An alien encounter of the first kind is sighting.
An alien encounter of the second kind is evidence.
An alien encounter of the of the third kind is contact.
An alien encounter of the fourth kind is abduction.
As a kid, I thought that Close Encounters of the Third Kind was one of the best movies I had ever seen. Having always been a fan of ‘imagination cinema’, I leaned toward the fantastic in films. That bit of celluloid had everything – spaceships, mystery, and a sense of believing. It was just the kind of flick that fueled my fevered fantastic fantasy and imagination. I’m sure that The Fourth Kind will be the kind of film that will kill the hopes and dreams of some young viewer.
The film opens with actress Milla Jovoivch in a direct address to the camera. She assures us that images seen in the film are real, and that even though she will be playing Doctor Abigail Tyler, the video images of the real Dr. Tyler are in no way doctored.
Opening with a mystery, we find that Dr. Tyler is mourning the loss of her husband. Though not delved into at the beginning of the film, Dr. Tyler believes that the explanation of her husband’s demise is not what the authorities have stated. But she goes along with her research into the minds of different town folks, and in hypnosis they shows signs of abduction by sinister and alien forces. As Dr. Tyler runs headlong deeper into this mystery, her sanity becomes even more challenged. What is happening in this Alaska village slowly becomes epidemic and lethal.
The Fourth Kind is written and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, who does a wonderful job of painting supposedly real with fictional elements. The split screens of actors playing the part with ‘real’ people on the other side give this creepy doubt about every aspect of what one is seeing. He delivers all the frights one would expect from this, but he sure takes a long, long time to get anywhere. This is a film that needed either a better editor or a more compelling storyline.
On the plus side, Milla Jovoivch is still an impressive actress. Even though she seems to make the worst choices in material, she can deliver silly lines with a degree of belief. Most of her movies have done little to tarnish her appeal, but she does need a ‘ugly woman’ role, the kind Oscar-hungry actresses have to get made on their ‘star’ name appeal. She needs to drop the science fiction and fantasy roles for some ‘serious drama’.
I had a friend of mine rant and rave at the ending of the movie because there was no definite proof of the existence of aliens. He is a true believer in alien visitation and says that there has to be life on other planets. He got mad at me when I stated that it is basically a 50/50 odds – either there is or there is not because no evidence exists either way. Then in Douglas Adams logic, I told him that there is no life on any planet because there are an infinite number of stars but only a finite number of planets and an infinite divided by a finite is zero. So all the people you meet on Earth are just a figment of your imagination. He doesn’t like that use of logic.
And that is the basic problem with The Fourth Kind. Without solid proof, it is another telling of a fairytale story. No matter how compelling the tangent evidence, it never delivers anything solid. This would have been much more effective as a documentary but as the ending credits reveal, none of the principles wanted to be a part of the experience of The Fourth Kind which proves that they were smart.
Which brings about the basic question – is this real? I say no way. If something this fantastic had happened nine years ago, someone somewhere would have mentioned it. I didn’t buy the ‘true’ aspects of the film, just as I didn’t think that Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity or any Michael Moore flick had a lick of truth to them. Call me a skeptic but I don’t really believe much of anything I read or see.
The Fourth Kind is the kind of movie that looked good on paper but failed in the execution. As an experiment in terror, it becomes a terrible flick.
EDITOR’S NOTE: It has been uncovered that the “actual footage” used in this film was in fact fabricated just for the film. There is no Dr. Abigail Tyler, and the movie telling the audience that any of this is real is in fact a lie. Not the best kind of marketing. – Mark Walters
