Its sad when a movie has a ton of potential and manages to blow it all away. The Signal started out well, and got very interesting quickly, but the promise was never fulfilled. It follows 3 computer geeks as they trek westward, on the trail of a hacker who brought down their server. When they get there, they find an abandoned house, shortly before they all black out. When the lead character awakens, he is in an institution and is told he was abducted by aliens. As he is poked and prodded by the scientists (lead by Laurence Fishburne), he begins to feel all is not as it seems (even in a fantastic scenario as this) and tries to make his escape.
The movie has a quiet intensity in spots, but is pretty lackluster overall. The plot is also full of holes and questions, very few of which get answered by the time its over. There are some spectacular scenes, but by the time you realize something is very wrong, you almost don’t care anymore, which in a movie is never a good thing. The writer/director is young, and there are enough bright spots in the film to think he can learn and get better, though I hope he tones down the use of slow-motion camera work (every single action sequence in the last 30 minutes) in his next movie.
Jons Movie Takes 