The Eye is no exception to the general rule that remakes of Asian horror films never live up to the original. It suffers from a desperate lack of invention and a meandering plotline that seems to make itself up as it goes along.
Jessica Alba is non-engaging and ordinary as Sydney, a blind concert violinist who shuffles her way around town with a walking stick (A glimpse of her naked body though a steamed-up shower door is obviously what the producers hired her for). When Sydney finally gets cornea replacement surgery, she is distressed to find her donor has given her more than just eyeballs. Namely, she can see dead people! The rest of the film involves Sydney unraveling the mystery behind her donor’s death, and discovering the purpose behind these unpleasant ‘visions’ from beyond the grave.
The story meanders around without real purpose as Sydney ever so slowly discovers what the horror-savvy 21st Century audience has suspected right from the start. There are a glaring number of questions which the film raises but never answers. Most puzzling is how Sydney can hear and touch these nightmarish visions when only her eyeballs are new, not her ear drums.
Most importantly, is it scary? Well, not really. Scares are of the usual ‘quiet calm followed by a LOUD NOISE’ variety. The filmmakers roll out hoary old clichés like a creepy ghoulish kid and grey grim reaper spirits.
The slick film does however do a good job of creating Sydney’s altered view of reality and the camerawork and effects are of a good quality. I’d expect this to do quite well at the box office, but it’s certainly a riff on a stale theme, and one that proves thoroughly forgettable.
