SPOILER-FREE MOVIE REVIEW
Ah, it's good to be back.
Sorry about the long break I took - exams this semester really killed me. I still have one more to go next Monday but I just needed my movie fix, you know?
Now, without further ado...
Nerve is a teen techno-thriller adventure-drama-romance-something kind of movie about this fictional online game which dares players to do things in exchange for money.
The game is a social phenomenon in the movie's world, something like what Pokémon Go is like in our world today.
The movie begins with a very interesting, unique and innovative way of introducing the film's main protagonist, Vee (Emma Roberts). I've never seen a character introduction done in such a way before - a manner in which you're given a set of information about the main character right there but it's like natural and not in-your-face and deliberate.
A very innovative way to give us a taste of who the character of Vee is.
The basic synopsis involves Vee getting pressured into playing the game from her peers despite them knowing of her normally introverted personality in an attempt to 'set her free' (such good friends, right? *rolls eyes*).
This ensues a long string of unwanted events for Vee as she faces dare after dare, meeting fellow Nerve player Ian (Dave Franco) along the way.
I have to admit that I really liked the concept of this story, about a game played on mobile devices which gets players so hooked that it ends up controlling them, almost as if the people are slaves to their devices.
It's a very real issue which is so common today, especially so with the mad hype about Pokémon Go. Because of all this relatability with the real world, the movie caught my attention right from the off...
... And also because Emma Roberts is just so damn gorgeous, my word. She's so underrated too with the likes of the other 'mainstream' Emma's in Emma Stone and Emma Watson always getting the spotlight for their looks.
Okay sorry for sidetracking.
On the topic of Emma Roberts though, I thought she was excellent in the movie.
She portrayed Vee with a very realistic touch, making her feel just like any other peer-pressured teen who faces the struggle of choosing to do what's right versus what makes her feel better.
She showed that she has all the qualities to continue to be a good leading lady in movies - something we're beginning to see more of nowadays which is lovely.
It's also refreshing that the movie is led by the story of Vee and not her co-star, Dave Franco [who frankly, isn't leading-man material in my opinion (sorry teenage girls who swoon at the very mention of his name)].
Having said that though, Franco does suit the supporting character role very well, and he did a good job in Nerve playing fellow Nerve player Ian.
The two of them also share pretty decent and plausible chemistry, given that the entire story of the movie unfolds within the time span of one extremely and oddly long night.
That brings me to perhaps my biggest issue of the movie - believability.
Yes, I get that this is a work of fiction but as a live-action movie, I expect there to be at least a certain level of realism and not so much of overt fantasy - with my first example being how so many things could happen within one night. It was all a bit odd and far-fetched.
There's also the movie's main subplot of how one of Vee's supposed best friends Tommy (Miles Heizer) is so conveniently written and portrayed to possess the ability/has the skill set to do something (which I won't specify) which kind of ultimately resolves the issues.
But yeah whatever, the character was written that way. Much imagination, such wow.
The movie's plot also gets blown into mad proportions towards and in the final act that it partially undoes the good hard work the prior section of the movie had done up to that point in making a very relatable and thrilling story.
Overall though, the story does make sense and yeah sure, believability aside, the movie was still somewhat entertaining.
On to what I liked about the movie, and there are many bits that I did appreciate (see, I'm not such a sour puss).
I liked the manner in which the film was shot, which was sort of like an amateurish style (no offence to the filmmakers, I'm just talking about the style of the movie) with a very vivid colour scheme - all of which suit the movie's funky tone perfectly.
There's no over-usage of fancy shots, just plain and simple wides, close-ups, the lot. Nice that they didn't try too hard to make it look fancier than the movie is.
I liked the suspense element of the movie and I felt that major suspense scenes were directed very well, with a certain emphasis made on the characters in the situations and how they were feeling about doing the thing that they are doing keeping us on the edge of our seats. Some really cool stuff there.
And finally, I really liked the social commentary in Nerve.
As mentioned earlier, I drew comparisons with Pokémon Go and the effects the latter has made on society today.
Nerve shows a world which has already seen something like Pokémon Go, just a more interactive, addictive, popularity-based and downright messed up version of it which to be completely honest, sounds like something the people of today would very much do should a game like Nerve pop up. It's a very scary prospect in truth and one that I do not wish to ever see in my lifetime or the next.
