‘Knowing’ proves enjoyable, but unoriginal

There have been many movies that have explored the theme of science versus God and random acts happening for no reason against something happening for a reason. One movie that comes to mind when thinking of this issue is “Signs.” And for one reason or another, it often seems like God wins over science. However, in “Knowing,” from Summit Entertainment, God actually teams up with science. Granted, when the issue of fate versus coincidence comes up, fate wins hands down, but God had a more scientific explanation than just some being in the clouds looking down at the world.

Back in 1959, a brand new elementary school opened up, and its students created a time capsule to be opened 50 years in the future. The students had to draw a picture of the future and put it in the time capsule. However, Lucinda Embry (Lara Robinson, who also plays Lucinda’s granddaughter, Abby Wayland, later in the movie), hears voices and writes down what seems to be a random list of numbers. Mistakenly, that list is put into the time capsule, to be buried for 50 years.

Jump ahead to present day, when the time capsule is opened. The list was then handed to Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury), whose father, John Koestler (Nicholas Cage), suddenly notices that the numbers predict all the major disasters from the day the capsule was buried. However, there are three more events that are predicted that haven’t happened yet. Conveniently, the dates are not more than a couple of days apart. John must find out where the numbers came from and how to stop these tragedies from happening.

“Knowing” can basically be described as predictable, but entertaining. Some may be watching the movie and thinking that they’ve seen this movie before. Well, if you’ve seen “Signs,” then that’s probably what’s causing your déjà vu. One similarity is that Nicholas Cage lost his wife a year ago and lost his faith in God, which pisses off his dad, who just happened to be a priest (it probably would have been too much alike if Nicholas Cage himself was the priest). Also, there are many hints and clues throughout the entire movie that tells you what’s going to happen. Here’s a little freebie: when Nicholas Cage first looks at the list, he wipes off a dry erase board in the kitchen. On the board, there are “spelling words,” and one of the words just happens to be “believe.”

The movie does successfully keep the audience at the edge of their seats until the big twist comes. Now, many sci-fi fans might enjoy the open-minded ending, but many Bible-thumping critics might ban this movie (just as many overweight watchers complained about “Wall-E”). So if anyone has an open-minded opinion about the universe, then they’ll enjoy the movie. Otherwise, just go watch “Signs” again; they’re practically the same.

2 out of 5 stars