The Cell is the best, worst movie I've ever seen. The things it does well, it does REALLY WELL, and the things that it does badly, it does REALLY BADLY. It's sad because it could have been a masterpiece. What was great: the cinematography, the imagery, the acting (absolutely phenomenonal), and the overall plot (which was ruined by the awful writing). What was terrible: the script, the writing, and the way the plot is haphazardly and unnaturally constructed. Everything seems so contrived and unnatural. For example, it's way too convenient that the killer has this Seizure thingy and goes into a coma on the same day they come to arrest him, it's way to convenient that somehow the doctor just happens to know off the top of his head of a research laboratory that does inception-like crap and can help them figure out where the girl is being held, it's way too convenient that he has the water sprinklers in the cell set on automatic so that it can fill up without him there, adding to the suspense and time sensitivity of the situation, it's so obvious the connection is made between the killer having a suspension fetish and then when they do their inception-like stuff, they're similarly suspended, it just feels way too forced, and the kid, Edward, had the same type of rare schizophrenia as the killer dude? Come on. This movie is very disappointing, not because it's bad, but because it could have been one of the most amazing movies of all time right up there with Inception, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Memento, Seven, the Butterfly Effect, Donny Darko, Being John Malkovich, the Fountain, the Jacket, Clockwork Orange, and a few more that I am forgetting, movies that are perched front and center on the shelf of any trippy, psychological thriller, mind-bending movie fan. Instead, this movie goes in the pile of beautiful disappointments, kind of like the brilliant child that always disappoints their parents, not because they're a bus driver making an honest living, but because everyone knows that kid could have been president.

For a movie such as this, it's all about the imageries. The images here are very nightmarish, horrifying and creative. However it's a movie that tries to be artistic but lack true artistic elements. So the plot is about diving into the mind of a mentally disturbed culprit by using a machine that allows people to dive into the mind of a patient. It sort of reminded me of the Animus machine from Assassin's Creed. Anyways the process is to find the location of the killers latest victim. So you as an audience witnesses what is going down within the mind of a serial killer. And the demons and abusive past the killer dealt with in the past. However the drawbacks to this film is how it doesn't really delve into connecting the imagery to the story. What I mean is, you just don't get how some crazy images in this connects with why the killer is the way he is. Which in a way makes the journey lack substance and can become pretentious from time to time. However the crazy, bizarre and yet stunning imageries made this movie a somewhat worthwhile watch. Even if it lacks any real substance.6/10

I just saw this film on DVD on my laptop - how I wish I saw it on the big screen! - and it just blew me away. There was not a single second when I turned my eyes away from the screen. Right from the opening scene, with Jennifer Lopez - looking quite a vision in white! - riding a black horse in a desert, with a very catchy, Indian/Middle-Eastern music playing in the background, to the beginning of the end credits (with the same haunting Indian/Middle- Eastern music playing), this film is quite something!I wonder how did they ever think of such a plot? I mean, OK, they thought of going inside someone else's mind--but to actually show it with such visuals, that's what needs all the appreciation. The entire film is a vision, like a dream, like an exquisite artwork. And the best thing is that the director doesn't waste any time in establishing the plot and his surreal - and a bit disturbing - visions. It's like snap snap snap!--and a scene is done, and I was like: What did I just see now? The locations, the sets, the costumes, the looks of the three main characters when they enter their subconscious zones--the visuals will attract you like a magnet. Take my word for this.Beautiful, beautiful movie! This was released in 2000. Today, in 2016, this might have been made - I am sure - in 3D.

Tarsem Singh is certainly a photographer at heart and the surreal imagery of this movie is definitely gallery worthy.This is a suspense/ thriller that delves into the mind of a serial killer that seemingly euthanized his victims not out of spite, but out of pity. This is illustrated when as a child, he drowns a small bird before his abusive father can defile it. It was more humane to kill the bird than to let it live in such an ugly world filled with pain, and this was emphasized with Carl (the killer) even at a young age.Much of the movie is shot from the perspective of Carl as a child, no doubt to gain sympathy from the viewer while he sets in an animated reversion of sorts while communicating synaptically with Lopez's psychotherapist character. It was interesting to see him speaking of his first messy inexperienced endeavor with misty reminiscence, and also to view the symbolism of the white dog, or of how he hung himself from the chains. Better than the story, though, was the cinematography. It was stunning.I was taken back to this film when I viewed the "Bodies" display at the Tropicana, which I believe is now showing at the Luxor in Las Vegas. (For those of you haven't been, these are actual humans preserved in silicone on display actively posed for easy viewing of vascularization, musculature, organ systems, etc…) In the film it was a horse with transverse cross sections between plated glass. The attention to detail with regard to the succinct slices showing the yet operational organs made my twisted little heart soar.It's interesting to me that Singh hasn't released much since "The Cell," but he does have "Immortals" and "The Brothers Grim: Snow White" in the works. If you haven't seen this movie, see it, especially if you dug "Se7en" or "Red Dragon". It has a similar "cop hot on the trail" feel to it, and much like the others, the villain is a shining enigma with a troubled past and a demented message of sorts. While "Se7en" gets kudos for creativity and "Red Dragon" has Fiennes, "The Cell" still has the unmatched scenery that makes me consider it to be ever so slightly better than the aforementioned.If you love gore, such as an excruciating spooling of Vince Vaughn's intestines slowly onto a wheel, and you want to be visually dazzled, this is your flick.