Panic Room (2002)

This claustrophobic suspense thriller sets itself up well with a remarkable, if digitally enhanced, one-shot that neatly and necessarily establishes the geography of the central location, while also planting the seeds for the seedy uses of various tools laying about the house, so that the action that comes later is clean and clear without ever needing to slow down for the sake of audience reorientation. 'Panic Room (2002)' is pretty pacey and nicely gritty to boot, being unusually violent for pictures of the kind but never less tense either. It manages to make a compelling home-invasion seem suitably layered, presenting the bad guys as rounded individuals with differing yet believable motives and personalities. It still feels immediately dangerous, tough, never losing sight of its protagonists and the escalating peril they're placed in, until it finally reaches its truly edge-of-your-seat and slightly unexpected finale. 7/10

Since the vast majority of the "reviews" I've seen on the site for this fast paced, fantastically acted, tense, intelligent thriller from one of the greatest living directors today are lists of things they think make them more intelligent than the writers, I'll retort in kind. Skip to the final paragraph to avoid the following spoiler-based refutations:1. Why did she get such a big house?: She's a rich, recent divorcé with a kid who wanted a backyard in New York City and she could afford it.2. Why didn't she hear them whispering three floors down through several doors and walls?: Sort of speaks for itself, doesn't it, very quietly? 3. Why didn't they just leave them in the elevator?: Because they didn't make the decision, she did because she felt the impenetrable panic room was safer. 4. How did they get the gas in the vents when it had its own ventilation system?: Because the guy who designed them knew how to get into it, its separate from the main vents but he knew the precise location at which he could break through the dry wall and drill into the simple polyurethane vent, not steal or cement. 5. Why didn't the fire blow up the propane tank?: Because the propane was being filtered into the vent secured to the wall with tape, the heat melted the tape and the air pressure blew the hose away from the wall and the further from the wall the faster the gas dissipated, that's why only the guy right next to the wall got burned. 6. Why didn't the designer know about the intercom?: He didn't say he didn't know, he just told the one character that you couldn't just talk back to the camera with no audio functionality, you have to push the wall-mounted intercom button that was behind the bed cushion he flipped over first. 7. Why would Forest Whitaker go back to help the family?: Because he didn't know the psycho, didn't plan for violence at all and had a wife and kid of his own whom they likely reminded him of as you can see by his constant defense of them from violence imposed by Raul. He just planned to walk in, open the panic room door and crack the safe. 8. Why let the bonds fly in the wind at the end?: They weren't properly secured in his jacket so he was still clutching them with his hands up until the police told him to open his palm so they could check for weapons. 9. Why was the climax so anti-climactic?: Because it wasn't a big dumb summer blockbuster, not everything has to end with a huge explosion, they get back to business as usual and try to get on with their lives, happily ever after.While this isn't admittedly Fincher's best, it bares his signature, style, detail, passion and quality, most directors are content to throw in a jump scare when the mirror closes, Fincher goes out of his way to make even the most mundane of plots smart, exciting and entertaining. It's not a perfect film or a piece of high art, but it's an 8/10 from me.

'PANIC ROOM' was directed by David Fincher and stars Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart and Forrest Whitaker. ​Shortly after divorcing her husband, Meg(Jodie Foster) and her daughter Sarah(Kristen Stewart) move into a brand new, huge house fitted with a specialised Panic Room. After three burglars break into the house, they are sealed into the Panic Room and must find a way to contact the outside world and escape before it's too late.Panic Room is a perfectly disposable thriller with some solid performances and an airtight premise that is sadly let down by it's mediocre conclusion. You will be on the edge of your seat for the majority of this movie but I just don't see many people being satisfied with it's rushed and messy climax which leaves you with way too many unanswered questions, but not in the way that works to the film's advantage. I think this movie's primary strength is Fincher's awesome directing skills, the wide array of villains and the amazing premise. The premise is what keeps this movie so interesting for me and is probably why I enjoyed it more than I would have. That said, some things surrounding the premise don't make sense at all and could have been handled a lot better in the story. Another fault to the plot was how predictable it is. I assumed most of the things that did happen were going to ahead of time and left me with much to be desired. As much as I do enjoy piecing together a story on my own, previous Fincher movies, such as 'Se7en' and 'Fight Club' ended with a bang and elevated the movie. This movie doesn't end on a bang and the ending is just not satisfying in any way. It leaves way too many unanswered questions and just doesn't feel complete. I sense Fincher had to rush his ending because it doesn't feel like him to make it as messy as it is.Firstly, Jodie Foster was excellent in this movie and you really buy her character. I bought her performance and trust that she was just a simple Mum, pushed to the brink of her sanity and that all she wanted was to keep her demon child safe. Speaking of the Anti- Christ, I hated her. Kristen Stewart was so annoying in this role that I just couldn't stand her. She displayed negative levels of emotion and just irked me throughout the entire film. She possessed no redeeming qualities and provided no reason for me to even remotely care about her. Forrest 'Dodgy Eyes' Whitaker was excellent as Burnham and provided a genuinely layered performance that kept in tune with his character. I sincerely bought his motives and even rooted for him at points in the movie, which isn't rare necessarily for movie villains but was surprising considering what he was doing in the movie. Jared Leto was also really good as Junior but I wish they did more with his character because he just kind of served as filler and more of a plot device, rather than a genuinely enthralling villain. Dwight Yokeham was alright as Raol; I believed he was a freaking psychopath. His arc over the movies feels genuine and not forced in any way. He seems genuinely smart, lethal and calculating and is a solid antagonist for Foster and Satan.If there is ONE thing David Fincher can do, it is make a movie look gorgeous, and that is no different here. Fincher is a modern day master of building tension and his artistic talent benefits this movie to the nth degree. I think this movie is a great thriller up until the ending. I hate to beat a point like a dead horse but it's the main point I feel is prominent. If the ending for this movie was different. I didn't need it to be more action packed, or even supply a twist but I would have liked something more to tie the movie up nicely and make it seem more memorable. In conclusion, I do recommend to see this movie but I don't think it'll be something you remember after the credits roll.

Panic room is a great idea even in it's simplicity. People move into a rich house with a fortune there unbeknownst to them way earlier than they were supposed to. Robbers break in and of course they need into the room that the tenants lock themselves into.It advances at a nice pace and they are able to keep it tense even though it seems like the movie could be over in 5 minutes. That's what I like the most about the movie: The setup and flow to the film and the various problems Foster and Stewart and faced with. All the acting in the film is good but there's some problems with the editing that makes parts of the film feel very choppy. I think Whitaker delivered the best performance as the burglar who doesn't want to mess with people like the other criminals do. Makes for some good emotion coming from his character when those criminals start to do things he's not into.Overall it's a well paced film with decent performances all around. Not Fincher's best and the ending needed some serious work.