After reading some of the 1 star reviews I began to wonder if we were watching the same movie or if they even watched this movie at all. The movie does have a plot, decent cinematography and the acting is decent. I did not read the book but I enjoyed this movie although I wasn't the target audience. Judge it for yourself and don't allow others to guide your opinion either way.
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mtjohnson-185493 October 2018
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yuan_yuan32 October 2018I am not sure why people are giving 1 to this film, there are plenty films deserve a 1 than this one. The trailer is pretty in line with the film. Believable characters and the actors gave a pretty good performances. Overall I enjoyed it very much. If you like hunger games, this is similar. I would definitely recommend this film to others! I hope there are sequels coming!
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zeynepsertyel-728-39162813 August 2018I think they did a pretty good job. Sure it wasn't revolutionary good or didn't show anything we haven't seen but it was good on it's own. And They made me want more.
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santiagomace4 August 2018I mean, no, it doesn't really bring anything new to the table. But by itself, it's a pretty decent movie with nice special effects and a beautiful score by Benjamin Wallfisch
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JessaKat1827 October 2018WOW! I am actually really shocked at the low reviews on this movie. I seriously thought i would see higher ratings. Well I am not from the cast as one of the other reviewers seems to believe all the high ratings are from the cast of the movie LMAO. I loved this movie I am pretty excited for the next part! It kept my attention the whole way through and I really thought the story was great. It kind of reminds me of like Divergent series but obviously not exactly the same. I say if you didnt mind those movies you wont mind this one at all.
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itsdmillar14 August 2018But overall I enjoyed it! They took some liberties with some casting choices. Never really did introduce Sam at all, which was disappointing. Took some liberties with the storyline, but overall, I think it was worth watching. Plus, I think they can only get better at these movies with the next three in the series!
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Platypuschow18 November 2018The Darkest Minds is the latest teen sci-fi franchise alike Hunger Games, Divergent, Twilight, The Host etc etc etc and alike the majority of them will never be a fully told story.
It tells the tale of a world where 90% of kids die leaving the remaining ones with a selection of super powers (For some unexplained reason). The government rounds them up and incarcerates them out of fear killing off the more powerful ones.
It follows the tale of one girl who is smuggled out and goes on the run. But who can she trust?
Personally I loved the concept, such potential! Under the circumstances a television series would have made a tremendous amount more sense as I think this is all we're ever going to see from the Darkest Minds universe.
Our leading lady is fantastic, truly stellar performance and it wasn't until late in the film I realised it was Rue from the Hunger Games (2012) all grown up. Alongside her we have the excellent Bradley Whitford, Wade Williams, Mandy Moore and Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie (Though all of them are rather brief).
One thing that struck me was the leading man Harris Dickinson, he just wasn't up to the job in any respect and felt like a weak link throughout. I can't imagine how he got the job and question castings logic with that one.
The main issue with the movie is that it's the same as the rest. What I mean by that is these teen sci-fi types take a concept and then surround it by the usual tropes that are so blatant and so excessive it damages them beyond repair. This made the film cliched beyond words and criminally predictible.
All things considered it could be worse but all the teen sci-fi tropes, the fact this is all we'll get and thus leaving us with an incomplete story and a weak leading man stopped any potential it had dead in its tracks.
Great for what it is and I see the appeal, but this is to the movie industry what pop is to the music industry.
The Good:
Amandla Stenberg
Decent supporting cast
Some very good ideas
Hearts in the right place
The Bad:
Too many tropes
Very cliched
Harris Dickinson
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
Hollywood needs to go back to the drawing board on this genre
A world without kids sounds like my kind of place -
neil-47617 August 2018A plague kills the majority of the world's children. Those who survive have various paranormal abilities, and are graded by the government from Green (the majority, with simple, safe powers) up through the colours to Orange (rare, and so dangerous that they are to be killed on identification). 10 year old Orange Ruby survives by pretending to be Green inside one of the the prison camps which house all children. When the authorities finally realise the truth, Ruby escapes and enters one of the underground factions.
