Panic Room Reviews

An old-house thriller retrofitted for the 21st century without any touch of unneeded flash, Panic Room is scary enough to do for downtown living what Jaws did for beaches.

The movie, which suggests a combination of "Wait Until Dark" and "Rear Window," not only takes your breath away on an aesthetic level, it eloquently evokes the mother's and daughter's vulnerability.

Panic Room is a real panic, and it's not just there, you can feel it by yourself that the movie is really didn't make you panic at the first place even when the robbery shows up, it slowly grow as it what happens through out the movie until it becomes a real panic, David Fincher's with his master of technique and direction, brilliant performance by all the cast, the tension, the build, Panic Room it's amazing.

Director David Fincher elevates the suspense while the script by David Koepp (Mission: Impossible, Spider Man and Jurassic Park) keeps us interested into the characters and their survival and they manage to make an above average thriller, anyway their not the stars the person who really shines in the film is Jodi Foster. Fincher lets his actors fit into the characters and into the film's world, Foster shines as a heroine and so does Kristen Stewart under the direction of Mr. Fincher. It's gory alright but it's under ratted film, it's over the top and it's not extremely gore film like "Seven" or "Fight Club" but who cares really. Meg Altman (played by Jodi Foster) is divorced and cannot get over her cheating ex-husband pharmaceutical magnate Stephen Altman (Patrick Bauchau) - and their street wise pre-teen Sarah (Kristen Stewart) are spending their first night at in brownstone in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The conversions, which include an elevator and a secure panic room, while the previous owner built the panic room a wealthy recluse whose family is now fighting over the whereabouts of his vast estate. Meg doesn't know part of the estate - is 3$ million dollars is hidden in the floor in the panic room something that the burglars Burnham, Junior and Raoul know. Junior (Jared Leto) is the grandson of the previous owner, Burnham (Forest Whitaker) works for a security system that monitors the security system for the brownstone including the panic room and Raoul is hired by Junior to help him and Burnham on the plan. The three men plan on retrieving the money. But they don't know that the house is empty, the three men break into the brownstone but realize the house isn't empty as they believed. When all five people realize there are unexpected people in the house, Meg and Sarah make into the panic room safely, unfortunately the phone doesn't work which Burnham knows of course. Also he knows him and his criminal partners can't get into the panic room. Meg and Sarah are not leaving the panic room, while the three criminals aren't leaving til they get their money which is in the panic room. As Meg and Ryan try to get the message outside. Their working against time as Sarah is a diabetic who doesn't have insulin. While Meg and Sarah are trying to solve their problems, the three criminals are having trouble too, the three are differing personalities and having trouble with the motivations for the money, each of them are having thoughts about how far will they go to get the money. The film engages you and is a nail biter, after you watch this movie you'll be satisfied. Grade A

May actually appeal more to women than men because of the steely heroine, the pitting of love of family against love of filthy lucre -- and the mom-fights-back plot.

Defies logic, the laws of physics and almost anyone's willingness to believe in it. But darned if it doesn't also keep us riveted to our seats.

What's surprising about this traditional thriller, moderately successful but not completely satisfying, is exactly how genteel and unsurprising the execution turns out to be.

I was never bored but only occasionally interested.

Might be entertaining for those who like seeing a terrified teenage girl watch a loved one get beaten to a pulp while she slides into a diabetic coma. For the rest of us it's both stagnant and vaguely unpleasant.

Panic Room is a near-perfect suspense thriller by Fincher. Every aspect of it is intelligent, and the product is a very successful film. The movie benefits highly from the amazing cinematography. The camera pans the rooms, shows creative camera angles, and never misses an opportunity to produce amazing visuals. Fincher is the second master of suspense right next to Hitchcock himself, and knows how to keep us engaged and entertained throughout the film. The end result is a well-played, carefully executed, thrilling movie that never skips a beat.

Music videos or shorts aside, David Fincher’s Panic Room came at a time when he was actually at the peak of his powers after having already produced Fight Club (1999) and soon to deliver Zodiac (2005). That said, these works are so strong that Panic Room feels like a lesser work. That’s not to say that there isn’t much to admire, though. It’s a tried-and-tested, home invasion formula but Fincher has a solid handling on the tension and injects some technical wizardry that adds to the overall setting. The performances are also excellent and much as it isn’t exactly fresh material, Fincher is able to extract just enough mileage.

i told you, i don't hurt people.. Panic Room Ticking for almost 2 hours, it seems a bit long and stretched considering its premise (it could have easily been of around 90 minutes), it needed a better editing to satisfy the viewers in the end but other than that it works for the most part of it. David Fincher doesn't compromise on the execution but seems a little irresponsible on the editing part and as far as David Koepp's screenplay is concerned; its perspective is interesting enough to invest in it, but lacks on proving a point. Jodie Foster is good in her part and is supported well by great cast like Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto and Kristen Stewart. Panic Room is a fine popcorn entertainer that roots for the big bucks but fails to go deep and take risks which then leads into a shallow soulless feature that looks good in a first glimpse but nothing beyond that.

This movie felt barely watchable but it didn't convince me. It didn't make me want to watch it again but I should probabily give it a second chance.

Hard for me to score this, as, as a piece of entertainment I thought it was a zero, I was so bored. And it was 100% joyless. As a piece of art, definitely not a zero. More like a 5 or a 6. But I'll score it mostly as a piece of entertainment and give it two.

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

Online Film Critics Society Awards