BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Pjtaylor-96-138044 This claustrophobic suspense thriller sets itself up well with a remarkable, if digitally enhanced, one-shot that neatly and necessarily establishes the geography of the central location, while also planting the seeds for the seedy uses of various tools laying about the house, so that the action that comes later is clean and clear without ever needing to slow down for the sake of audience reorientation. 'Panic Room (2002)' is pretty pacey and nicely gritty to boot, being unusually violent for pictures of the kind but never less tense either. It manages to make a compelling home-invasion seem suitably layered, presenting the bad guys as rounded individuals with differing yet believable motives and personalities. It still feels immediately dangerous, tough, never losing sight of its protagonists and the escalating peril they're placed in, until it finally reaches its truly edge-of-your-seat and slightly unexpected finale. 7/10

merelyaninnuendo Panic RoomTicking for almost 2 hours, it seems a bit long and stretched considering its premise (it could have easily been of around 90 minutes), it needed a better editing to satisfy the viewers in the end but other than that it works for the most part of it. David Fincher doesn't compromise on the execution but seems a little irresponsible on the editing part and as far as David Koepp's screenplay is concerned; its perspective is interesting enough to invest in it, but lacks on proving a point. Jodie Foster is good in her part and is supported well by great cast like Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto and Kristen Stewart. Panic Room is a fine popcorn entertainer that roots for the big bucks but fails to go deep and take risks which then leads into a shallow soulless feature that looks good in a first glimpse but nothing beyond that.

sme_no_densetsu "Panic Room" is one of David Fincher's lesser known pictures, perhaps because it lacks the lurid punch of films like "Seven" & "Gone Girl". In any case, Fincher knows his way around the thriller genre and "Panic Room" is characteristically meticulous and suspenseful.The story revolves around a recently divorced mother (Jodie Foster) and her young daughter (Kristen Stewart). On the first night in their new home they're preyed upon by a group of thieves. They're able to successfully retreat to the safety of the house's 'panic room' but there's one problem: the thieves want in and they're not about to give up easily.On the surface, this premise appears pretty limited but screenwriter David Koepp keeps us interested by introducing new angles that increase the possibilities of the situation. Essentially a 'cat and mouse' game, the script does a good job of maintaining tension and using characterization to give resonance to the story.The cast is small but well assembled. Jodie Foster brought a mix of vulnerability & tenacity to the lead role while 12-year old Kristen Stewart held her own in her first major film role. The trio of thieves are played by Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto and Dwight Yoakam - an interesting combination, to say the least.Of course, being a David Fincher film, the visuals are consistently attractive and the direction is rock solid. The movie's simplicity harks back to high concept thrillers of years gone by. One might even call the direction Hitchcockian.Ultimately, "Panic Room" is a well executed thriller but I feel that it's a bit conventional in comparison to Fincher's other thrillers that are more representative of his trademark style. Nevertheless, it's hard to argue against a thriller that's as skillfully constructed as this one is.

The-Social-Introvert I consider this to be a pretty sub-par offering from Fincher. An unmemorable and dire hour and forty five minutes awaits whoever watches this film. A fair bit of my dislike of the film stems from the aesthetics of the movie – The CGI was pretty mediocre and distracting (such as from the not-really-tracking tracking shots as we are taken around the house, through walls and keyholes and such). Panic Room has that crappy indistinct and cloudy look that a lot of modern movies shot digitally have, despite the fact that the movie was filmed with Panavision Panaflex Platinum cameras. In his defence, Fincher made this in 2002 and a lot of modern movies haven't moved on from this look, whereas he clearly has if you look at his recent films. With a premise that harks back to the days of Hitchcock, Panic Room sees Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart locked in their home's safe room, as a gang of robbers search the house for valuables. Unfortunately, events during the course of the film become so far- fetched and unbelievable that your suspension of disbelief kind of commits suicide and you know longer care what's happening because it's so ridiculous and contrived. The script is a bit dumb, which makes it all the more strange that Fincher directed this. Best Scene: The opening credits were pretty cool. Apparently it was worked on for a whole year!