Raul Faust
This movie started off by annoying me, given that I found the scene in which Taylor starts a conversation with Alex to be very implausible; who would just meet someone and carry his bags, without even asking? That being aside, as the movie goes, I began enjoying it. Scott asks too many questions to Alex about his trip, which makes the spectator feel the intriguing atmosphere filmmakers want to build. From the sex scene on, I began feeling agonized with such mysterious vibe the atmosphere has gotten into-- and that is very good in a suspenseful movie. However, several plot holes appeared in a matter of minutes, which spoiled almost every good point the story had. For instance, why on earth would Alex take the medicine-- probably coming from Taylor-- without asking what was that? He took the pills and THEN asked which are they! Not only that, but the couple sometimes acted TOO dumbly, even for this kind of movie. As another example, why didn't they JUST LEAVE while Taylor was sleeping? Instead of that, they always tell Taylor that "they're leaving in the next day", which allowed him to plan his tricks. It feels like they ALWAYS postponed the breakaway instead of just running away! In the end, filmmakers don't let spectator know why on earth Taylor did that to the couple, or even if he was a bad person anyways. All the movie's atmosphere was built on the unknown behavior of Taylor and the outcome doesn't deliver anything. All in all, "Gone" is the kind of film that you can only enjoy if you strongly turn off your brains and just believe everything that is being shown, otherwise, it will not pleasure you.
Leofwine_draca
GONE is a small-scale psychological thriller along the lines of DEAD CALM, KALIFORNIA and plenty more besides. In essence, it's a three-hander involving a group of young people on a road trip across the Australian outback, but it's no WOLF CREEK. In fact, it's no anything: this turns out to be completely uninvolving, purely because the script fails to get you empathising with the characters.British scriptwriter James Watkins co-wrote this with an Aussie and it's a real stinker. Watkins also wrote MY LITTLE EYE and EDEN LAKE, both of which I enjoyed a great deal more than this, so maybe it's the Australian influence. The dialogue is lame, with almost the whole film consisting of people arguing, and the tension is non-existent. For a thriller this has zero thrills and zero suspense.The actors try their hardest but they're saddled with unappealing characters. Shaun Evans plays a guy who is slightly obnoxious and full of himself, and he's the lead. Not a good start. Scott Mechlowicz is a little better as the stranger, but he's way too subdued and you can tell he's miscast in this type of role. Amelia Warner has a completely horrible and misjudged character and can do nothing with it.GONE is lifeless and lacking in intrigue throughout, with lots of drawn-out and repetitive arguments going nowhere. Something DOES finally happen in the last five minutes but it's entirely predictable as is the rest of the movie. There was potential here, but it disappears very early on.
nvillesanti
This is one of those movies that I couldn't help myself scream at the TV "You stupid morons just keep going your own way!" It was so obvious what is going on that you just hope the main characters pay for their stupidity and ignorance.The story begins when a young British traveler, by the name Alex, arrives in Sydney and he is schedule to meet with his girlfriend. But before that, he meets another young American traveler by the name of Taylor. Taylor convinces Alex to have a few drinks that first night and meet some girls before Alex gets to his destiny. The next day, Taylor meets Alex girlfriend, Sophie, and immediately becomes obsess with her. Then Taylor devises ways to separate them and gain Sophie's favor to the point of becoming homicidal. This movie is predictable from the opening credits. The writers didn't develop a plot where they could engage the audience, instead, they wrote a poor, predictable story. Although you might think that the American backpacker is not to be trusted, you know he is the villain the first minute he is introduced in the movie. There are no surprises and movie just drags on to the inevitable conclusion, which in my mind, is pretty lame. Although at a certain point Alex realizes what is going on, he just doesn't do anything to prevent it, and that is what really bothered me about this movie.Gone tries miserably to be like Psycho and the Hitcher, but instead is an epic fail.
Agnelin
I didn't know what to expect from this movie, and knew very little about it; only that it was a thriller, and a bit of the storyline. Now that I've seen it, I have to say I'm very positively impressed.The movie follows Brits Alex and Sophie on a road trip around Australia. They've both agreed to meet in Australia, and, before they do so, Alex has met Taylor, a mysterious American who offers to drive him around. The movie has a very fitting introduction about how the two boys meet in a fun atmosphere, which gradually becomes gloomier and full of menace as we find out about Taylor's dark side.It's plain to see that the story isn't original at all, but it is very well and efficiently told. As other commenters have pointed out, one of the movie's great points is that Taylor's psychotic personality is revealed subtly and slowly, which makes him all the more believable. Also, while not original, the movie isn't all that predictable and the suspense is very well carried along. The acting is also very good; I especially liked Amelia Warner as Sophie. I also found it remarkable that the settings -it's located in some of Australia's deserts, of extreme and solitary beauty- and the fact that it's almost exclusively based on three characters come together admirably to produce a feeling of isolation, claustrophobia and paranoia.The only real weak point about the movie is the lack of character development; I was left wanting to know more about them. This, however, didn't stop me from enjoying it. It's a nice little surprise that I recommend to all thriller lovers.
AD
