I could not believe that this film was directed by the same man who made "The Devil's Backbone". It is shot like a daytime TV series, ineptly scripted, has virtually no suspense and suffers even further by slow pacing and lame dialogue.
On the plus side, I will give the movie credit for an original meshing of the two old myths of the fountain of youth (or in this case, the golden mechanical insect of youth) and vampirism. The second springs from the first in a clever reversal (usually vampirism leads to immortality, not the other way around).
But a somewhat neat twist can't cover up its flaws. The wild changes in tone are meant to be interesting and maybe even 'innovative', but when the film is meant to be lightly humorous, it achieves merely 'quirky'; when it tries to be scary, it only goes so far as 'eerie'. Ron Perlman is not worthy of all the raves (his performance is just plain wooden, and rarely funny), and the rest of the acting simply gets the job done. The most fatal flaw in this movie (from which most of its problems stem) is a lack of authenticity, in the characters, the plotting, and the overall emotional heft of the film. Characters do things only because by doing them the plot will advance from point A to point B, and when the seams show this badly, it's hard to become emotionally invested in the characters and their situations.
Cronos does still manage to be interesting, though, both as a bizarre mistake and a strange stepping-stone in the history of a now-accomplished director. But if you want good Mexican comedy or horror , look elsewhere (Y Tu Mama Tambien and Del Toro's own Devil's Backbone are good examples).
p.s. to tommyross88: if you're angry with another reviewer, maybe you should channel that into writing your own review and joining in on the conversation, instead of just making a fool of yourself. That seems to work fine for everyone else here.
On the plus side, I will give the movie credit for an original meshing of the two old myths of the fountain of youth (or in this case, the golden mechanical insect of youth) and vampirism. The second springs from the first in a clever reversal (usually vampirism leads to immortality, not the other way around).
But a somewhat neat twist can't cover up its flaws. The wild changes in tone are meant to be interesting and maybe even 'innovative', but when the film is meant to be lightly humorous, it achieves merely 'quirky'; when it tries to be scary, it only goes so far as 'eerie'. Ron Perlman is not worthy of all the raves (his performance is just plain wooden, and rarely funny), and the rest of the acting simply gets the job done. The most fatal flaw in this movie (from which most of its problems stem) is a lack of authenticity, in the characters, the plotting, and the overall emotional heft of the film. Characters do things only because by doing them the plot will advance from point A to point B, and when the seams show this badly, it's hard to become emotionally invested in the characters and their situations.
Cronos does still manage to be interesting, though, both as a bizarre mistake and a strange stepping-stone in the history of a now-accomplished director. But if you want good Mexican comedy or horror , look elsewhere (Y Tu Mama Tambien and Del Toro's own Devil's Backbone are good examples).
p.s. to tommyross88: if you're angry with another reviewer, maybe you should channel that into writing your own review and joining in on the conversation, instead of just making a fool of yourself. That seems to work fine for everyone else here.