The movie shows the effects of addiction to mobile devices, popularity, adrenaline/attention-seeking and just how plain stupid people can be just for a silly game. It's all a very real thing, and I'm very impressed that the movie had these underlying messages in it.
All in all, Nerve was so-so for me. To put it in perspective, I'm sort of like standing on a fence dividing two different sides - neither here nor there.
Sure, there's plenty to like about Nerve such as the suspense, the story, the chemistry between Emma Roberts and Dave Franco and more, but there's also a similar weightage of stuff I didn't quite like.
Hence, here I am giving you my completely honest view of Nerve - it's neither great nor horrible.
Is it worth the watch? Yes, absolutely. But please, for the love of humanity, don't even think about watching the trailer if you haven't because it spoils SO MANY plot points. Talk about trailers ruining the actual movie, well here is an exact case in point.
6/10.
She portrayed Vee with a very realistic touch, making her feel just like any other peer-pressured teen who faces the struggle of choosing to do what's right versus what makes her feel better.
She showed that she has all the qualities to continue to be a good leading lady in movies - something we're beginning to see more of nowadays which is lovely.
It's also refreshing that the movie is led by the story of Vee and not her co-star, Dave Franco [who frankly, isn't leading-man material in my opinion (sorry teenage girls who swoon at the very mention of his name)].
Having said that though, Franco does suit the supporting character role very well, and he did a good job in Nerve playing fellow Nerve player Ian.
The two of them also share pretty decent and plausible chemistry, given that the entire story of the movie unfolds within the time span of one extremely and oddly long night.
That brings me to perhaps my biggest issue of the movie - believability.
Yes, I get that this is a work of fiction but as a live-action movie, I expect there to be at least a certain level of realism and not so much of overt fantasy - with my first example being how so many things could happen within one night. It was all a bit odd and far-fetched.
There's also the movie's main subplot of how one of Vee's supposed best friends Tommy (Miles Heizer) is so conveniently written and portrayed to possess the ability/has the skill set to do something (which I won't specify) which kind of ultimately resolves the issues.
But yeah whatever, the character was written that way. Much imagination, such wow.
The movie's plot also gets blown into mad proportions towards and in the final act that it partially undoes the good hard work the prior section of the movie had done up to that point in making a very relatable and thrilling story.
Overall though, the story does make sense and yeah sure, believability aside, the movie was still somewhat entertaining.
On to what I liked about the movie, and there are many bits that I did appreciate (see, I'm not such a sour puss).
I liked the manner in which the film was shot, which was sort of like an amateurish style (no offence to the filmmakers, I'm just talking about the style of the movie) with a very vivid colour scheme - all of which suit the movie's funky tone perfectly.
There's no over-usage of fancy shots, just plain and simple wides, close-ups, the lot. Nice that they didn't try too hard to make it look fancier than the movie is.
I liked the suspense element of the movie and I felt that major suspense scenes were directed very well, with a certain emphasis made on the characters in the situations and how they were feeling about doing the thing that they are doing keeping us on the edge of our seats. Some really cool stuff there.
And finally, I really liked the social commentary in Nerve.
As mentioned earlier, I drew comparisons with Pokémon Go and the effects the latter has made on society today.
Nerve shows a world which has already seen something like Pokémon Go, just a more interactive, addictive, popularity-based and downright messed up version of it which to be completely honest, sounds like something the people of today would very much do should a game like Nerve pop up. It's a very scary prospect in truth and one that I do not wish to ever see in my lifetime or the next.
The movie shows the effects of addiction to mobile devices, popularity, adrenaline/attention-seeking and just how plain stupid people can be just for a silly game. It's all a very real thing, and I'm very impressed that the movie had these underlying messages in it.
All in all, Nerve was so-so for me. To put it in perspective, I'm sort of like standing on a fence dividing two different sides - neither here nor there.
Sure, there's plenty to like about Nerve such as the suspense, the story, the chemistry between Emma Roberts and Dave Franco and more, but there's also a similar weightage of stuff I didn't quite like.
Hence, here I am giving you my completely honest view of Nerve - it's neither great nor horrible.
Is it worth the watch? Yes, absolutely. But please, for the love of humanity, don't even think about watching the trailer if you haven't because it spoils SO MANY plot points. Talk about trailers ruining the actual movie, well here is an exact case in point.
6/10.
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