cmoyton
Rarely will you see a movie based on a kidnapping plot devoid of thrills, tension or excitement such as Beyond. The music score again has been transplanted in from another movie. Credit to the well known actors/actress (Voight, Mulrooney and Polo) for making an effort. Their performances contrast sharply with the support cast who are appalling.But Alaska looks good.Clichés abound. Voight plays a veteran cop close to retirement, who is plagued by memories of a case gone wrong in his past from which he keeps photographs in a tin. Then there is the physic angle. Messages from the past helping to solve the cases. Everyone could be a suspect , the family, the cop, the psychic, the babysitter- oh who could it be. Who cares. At one stage Voight stops Polo from touching a hand rail to check it for prints but then lets the world and its dog handle the ransom letter from the kidnapper. When the ransom is to be delivered somehow only Voight manages not to lose the car in pursuit. Good old Jon always gets there ahead of the pack in this movie.Director Rusnak gained some credit for The Thirteenth Floor which bizarrely got name checked with the out of its league The Matrix due to having a virtual world plot line. He went on to direct a couple of Wesley Snipes straight to video turkeys and a lamentable remake of 70's schlocker Its Alive. In other words the directors resume says it all.
tullymon2
With a great cast and a possibly really neat twist on a tapped out genre, I thought BEYOND would be a great watch. Ugh. Everything was good except for the DIRECTION!! Which is everything. The energy of each scene was dis-jointed, and it seemed just silly the way things unfolded. I also have to say there were many SMALL holes in this story. Little things... Like, the babysitter being dressed like a ho, no follow through on certain plot-lines that seemed important to the story. A bit of a mess...Maybe with better editing this could have been better. When the big finale happens, half the ensemble doesn't even react to what should be the culmination of MUCH trial and effort. BAD DIRECTION. Let this director stick with his Wesley Snipes movies.All in all I would say give it a watch. Jon Voight delivers as do all the main actors, with the exception of the young psychic. Totally miscast and unwatchable. Sorry dude.
ersinkdotcom
It's hard to pull off a good supernatural thriller these days. Every possible angle has already been exploited hundreds of times. All you can hope for as a writer or director of this type of film is that your story is compelling and endearing enough to keep the audience's attention for 90 minutes to two hours. Filmmakers have to hope that the one or two "twist" or "surprise" endings they decide to utilize out of the five dozen already used will fit convincingly with the rest of the tale.All that being said, "Beyond" has an uphill battle to fight from the very beginning. Add to the struggle the extremely unoriginal title of the film and you have something most consumers and renters will walk by without even giving a second glance. Although it isn't anything new, the movie does hold its own and delivers a little intrigue and entertainment."Beyond" isn't going to make anyone want to rush out and scoop it up in the stores right away. It's one of those movies you either rent from Redbox or buy while digging through the $5 DVD box at Walmart on a Saturday afternoon. If you're a fan of supernatural / psychological thrillers, this does hold up better than your typical Lifetime made-for- TV movie.
movieman_kev
After a seven-year-old with an 'imaginary' friend gets kidnapped, it's put high on the rader since she's the police chief's niece. So Detective John (Jon Voight),who's wrestling with demons from his past, reluctantly teams up with a TV physic, whom has wormed himself into the investigation, to find her.This movie is only marginally watchable because of Voight. Everything else about the film is decidedly sub-par, be it the awful acting or the easily predictable plot 'twists'. I found myself glancing at my watch multiple times (never a good sign)My Grade: C-
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