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Geez, it was
bad enough when the remake of “Dawn
of the Dead” came out and we had our
‘heroes’ being attacked by zombies
in a mall parking garage. Now we have “P2”,
which pits a beautiful girl against a crazed
security guard. I happen to work in an office
building with a parking garage and I am
nervous enough going out to my car late
at night without worrying about zombies
or crazed security guards attacking me.
And now I can’t even ask the building
security to walk me out because, after all…
he might be crazed.
That said, I call your attention to a new
DVD hitting store shelves this month. It
is called “P2”, which refers
to the level of the parking garage our fair
maiden has parked. She finds herself working
late on Christmas Eve, and when she finally
gets out of her office the poor thing just
can’t seem to get out of the building.
Her car won’t start, then the doors
are locked when a taxi arrives, then she
enlists the aid of a security guard in the
building to try and jump her car.
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During the course of their conversation, he innocently
invites her to have Christmas dinner with him,
but she declines because she is on her way to
meet family. And as any decline of an offer of
Christmas Eve dinner deserves, he decides to make
her stay.
My first thought upon hearing about “P2”,
was “Oh no, here’s another insane
stalker movie…” But I was intrigued
by the cover of the DVD because the cover featured
the maiden in question and it was driving me crazy
where I had seen her before. I didn’t recognize
the name Rachel Nichols, but just knew I had seen
her in something. So without looking her name
up, I just went ahead and popped in the DVD. As
soon as I saw her onscreen it hit me… she
was in the last season of “Alias”
as Rachel Gibson, the shy CIA computer geek turned
super spy. She was awesome in that show, and she
was actually pretty good in this movie.
The part of the protagonist in “P2”
went to Wes Bentley, who was incredible in “American
Beauty”, but seems to have been hard up
for good parts since. I last saw him as the goofy
Goth son of the devil in “Ghost Rider”
and though he is much better here it is still
not really a part that gets an actor an Academy
Award. Still, his Jekyll & Hyde demeanor is
well-played in “P2” and he actually
comes across a little frightening even when he’s
being ‘nice.’ His persona is creepy
though and through and he makes a decent villain
for our maiden to fight.
Like most films in this genre, there is an almost
constant ‘cat and mouse’ game going
on and quite often I had a hard time second guessing
what was going to happen next. There were also
several moments of frustration where she should
have gotten out, but didn’t. This is normally
fine for this type of film but it happens a few
too many times. There were also a handful of plot
holes dealing with the building’s security
system that I had trouble with, but most people
who do not work in an office building wouldn’t
catch. But even with these few little nitpicks,
“P2” was a better than average thriller.
Bentley delivered a character that was very disturbing,
and when Nichols had to kick a** she did it with
a vengeance.
The DVD for “P2” comes with a commentary
by director Franck Khalfoun, who is joined by
producers Alexandre Aia and Gregory Levasseur.
The commentary is ok, but it’s not one that
I could stay with for the whole movie. You’ll
also find a brief making of featurette, as well
as another focusing solely on the set design.
Finally, there is a three minute short about the
director.
“P2” won’t go down as the thriller
to end all thrillers, some of the story is a bit
formulaic, but the performances of both leads
pushes it just above average, making it a fun
ride for you thrillseekers.
Directed by: Franck Khalfoun
Starring: Wes Bentley, Rachel Nichols
Extras: Audio Commentary with Director and Filmmakers,
The Making of P2, Designing Terror, Tension Nouveau
– Presenting Franck Khalfoun
Specs: Widescreen (2:35.1), Dolby Digital 5.1
Studio: Summit
Release Date: 4/8/2008
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R
Website
Website
We'll give P2 a B.
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