David Moreau and Xavier Palud's 2008 remake of the Pang Brothers' 2002 international horror hit, The Eye, with Jessica Alba in the lead, sounded to fans of the original film like a recipe for disaster. While reviews were mixed during the film's theatrical run, the reality of the situation isn't that the film was a disaster, rather, it was simply mediocre. It does nothing interesting with the excellent source material, and it feels like a very Americanized rehash of a film that was made better six years prior. At the same time, as inoffensive, generic, entertainment it isn't all that bad.

Jessica Alba plays Sydney Wells, a female violinist who has been blind since the early days of her childhood. At the insistence of her sister, Helen (Parker Posey), she undergoes an operation to have the corneas of a recently deceased woman replace her own so that she can once again see the world around her. According to the doctors, the operation was a complete success, but Sydney isn't so sure - she's seeing strange people and strange things, horrible things, that don't appear to anyone else. The powers that be at the hospital put her in touch with a therapist named Dr. Paul Faulkner (Alessandro Nivola) who should be able to help her adjust to seeing the world once more but the clearer her vision becomes the more frequent these spectral beings become.

Sydney starts to wonder if she's seeing things that the deceased woman who donated her corneas saw before she died. Faulkner insists that she's simply seeing things that aren't real but the more time he spends with his patient the more he starts to think that maybe, just maybe, Sydney isn't nuts after all and that maybe she really is able to see the spirits of the recently deceased or even catch a glimpse or two of a mysterious, shadowy spirit who comes to claim those who are about to pass on.

Those expecting the subtle, philosophical horror of the original Pang Brothers movie will be disappointed to find that the American remake of The Eye is pretty much exactly what you'd expect it to be - PG-13 horror for the masses. The film does attempt to play up to the current American controversy surrounding stem cell research but it's really just a passing mention rather than any sort of recurring theme. There are plenty of well time jump scares and oodles of CGI ghost effects to marvel over if that's your bag but missing is the spiritualist aspect of the original film that made it unique.

That said, as completely generic and 'dumbed down' as this film is, it isn't a completely abysmal picture. Alba is quite good in the lead role and very believable as a blind woman, proving she's more than just a pretty face and actually a competent actress in her own right. Her chemistry with Nivola feels forced but the cause of that is the script rather than Alba's performance. On top of that, the picture is quite well photographed. Director of photography Jeffrey Jur has shot the film with enough style and coolness that even if the story is lacking, the visuals are strong. Some of the jump scares, as cheap as they, are also quite effective and the score does a nice job of building tension in a few key scenes.

Ultimately, what we're left with is an unnecessary remake that does nothing better than the film it apes but simultaneously looks good and serves to entertain as a popcorn movie. The Eye is about as middle of the road as they come, but it gets enough right that it's at least worth a watch on a rainy afternoon when you've got nothing better to do with your time.

Video:

The anamorphic 2.35.1 widescreen transfer on this DVD is as good as you'd expect from such a recent film as this. The color scheme for the picture is quite cool so don't expect brighter shades to leap off the screen at you but the movie does look good on DVD. There aren't any problems with mpeg compression artifacts and only some slight edge enhancement is apparent. Print damage is a non-issue and detail levels are strong throughout. Skin tones look lifelike and natural and the darker, cooler colors used throughout the picture look nice here. There are a few moments with a bit of heavy shimmer but thankfully they're few and far between.