The Butterfly Effect

Unlike Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Butterfly Effect impressed me much more with its atmosphere, amazing momentum and brisk direction. On the other hand, the sophistication of the love line is weaker. The idea of changing memory is in fact identical, and its elaboration probably deserved more depth (I will judge it after another viewing) and fewer TV crayons for the love scenes. However, the game with causal lines is done very clearly, cleanly and breathtakingly. The constant twists, the editing machine gun fire and changes in space-time perspectives literally froze me and forced me to watch this unconventional love sci-fi conspiracy whilst holding my breath. Of the actors, I was quite interested in the young boy version of Evan, who resembles Danny from The Shining, and not only visually. His transformation into his adult self-reflection gave me a pleasant chill. The two directors created a very significant and successful film. The Butterfly Effect is one of the top sci-fi dramas made in the USA. That is also why I forgive it for the happy ending... (03/02/2007)

This film’s numerous visual tricks, incredibly high-octane plot and mysterious atmosphere, supported by a beautifully mysterious and emotional soundtrack, will captivate you and give you a powerful and moving experience. But if you use your head more actively, you will repeatedly get tripped up. Some of the twists are solely for effect and diminish the sense of what happened before (why didn’t he return more times to that one moment and shape the circumstances so that everything would be perfect?!). Actually, the whole film is a less sophisticated version of Twelve Monkeys, but revolving not around the end of the world, but around love. (06/11/2004)

Where its genre brothers (for instance, 12 Monkeys or Donnie Darko) in their complexity are just starting to warm up they’re wheels of logic, The Butterfly Effect with its “plot based and time paradox" line are still standing at a red light. Even so, it’s still a good movie, especially in the first half. After that the screenwriters (and, because they also directed it, the directors too) start running out of breath and ideas, while Kutcher runs out of talent. The whole movie starts to sink into the waters of mediocrity, with one cliché after another, and only thanks to the timely ending it didn’t sink even lower. (05/06/2004)

I’m not sure how to approach this movie. On the one hand, it is excellently filmed, and the overall concept and atmosphere of the movie were really captivating. Even Ashton Kutcher, one of my least favorite actors in Hollywood, seemed likeable. On the other hand, I really couldn’t bear the last 20 minutes. Maybe it's because I don't like the sight of blood, the subject of mental illness or who knows why. The atmosphere of the movie made me physically sick and I had to pause it a few times, because it even gave me a slight headache, that’s how much it got to me. A great movie with atmosphere, but I can't tell you what my reaction will be the second time I watch The Butterfly Effect as I’m not planning to do so anytime soon. (15/10/2015)

Constant hopelessness and despair in a perfect package of time jumps and subsequent catastrophes. At a time when the Fateful Touch was still an unknown video cult, I remained scalded in front of the screen, because such a directorial debut is a made miracle. There aren't many movies where the viewer wishes for a happy ending more, because there are too many constant bad ones for one nervous system. Sometimes we only achieve victory through sacrifices. (09/12/2005)