This film is an adaptation of the first of a Young Adult novel trilogy (yes, another one). As a result, there is no real ending. The story works moderately well as it goes along, but leaves you with a host of unanswered questions at the end. Maybe some of them are addressed in subsequent instalments, but the absence of answers here is pretty unsatisfying. The whole prison camp with sadistic guards scenario is difficult to swallow, for a start.
The young cast work hard and do quite well. Amandla Stenberg is pneumatic, as she was in Everything, Everything, as Ruby, and pulls off a pleasingly emotional sequence towards the end.
As a science fiction lover, I felt this had the potential to be better, though. -
TheLittleSongbird12 August 2018Have not read the source material (have heard a lot of good things about it though), but did love the idea of the film, have nothing against dystopian books/films and there were watchable actors involved, love Gwendoline Christie in 'Game of Thrones' for example. Will admit about not being sure about seeing it, with not so good word of mouth from friends.
Didn't see any critical reviews before watching, a deliberate decision, and without knowledge of it not being well received critically while seeing a lot of passionate defence. Seeing it for myself with an open mind, there are things wrong with 'The Darkest Minds' and it is not hard to find issues with it. There are also a fair share of good things, certainly did not think it was that bad and is nowhere near close to being one of the worst of the year. For me, 'The Darkest Minds' was a mixed bag and not an easy film to make of.
Beginning with the good things, 'The Darkest Minds' looks great. It is very handsomely and imaginatively designed in setting, is beautifully shot, cohesively edited and the special effects are really quite good. Was also really impressed by the music score, which had such a beautiful grandeur, rousing energy and emotional sweep.
The acting is not bad, above average in fact and very good even in the cases of Harris Dickinson and especially Amandla Stenberg. Their chemistry and performances have genuine heart, as does the whole thing about their gifts. Parts are fun, parts are imaginative and parts are emotional.
However, 'The Darkest Minds' second half does feel on the rushed side, where explanations seemed half-baked and revealed too late when there was little time to go. Parts did feel under-explored and glossed over and the villain was like an afterthought. The dialogue can be very cringe-worthy too and of the characters only the two leads show signs of development, the rest being shallow clichés. Some of the cast are ill-used, Gwendoline Christie being one of the primary ones.
Count me in as another person who found the ending far too abrupt and anti-climactic, another ending this year to be seemingly setting things up for a sequel (like 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom', 'Avengers: Infinity War' and 'Solo: A Star Wars Story') which is potentially dangerous in case plans for a sequel falls through. Am another person too who found the big plot twist far from a surprise and done in a way that was clunky and obvious.
In summary, could have been better but not that bad. 5/10 Bethany Cox -
gja82214 March 2021Why it was not just a movie, but necessarily a series start? No final. Some chilidishness, plot holes, clichés - of course. But also some nice acting (why one does not like it from Harris Dickinson?), nice travel and rival story. The most disappointing for me was the end of the film. Why this script-, producers- trick? I did not want a series start when I started to watch this film.
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dfranzen7013 February 2019The book is probably better. This YA story is derivative and generic, and it manages to telegraph who the baddie is much earlier than it means to. Amandla Stenberg is pretty good as star Ruby (she also played Rue in the Hunger Games), but the movie feels more like a cheapie you'd find on ABC Family Channel.
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...now I'm 45 and guess what? From ET and The Gonnies to Harry Potter and Stranger Things I've enjoyed this genre of Sci-Fi/fantasy TV and movies. Nothing warms my heart more than the riteouus innocence of youth vs the cruelty and bitterness of "grown ups". Likely another serial, in the same vein of Hunger Games or Maze Runner but hey, why not? Sure give this a score of 5 if you want then complain it's not original enough or the acting isn't worthy of an Oscar! -or- Like me, smile and be thankful that someone's still making movies like this, movies that remind us of what it's like to be a kid. A kid, who dreams of special powers and a future were we get to be boss for a change! It's far too easy to pour scorn and cynicism here but I don't see you detractors doing any better. It's a solid 9 out of10 for me. Keep up the good work.
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joedon-108268 August 2018Starts out as an action/sy fi type of movie ....Great, I'm saying. Then, it becomes a love story. I don't see love stories usually. It kind of spoiled my enjoyment of the movie. Yes, my heart is cold and betrayed.
