The Giver

My issue with this movie is that the youth go to watch it with the feeling that it’s the next Hunger Games or Divergence. But The Giver is something completely different. It’s not bad at all, but it’s difficult to get into. Because the world it takes place in is black and white. Literally; both the picture and the emotions it’s showing. But those will soon be thick on the ground and they’ll be a part of the movie itself. The premise gets a very interesting flow and even a more interesting denouement that I was really happy about. Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep really fit in well and the rest of the actors are decent, too. The Giver isn’t a completely easy young-adult fantasy, but once you get into it, you’ll be happy that you did in the end. (18.07.2015)

The message that the film carries may seem overly obvious, naive, and perhaps even silly to some, but on the other hand, when one considers the direction the world is heading, this message of self-reliance can be comforting. Yes, the film is rather straightforward, but the way the world is written and presented is quite interesting. I like that it doesn't push the romance too hard but rides on a pretty good wave overall. For me, it’s simply good. (07.10.2014)

An interesting idea, good experienced and likable young actors, eye-pleasing production design and a decent start. However, in the second half the film takes a turn for the worse, a lot of clichés and illogical situations enter the scene and the viewer has no choice but to shake his head, almost forget about all the positives and ask in mute amazement why Phillip Noyce made this particular film. I don't know if the book is that stupid, but I definitely consider the kidnapping of the infant into the wilderness, the fall into the flooded river, and finally the trudge through the snowy mountains to be some of the stupidest moments I've seen in movies lately. Together with the barrier passage, it is equal in stupidity to the terrible The Host, over which The Giver had the upper hand for quite a long time. That’s too bad. (31.12.2015)

It's supposed to be a non-action sci-fi film full of questions and alternative or unconventional approaches like Gattaca. At the same time, it's supposed to be multi-layered, epic, and emotional like Cloud Atlas. Unfortunately, it's more like an atlas of failures, where practically nothing works, not even the mumbling English of the mostly charismatic Jeff Bridges. So much potential and interesting material wasted due to routine directing, where the actors have nothing to play with and the visuals cannot stand out. And if this was supposed to be just about emotions, it's fatally off the mark. It's not even worth discussing the crazy lapses in logic and screenplay holes as big as Emmental cheese. After Salt, Phillip Noyce was given a chance that he wasted in The Giver. But I believe it can be something unusual that for the general audience who like having something in the background while doing house chores. (17.02.2015)

The Giver is alongside The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner another sci-fi film set in the (near) future that depicts an alternative society. The premise itself wasn't bad - a seemingly perfect world where people are equal, everything is regular, grey, and there is no place for pain, violence, and unfortunately, no place for emotions. And as it happens with such films, some individual suddenly appears and disrupts the order. Personally, what bothered me the most was that it was handled somewhat flatly, and that there were no major and unpredictable twists in the plot, while at the end of the film I felt deprived of any better conclusion. In short, a film that had potential through its premise, but that was lost in the execution. (27.06.2016)