Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your money or time on this one!
Review: I rented this movie on DVD with great anticipation of seeing yet another excellent theatrical thriller. Boy was I wrong. Too much time is wasted on the visual experience and not enough on character development. This is a story that had great potential but is squandered.
Rating:
Summary: Bleh? Blah.
Review: One of those many over-done unoriginal TV murder/mystery shows where they explore another type of serial killer. Nothing new here, except for a few scenes in the movie where the psychologist goes into the killer's dreams while he's in a coma to try and find clues to where a victim who is slowly being drowned is being held. They sell the movie on the tagline "Journey inside the mind of a killer" although hardly any of the movie takes place inside his dreams. No more than 1/4 of it, that is. In fact, they don't even get into his mind until over 40 minutes into the tape. Lousy acting, shallow-as-an-ashtray characters, and worse-than-prime-time-TV production (with the exception of the few and decently-done dream scenes) are the highlights here. Despite all the useless character info, you hardly learn anything about anybody except the killer himself. Not that I don't mind character development, but at least make it meaningful, huh? I say useless not because I was expecting the entire movie to take place in the killer's mind, but because it was simply filler; so, so shallow.Semi-interesting visuals at best. I've had dreams many times creepier than that guy's. Note to director: if you're gonna sell a movie on the journey into a killer's mind, make that the main event in the film. Otherwise advertise it for what it is.
Rating: 
Summary: A Point I would like to make
Review: This movie receives a mixed bag of reviews. I thought this movie was compelling. I think that the content of this movie is important. The content I am referring to is 'knowing what makes a person murder.' This movie brings back memories I have of an interview with a serial killer on television some time ago. After seeing that interview I could not help think to myself, 'who is the victim here?' That television interview was Bar-None THE saddest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I do not care who you are or what you have been through in life. I do not care what level of loss you have experienced, nothing can compare to a pain so profuse and overwhelming it drives one to acts of severe retaliation. I could grossly see on this persons face, a life of sheer torture, that compelled this person to the twisted acts of murder. You could SEE what ruined his life. You could SEE it and it was sickening. I used to have the attitude that anyone who murdered was just a sick **** and deserved to die like their victims. I changed my tune. I learned something of the meaning of compassion by watching a killer express his tortured life. Of course many of you don't want to hear this, you want to have your hate. I respect that. Hate these killers, hate them with all your heart. But, for those capable of putting their feet in anothers' shoe, try this movie on for size.
Rating:
Summary: perhaps you all need hallucinogens
Review: This film was great. I've seen it once in theaters and thrice on DVD. The script was slightly weak, but it wasn't made for the story. This is a visual thing. If you took out all the dialog and put some music on it would be just as good. If you like having your senses titillated definitely watch this movie. I don't currently use drugs, but if you don't like this movie perhaps you should try watching it while on shrooms, mescaline or something similar. The film makers really do a great job of bringing out alternate realities.
Rating:
Summary: 2nd best horror movie ever
Review: this movie was cool and had awesome visual effects. jennifer lopez plays a psychiatrist trying to stop a psycho vincent d'onfrio from killing his next victim. it also had very good charecters. rent this and turn on your surround sound system if you have one. oh you have to pay close attention to the tv.
Rating: 
Summary: Alternatly Boring and Disgusting, with good effects.....