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This is not about politics. It's about your children. This is about our children. We will find a cure and we'll save our precious sons and daughters.
If you want to form a sentence with the words "monotony", "mediocrity", "clichéd sameness" and "corny", you can do that without any problems along with the movie title "The Darkest Minds". Well, I'm getting sick of the concept of dystopian teen films. Even though they mixed it this time with a kind of "X-men" mood. Apart from some crackling electrical flashes, a storm with trees crashing down and flying containers, there's not much more to see here. And don't expect impressive special effects either.
Actually, I already had the feeling while watching "The 5th Wave" that after the successful franchises of "Divergent" and "The Hunger Games" we would be flooded with weak duplicates of this genre for years. Duplicates of which they hoped it could be the start of again some successful sequels. However, I'm afraid this is yet again another feeble attempt that will fail. Simply because "The Darkest Minds" is really embarrassingly bad.
This time it's not a devastating war or an alien invasion that makes our planet a place where survival is priority number one. No, it's a sudden emerging disease (Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration) that actually kills about 95% of young people. I suppose this is a kind of childhood disease of a higher level. And those who survive suddenly have supernatural powers.
They are locked up straight away in youth camps by the adult world. Allegedly to examine them and to find a cure. Ultimately it's because these adults, like with the X-men, are afraid of mutants and secondly because they are afraid to lose power. There, on the basis of their acquired powers, those kids are divided into groups. Each with a specific color, whereby those from the orange and red camp are considered to be the most dangerous. In other words, persons who're allocated to these two groups, simply are going to be eliminated. Likewise, the lovely girl Ruby (Amandla Stenberg) who appears to be part of the orange team after being tested.
For the umpteenth time, we see how moronic and stupid adults are portrayed in these kinds of films. Orange means that a person has the ability to manipulate someone else's thoughts. You don't need to be an Einstein to know how Ruby manages to save herself from this life-threatening situation. The moment Ruby escapes from this concentration camp and joins a group of teenagers, you can get ready for the most sugar-coated and predictable storyline ever.
The group of teenagers, consisting of Liam (Harris Dickinson), Chubs (Skylan Brooks) and Zu (Miya Cech), are looking for a kind of youth camp where children are safe. It's led by a legendary figure with the name "The Slip Kid ". And before you know it, love is in the air and Ruby finds the ultimate hint to find out where the camp is located. And finally, there's also a mandatory plot twist. Only viewers who have fallen asleep above their popcorn, haven't seen that one coming. The only thing I could appreciate was the end. I can't say it was really original. But it's kind of daring. But I came real quick to my senses when I realized that sequels with similar nonsense are likely to be released in the future.
To be honest, you can't blame the film studios to release such films. After all, the profit is the most important thing for them. And when a specific genre is already a hype for a number of years, you have to continue with it until the subject has been completely milked dry. And as long as the theaters fill up with teenage girls (With helmets on because they run into walls while being constantly focused on their smartphones) who dream away while watching a film full of female heroism and who swoon when looking at a handsome Boyband-like wuss, the studios continue to produce these type of movies.
Till one day when those youngster themselves exclaim in disgust (the age of reason probably) that they've had enough. And despite the political correctness in this film and the moral of equality (an "It doesn't matter what color you are"-like message), it still remains mediocre crap with superheroes in it. So even though colors play an important role in "The Darkest Minds", it's just a colorless (and also uninspired) teenage film. -
jordenanimelove3 August 2018Even though the movie may be fast paced, and may leave out parts that were in the book... it is very interesting and the characters and acting really save the show here.
Yes, the relationships weren't fully developed like in the novel , but it's hard to do that in an hour and a half long movie. I think Harris, Amandla, Skylan, and Miya really stoke the show here.
The movie FORSURE isn't oscar award winning but the amazing feelings I got while watching made up for that! Give the movie a chance and don't listen to the Uber negative reviews! Give the movie a chance because if you do, I can guarantee you will enjoy it(: -
aurabee15 April 2019I watched the movie having never heard of it or the books. I recognized some of the cast (Mandy Moore from This Is Us and Amandla Stenberg from Hunger Games) so I figured I'd watch. Yes, it is similar to other YA movies, but so what? They remake Spiderman all the time and people still watch. This one is different enough to be entertaining and I hope there's another movie as I'd like more info about the how and why things happened. It won't win any oscars but it was good entertainment for an afternoon.
