Hello, my name is Zero and this is my first review. I just finished watching “The Deaths of Ian Stone.”
Water cooler summary: This guy Ian Stone is killed throughout the course of the whole movie by these black humanoid monsters with long flowing hair. The catch is however that each time he’s resurrected into a brand new life he brings with him memories from his former life. Ian must now figure out why these things are trying to kill him over and over again and what the connection is between him and the woman Jenny, who is always a part of his life even when resurrected.
What works: The first hour of the movie definitely keeps your attention. They set up questions for you and slowly begin to feed you answers. The audience, like Ian himself, is just trying to understand what is happening to him. Although this is more story than character driven, Ian seems like a pretty real character. I never felt the need to questions any of his motives and felt wanting to know more just as he did. The gore was also a nice touch in this movie. Not over the top but it felt realistic. Also Ian’s transition from one life to another is really nice. It’s not anything major but from what he starts at and what he finishes with was good. But it makes you wonder when you find out the reason why he’s resurrected into this certain life, why wasn’t he just put into the worst one in the beginning?
What doesn’t: The sad thing about this movie is that once you do find out what is going on, it becomes very uninteresting. At once point it seemed like they were doing a Matrix thing where there was a higher power controlling all of it. I would have liked that more than what was explained. Not that it was terrible but it just seemed “meh” to me. Like I said before, the movie throws out questions but unfortunately doesn’t answer all of them. Why does time stop when the monsters come? Who was that guy who ran into the elevator with Ian? What’s with the claw arms? Why is Ian the only one with an American accent?
Final Thoughts: The Deaths of Ian Stone isn’t a bad movie but it isn’t one that I’d say go out and see immediately. Everyone’s performance was really solid and I love the premise and the first hour but I really didn’t like the ending. Intentional or not, there seemed to be some Jacob’s Ladder nods here and there. I love that movie and those are always welcome.
On a scale of zero to 10, 10 being the worst, this movie gets a 6.
