Remember that episode of Seinfeld when Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer get lost in a parking garage? You know: the one where the foursome can't find their car; so, they end up gallivanting around the garage? Well, P2 is similar in scenery and close in concept.
Aside from P2 being a thriller that features a psychopath (not a comedy with one character carrying around an air-conditioner), the film is quick to stumble from solid storytelling to wandering characters encountering obstacle after obstacle to occupy screen time. Regrettably, as the obstacles escalate in grandeur, the tension somehow subsides, resulting in a generic climax.
If you've seen the trailer, you know the premise. A hard-working businesswoman, Angela (Rachael Nichols), is the last to leave the office on Christmas Eve. When her car doesn't start, she is left stranded inside a locked parking garage with a psychopathic attendant named Thomas (Wes Bentley).
Director Franck Khalfoun's thriller takes place in the perfect facility — it's dark, dank, empty, and underground. Where echoes of footsteps, keyless entries, and slammed car doors characteristically belong, the sounds of cries, screams, and running steps are a fitting contrast.
To further enhance the setting, P2 leans on Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby" and Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" to send shivers down your spine. These two holiday numbers do well in augmenting the chilling Christmas atmosphere. What's more, when Thomas informs two other unwelcome players, "Way to ruin Christmas," the screenwriters comically counter the typical mindset as if Thomas isn't the one doing the ruining. In both music and script, P2 certainly has its pluses.
On the other hand, P2 is intense in a recognizable Red Eye/Panic Room sort of fashion. The intensity loses its luster when the picture becomes an extended chase scene. During this time period, P2 relies on a scary dog, a bent fingernail, and an obligatory eye scene for the majority of its chills. Had the feature not banked on these simpleton snippets and involved a villain with a more potent motive, the outcome might have been a bit stronger.
While Wes Bentley excels at his villainous portrayal of a socially-inept psycho, his character is difficult to understand. What possesses Thomas? Perhaps it is his removal from reality and solitude, or maybe just his longing for love. Either reasoning doesn't justify Thomas' thinking or actions. Simply put, his character plays out no differently than Michael Myers; viewers can't humanize Thomas or grasp his intentions. Thomas might as well have worn a mask and made P2 a horror (as opposed to thriller). The transition would have been straightforward, particularly since Thomas already had the art of walking (not running) after his prey.
For the most part, P2 exhibits a mass of gray walls with painted “P”s and numbers on them and only a few good tense moments. While it may be innocent thrilling fun, a mildly satisfying game of cat-and-mouse in a concrete jungle isn't good enough to standout in a genre of much of the same. P2 is a creative concept executed well enough to skim by as a par thriller.
Article comments
1 - Bo Lane
Disagree. I hated this movie. Here's my review:
I drove on up to Blockbuster, spent way too much money and way too much time rummaging through the already low supply of useless films; films that wait everso patiently for idiots, like myself, to spend their hard-earned dollars on.
Needless to say - I get home - I watch the movie - then I force myself to stay up way past my bedtime and write this pointless review about a movie that no one should never, ever waste their time seeing. Never. Ever.
Did I mention never? Just checking.
Enough of the easy commentary - allow me to Jackie-Chan this film that supposedly brings in “a new level a fear” - more like a new level a tears; tears from the pain by which I caused myself by running to my desk and jamming a pencil in my eye so I wouldn’t have to subject myself any longer to the annoying, B-rated, poor character development, stupid, non-horroristic crap-ooshki that calls itself a film.
The Plot Summary: The concept for P2 is incredibly light. Rachel Nichols plays Angela, an overworked businesswoman who gets trapped in an underground parking garage on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately for Angela, the parking attendant on duty, Thomas (Wes Bentley), is quite psychotic and rather obsessed with her. In short order Thomas kidnaps Angela, leaving the remainder of the movie’s running time for Angela’s desperate attempts to escape. (Summary courtesy of www.holly-woods.blogspot.com)
Yup. That’s about it. Little Angie spends 75% of the movie running around in circles, trying to escape the “psychotic” and “obsessed” Tommy the Terrible Attendant. Fortunately for Angie, Tommy the Terrible is a bad actor with an equally un-scary demeanor.
Any potential the movie had was enormously ruined when Thomas decided to use his car to ram Jim (who once attempted to get physical with Angela after having too much to drink at an office Christmas party) into a wall of the garage. Like I said, this could’ve had some potentially good visual effects - instead we get to see Jim’s head explode and the grape juice - I mean, blood - splatter all over the windshield. Instead of being paralyzed by the fear which would normally be associated with seeing a man’s head explode, like an odd-shaped watermelon being popped like a teenage pimple in front of your eyes, Angie manages to escape. Hmm.
Lots of running. Lots of bad acting. And lots of wasted anticipation.
Needless to say, the only thing this movie has going for it, in my opinion, is that it now moves from the “New Release” section to the lonesome “Isle of the Castaways” - allowing all people, who were fortunate enough not to waste their precious time, to walk right past it on their way to the checkout counter.
Sorry P2. You get two thumbs down. And if I had four thumbs " yeah you guessed it.