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PennyReviews3 October 2018The darkest minds is an adaption from a popular fantasy book that follows the themes of dystopia that Divergent and The Hunger Games-Battle Royal, have set. There are too many movies with the same theme : youngsters with special powers try to fight the government who is aiming to use them as weapons. So, if you like these kind of movies, then you're going to like this one as well. I haven't read the book, so I don't know if this adaption does justice to it, but overall, it was well made and the CGI were great. The story was kind of interesting as well, though things happened quickly so the story has a fast pace. The performances were good too. So, I can't say if this one is a memorable movie, but it was enjoyable and entertaining enough.
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robbert-613-81317030 October 2018I was constantly wondering whether I missed a few scenes... I didn't know there were "Darkest Minds" - books, before watching this movie. But apparantly there are. A film however should be a film and should not be a series of snippets from bookpages. That's how this movie feels. It's not possible to watch this without constantly wondering whether you have the complete version. Or whether someone is playing a practical joke, by just removing essential parts of the film. Maybe the Director's Cut is a 3h masterpiece. But this movie just isn't. Two stars for special effects and camera work, which are pretty sweet. But this storyline. Just ridiculous.
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jacobminh5 August 2018I saw the movie with my friends (3 of us in total) and we all loved it. (Even hoped for a sequel in the near future!) Yes, the screenplay is pretty similar to all the now-dead YA trends. The lines and dialogues are quite predictable. The acting, however, is quite good for the new and young generation. Reviewers tend to leave out the acting of the actors and actresses and only focus on the dialogues, which is unfair. Despite the commons, you must admit the movie has its own spices in the genre. A lot of people reviewed it too harshly in my opinion. I haven't read the book myself. But after seeing the movie, I made up my mind to definitely pick it up from the bookshop so this must say something about the movie. Overall, the movie, as usual, has its ups and downs, but definitely worthed every single minute and pences I spent.
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SnoopyStyle3 November 202090% of children have died from a new disease leaving the survivors with special powers. The government have imprisoned them in camps and killed the most powerful ones. Ruby Daly managed to survive despite being powerful. It's six years later. Ruby is uncovered and Cate (Mandy Moore) helps her escape. Cate is a part of the League which is using the kids to fight the government. Ruby runs away and ends up with fellow kids with powers; Zu, Liam Stewart, and Chubs.
This seems to have been written by a high school student. It's silly to think that a dictatorial government would have any trouble finding a well marked van driving across a desolate country. It's silly to think that people would have a difficult time finding a spot on the radio dial. It makes the kids look stupid when they don't see the obvious traps. One has to overlook a lot. It's a sci-fi YA fantasy high school melodrama. Any actual drama is mostly accidental. The twist is foreseeable although the villain is a good turn. I actually like the villain but he is conveniently dumb at times. I do like the four kids on the road. I like the quartet. The rest falls flat. -
hadijaber-103854 August 2018It is not a theatrical masterpiece ; but it's a nice fun movie for teens. It has it flaws , actors have some cringy parts. But all in all , to be honest i enjoyed the movie. Kinda can recommend it!
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3xHCCH2 August 2018In an unspecified year in the future, 98% of American kids were wiped out by a mysterious disease called Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration (or IAAN). 10-year old Ruby Daly was one of the survivors. She and the other survivors of the plague were gathered up by the government and put them in a camp.
There the kids were classified by color, based on the special ability that they possessed: Greens were geniuses. Blues were telepathics. Golds had electrical powers. Reds and Oranges were rare, but were considered dangerous and were terminated on site. Ruby was an Orange. She had to discover how to use her power in order to survive.
When Ruby was able to escape from her camp, she met and made friends with a group of fellow runaways, namely Zu (a Yellow cutie), Chubbs (a Green nerd) and Liam (a Blue jock). Inevitably, a romance will bloom between Ruby and Liam, a common angle in these YA books. They eventually found and sought refuge in EDO, a camp for survivor kids.
