S. DARKO A Donnie Darko Tale DVD Review — Hunter reviews the sequel to Donnie Darko. Without director Richard Kelly’s involvement

Written by Hunter M. Daniels

I used to think that Donnie Darko was a mediocre film with a great casting director. The cinematography was solid and the dialogue was well above par, but most of the film made little to no sense, a problem that the Director’s Cut strangely exacerbated by explaining everything to death.

Richard Kelly’s biggest problem is that his scripts and films feel like they are made on a template. First you take a pseudo-intellectual text, something obscure, but not so obscure as to alienate hipster kids. Something you might find in a second level college lit class. Robert Frost and The Book of Revelations for Southland Tales, No Exit for the upcoming, The Box,* and of course Watership Down for Donnie Darko**. Then you add on some Tarantino-esque pop culture jargon. Discussions of Smurfs, or porno-chic, …

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S. DARKO A Donnie Darko Tale DVD Review — Hunter reviews the sequel to Donnie Darko. Without director Richard Kelly’s involvement