Cooper's role as the policeman provides a different perspective on the father - son relationship, as well as sets up
the final third act of the film, which takes place some fifteen years on after Avery Cross is first introduced.
Not exact matches
The inclusion
of an absurd yet thoroughly captivating celebrity cameo, which essentially stands as a high point within the entire series, perpetuates Night at the Museum: Secret
of the Tomb's better - than - expected
third -
act atmosphere, although, unfortunately, director Shawn Levy ensures that the
film concludes with a whimper by offering up an excessively sappy
final stretch that just goes on and on - with this underwhelming climax confirming the movie's place as an almost passable concluding entry in a seriously forgettable trilogy.
For a spell, it feels as if the
film will transcend the unpromising irony
of its title with a female protagonist painted as unflattering and tortured, but by the time the
final credits roll after an unforgivable
third act, Murder by Numbers washes out as just another imminently forgettable movie starring Sandra Bullock.
It's in fact, a kick to the crotch when the
final credits roll and you realize how much
of the
film has been a placeholder and time - filler for the conclusion that deserved a
third act to fully investigate the motivations
of the protagonist, and those around him.
It is a tough
act, one that requires my initial compartmentalization
of feelings between their S&M role playing and their otherwise normal relationship, and an inversion
of that status quo as the compartmentalization starts to break down in the
film's
final third.
The
third part is little more than a fight against creatures that are a bigger threat to both sides than each other, but the momentum
of the first two sections carries the
film through its relatively anticlimactic
final act.
It doesn't help that the most disturbing
of its twists is perhaps the
third - from - last, which gives the
film a slight
final -
act sag.
Unfortunately, what suspense the
film manages to generate over the course
of its first two
acts dissipates in the
final third, once Winchester goes from being quietly atmospheric to loud and over the top.
The result is that the
film drags some in the middle, but as those threads slowly come together, so too does the
film's pacing, leading to a jaw - dropping
final act that takes up roughly a
third of the movie.