I went into this film not knowing that it was based on the first book of a young adult book series written by Alexandra Bracken. Her "The Darkest Minds" series started in 2012, and is now already into its fifth installment. When it came to the part about classifying the kids according to their abilities, "Divergent" immediately came to mind. That book series by Veronica Roth began in 2011. So these two were basically one in spirit, riding the same YA trend in the earlier part of this decade.
However, the film version of "Divergent" came out in 2014, just about the same time when similar YA films like "The Hunger Games" (2012) and its sequels, "The Giver" (2014) and "The Maze Runner" (2014) came out. That is the problem with "The Darkest Minds," it came out at this time when this trend had already run out of steam. Even the sequels of "Divergent" and "Maze Runner" only did middling box office business when they were released more recently.
Up and coming young actress Amandla Sternberg played Ruby. She has the star quality and screen presence seen in Jennifer Lawrence (as Katniss Everdeen) and Shailene Woodley (as Beatrice Prior). Sternberg began her career as young Cataleya in "Columbiana" (2011) and as Rue in "The Hunger Games" (2012). She had her first lead role last year in "Everything, Everything," and now this. With the sensitive acting she showed here, it is not far-fetched that she will also earn critical acclaim in the future.
Harris Dickinson played Liam Stewart. He was in the same mold as Theo James (as Four in "Divergent"), looking and acting a lot like him. Skylan Brooks and Miya Cech play her other friends Chubs and Suzume "Zu", respectively. Patrick Gibson played Clancy Gray, the son of the US President and a fellow Orange who took a special interest in Ruby.
Former teen star Mandy Moore (from "A Walk to Remember," 2002) is now 34 years old, and played Dr. Cate, a doctor from the resistance (Children's League) who helped Ruby escape the camp. Bradley Whitford played US President Grey, a shadowy figurehead much like President Snow was in "Hunger Games." "Game of Thrones" star Gwendoline Christie had a few scenes as Lady Jane, a bounty hunter chasing runaway kids.
Watching "The Darkest Minds" gave me a "been there, done that" feeling. I could not help but see just another rehash of all the previous YA adventure series, and that was also reflected in this review. It did have its own twists, particularly regarding a certain power that only Ruby can perform, but it will take sequels to explore how this story will proceed from the familiar set-up it had begun with here. As of now though, we are still not sure if those sequels will come or not. 5/10. -
jordan-paige-4551619 August 2018To be honest, I am not sure why lots of people dislike this film. However, I can personally say that I enjoyed this film immensely. Being a fan of the book series, I was already excited for the film's release, but was nervous about the YA novel adaptation. However, I feel that while the book and film are different in many ways (as they have to be, as there are things in the novel that can't be done easily on screen), the production team did a wonderful job of making the film their own, but sticking to the novel very well. Although it seemed fast paced at times, I was eager to see what would happen next. My mom, who has never read the series, left the theater and said "well, now I'm going to have to steal the second book from you and read it, because I can't wait until another movie to see what happens!" Please, do not listen to the negative reviews, and go see this film for yourself. I had the incredible opportunity to be a background extra on the set of the film, and saw firsthand how hard both the cast and crew worked to bring this film to life. Please go support to not only see an incredible storyline come to life, but to encourage future YA novel adaptations, female directors, and inclusive/diverse casting.
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mybroisgae27 February 2021It was pretty good nothing really stood out to much but the acting was fine the story was decent and the soundtrack was amazing.
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chrisdillon3311 February 2019This is a good story but considering it is based on a book a television series would tell the story better and the other books in the series could be included, A watchable movie with a good cast and an alright script, the only bad thing is the developing the characters in the length of time the movie runs for does fall short it basically develops some of the characters not all and while the story is good it could have focused on more than just one character which it mainly does so in that sense it is in my opinion a 3 star rated film that needed a bit more in its script to give it that quality that you would be willing to watch it more than once.
to develop the characters and tell a more detailed story a television series would be the way to go considering a few sequels would be needed which i cannot see happening , film studios are notorious for not making sequels when they are required to finish telling a story in movies such as this due it not making the money in the box office.
i enjoyed the story but lost interest in it cause it was following one side of the story line, like every story there are at least two sides the good and the bad, i cannot say much more about it except it needed a bit more to make it more watchable.