By: Thapelo Ramorobi
Who knew that a huge arena that can hold over 20,000 people could feel so small. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan known for his masterpieces like “the sixth sense” and “the village” has brought to life what I would call a miss of thriller film. “Trap” lacks the craftsmanship, the tense energy of a thriller. Putting aside these creative lapses, Josh Hartnett makes the film almost worth investing your 100 minutes into it.
The story mostly unfolds at a musical concert. We are introduced to Cooper, a hero in his daughters eyes. He is at Lady Raven’s show with his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue). Shortly after their arrival, Cooper notices the heavy police presence and heavily armed men. Cooper then earn the trust of one vendor negotiate then tells him that the police are there for a notorious serial killer known as the butcher. With very minimal character development, Cooper then tries to evade capture.
With most thrillers, we’d be left wondering who the butcher is but in this case, we are immediately introduced to him. With cooper now knowing that he is caged in, he needs to think on his feet and outsmart the police to escape, but it seems he’s not the smartest man in the room with the feds seemingly being able to predict all his escape plans. This is one of those rare occurrences where the criminal is doesn’t seem to have any cards up his sleeves and escaping would be purely out of luck. Some of his attempts are really not realistic and he succeeds only to keep the narrative going.
Having seen a number of films and how their story lines unfold, I believe “Trap” outdid itself by having an undeniable level of unpredictability which sterns from giving the main character luck instead of smarts. Yes, we did not get the chance to wonder who the butcher is but that also played in the films favor, wondering how he is going escape. Though I can’t say “Trap” is the best thriller I’ve seen yet, taking a different approach keeps it at an advantage.
The newly premiered show on Showmax is surely filled with twists and turns but not the ones you’d expect. What’s your take on it, is it worth investing your time in?
