fourth Kind

The Fourth Kind

OPENING: 11/06/2009

STUDIO: Universal

RUN TIME: 98 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
There are four kinds of alien encounters. The fourth kind is abduction.

Opening Statement
This clunky science fiction thriller was anything but thrilling.

Facts of the Case
The Fourth Kind begins with actor Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil) introducing her portrayal of Dr. Abigail Tyler, a psychiatrist based in Nome, Alaska who upon hypnotizing several patients learns they share common visions of abduction. Dr. Tyler eventually has experiences of her own, leading her to believe these patients’ stories are frighteningly true. The story shifts between actors portraying renamed witnesses in reenactments and actual footage, sometimes using a split screen to compare the two.

The Evidence
I love films about aliens and generally find abduction movies to be an enjoyable genre. I really liked Fire in the Sky, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a classic. My love for these films is probably why The Fourth Kind was such a disappointment. From the offset, it felt like watching a bad Made-for-TV documentary. I was immediately reminded of Alien Autosy: Fact or Fiction? (1995) starring Jonathan Frakes, the presentation of which was so hokey that any credibility was thrown out the proverbial spaceship’s window. While The Fourth Kind had much higher production values, it was equally laughable. Switching back and forth between actors and real footage worked against the film, reinforcing the scenes that weren’t real and negating any reason to be scared. Had director Olatunde Osunsanmi made a film that simply stated it was based on true events, it would have been more gripping.

I appreciate that Jovovich generally takes on fun roles, but she chose poorly with this one. While doing a perfectly fine job as Dr. Tyler, this material is sub-par even for a sci-fi flick, the acting versus real footage keeping me from connecting with her character. The same goes for every other character in the film.

Alongside a clumsy introduction, the entire presentation of information within the film suffers. We already know from looking at the poster that The Fourth Kind is about abduction. Oddly, it takes two-thirds of the film for the characters to come to that realization, thus making the first 30 minutes drag severely. We then spend 45 minutes waiting for these people to figure out something which should have been presented much earlier, especially since this is the entire focus of the film. It’s like watching a murder mystery, knowing who the killer is, and waiting for the detective to figure it out. Yes, there are many films where the audience knows critical information the characters don’t, but this isn’t Hitchcock. In fact, it isn’t until Tyler unravels the mystery that the physical occurrences start taking place. Until then, it’s simply a series of hypnotic episodes.

The effect to which the film will affect is dependent on how much you believe its story is based on fact. For me, this is simply a screenplay written and presented as fact. When all is said and done, The Fourth Kind wants to scare the viewer by presenting itself as something it’s not. The gimmick didn’t scare me in the least, and I laughed out loud at least once. But, like Jovovich says in her intro, whether or not you believe the story to be true is up to you.

Closing Statement
Give credit to director Osunsanmi for trying to be original, but The Fourth Kind fails to deliver the realism it was hoping to achieve.

The Verdict
3/10

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