Review: The Cell provoked a very mixed bag of feelings inside of me. first off, the visual style of the film is absolutly fantastic; rich and colorful and vibrant and complex and fluid. On the other hand, its violence is truely sadistic (the iron scene made me cringe and avert my eyes, but even that didn't help, the sound still reached me) and one wonders how much relevence it has to the plot other than to disturb. and thats another thing, the plot. the plot was probably thirty pages of actual story and seventy pages of visual descriptions. Sheesh, you know NOTHING about anyone (even Starger, the killer. His pysche is twisted to the point where you can't really tell for sure why he is the way he is) and in the end, care for no one. I'm not saying that The Cell is bereft of interesting ideas; there are a great many things that make this movie interesting, especially the small child at the end in a truely heart-wrenching scene that seems out of place, and the visual effects, sets, and costumes alone keep you watching, even if at times you don't want to. I'm saying that this is one movie where the current director should have been kept on for the visuals, and someone else hired to do everything else, because Tarsem Singh HAS NO IDEA HOW TO DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN VISUALS! the fact that there are a few interesting character scenes are a fluke. watch this movie once for the visual effects, and then forget about it and see movies with some real meaning.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully painful
Review: OK, I only skimmed the first 30 or so reviews, but from what I saw, no one touched on the aspect of this film that affected me so. That was it's treatment and exploration of severe mental illness. D'Onfrio's character has a highly severe form of schizoprhenia that causes him to do horrible things, which sets up the premise for the film. The scenes that took place inside his mind were fascinating and heartbreaking. We saw the three people that he actually was - the little boy he had been before his illness took hold, the man who lurked deep beneath the illness, and the illness itself, which was presented as the screeching demon that it is. The viewer is invited to explore further into the psyche of a so-called madman than in any other film I've ever seen. His death in the climax is heartwrenching, for to kill the screeching demon, one must also kill the sad little boy that hides deep inside him. This was a visually stunning, painful film for me to watch. Technically, I found the scenes outside D'Onofrio's character's mind typical and humdrum. I would have preferred more time being spent in artistic and psychological experimentation. Lopez's social worker is a little too Pollyanna for me, but Vaughn was solid and very FBIish. In short, this movie is underrated. It is also liked and detested for all the wrong reasons.
Rating:
Summary: refreshing stuff from hollywood
Review: The first time I watched The Cell on DVD I wasn't very impressed and lent it to some friends to watch. However, with each subsequent viewing I have grown to like it more and more. I finally realised how powerful some of the imagery in the film is when I had a night of 'Cell' style dreams that were obviously influenced by the movie. Now that is saying something - I can't remember the last time a movie made such an impact on my subconcious! I've had a DVD player since Christmas and so have been rather gluttonous buying discs which means I've sat through a lot of Hollywood guff since then. What's refreshing about The Cell is that it looks like no other movie to come out of Hollywood before. So the story is not the most original - it's still more original than the majority of tripe coming out of the big studios. The DVD itself is top notch - some great extras - especially the special effects pieces that allow you to watch interviews with the creative talents behind the movie and flick between 2 more angles of footage and storyboards. There's also a nice little feature and a couple of commentary tracks. It is obvious from all involved that they enjoyed their experiences making this movie. Ok so it's not the best movie of all time but it's certainly one of the best to come out of Hollywood last year for me. Obviously not everyone's cup of tea but this is recommended to anyone who loves creepy surreal horror, lush visuals and especially anyone interested in the digital arts and moviemaking in general. I look forward to Tarsem's next offering.
Rating:
Summary: silence of the........wrong movie
Review: good movie, and very imaginative!!! but no silence!
Rating:
Summary: A Masterwork.
Review: "The Cell" is a visually hypnotic, visceral and creepy gem of a thriller. The movie is brilliantly directed, written and visually conceived. It is some sort of tribute to surrealism and true psychological terror and gothic imagery. There are sequences that would make Salvador Dali proud. And yet, with all the great imagery there is a truly interesting story. The film is to be admired because the director, Tarsem Singh, looks at the material head-on and is not afraid to realistically show murder, violence and the sadomasochism found in the profile of a lot of serial killers. In an age when directors are afraid to take chances and prefer PG-13 raitings, it is refreshing to find someone who is willing to present great art and not bow-down to cheap censorship. There are true moments of gut-wrenching suspense. But the true worth of this movie is how Tarsem keeps it visually enchanting. There is a rich quality to the way he moves the camera, and Paul Laufer's photography combined with the special effects presents images that look like paintings, and sequences that seem like a dream (or nightmare) that you just had. It is a true piece of surrealism. And it's brilliantly done because of the plot structure, when you're going into someone else's head, it's obvious the visual possibilities are endless, and Tarsem makes use of that. The performances are also superb. Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn and especially Vincent D'Onofrio gives great performances. "The Cell" has touches of classic horror and stands as one of the most visually rich movies in years. I also loved the touches of dark romanticsm and detail. Tarsem's eye is exquisite in visual composition. Look at the seduction scene where Lopez in that infamous red dress, kisses Vince Vaugn in some veiled oriental-type couch/bed and moves back and we can still see some crimson lipstick smeared on Vaughn's lips. I notice that kind of detail in few movies these days. And then there's the score by Howard Shore with Middle Eastern (or oriental touches) that make it enchanting. "The Cell," underrated and underappreciated is a masterpiece.
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