Speaking as someone who doesn't really like horror movies, I liked this. It was scary rather than startling (although it did that a few times too), but still not so scary as to give a person nightmares. The only reason I usually like horror movies is because it's the only genre in which the bad guy consistently wins, and on that count this movie fails -- not to say that the good guys win (see the movie to figure that out), but that the bad guy was a...plant. I don't really care if the plant wins (even if it is a pretty awesome plant). The bad guys could also be interpreted to be the Mayans, but their only clearly established goal is a sustained thing, and thus there really is no win or loss for them.
The plot was pretty formulaic and predictable -- enemy introduction, character introduction, seeds of conflict, off on the adventure, things go wrong, death/injury, something else goes wrong, death/injury, conflict erupts facilitated by enemy...etc. All I know about horror script writing is the two or three other horror movies I've seen, and I even I could see the clear formula. Still, the details are reasonably creative, the special effects are reasonably good (some obvious CGI but that's not terribly surprising and mostly forgivable, and some seriously rocking sound effects to make up for it), and there's touches of dark humor in just the right places.
The performances and directing were mostly good. I felt like Joe Anderson could have done much better as Mathias, the fifth-wheel German tourist who actually leads the group to the ruins, following his brother and an archaeologist who "should have been back by now." His introduction was cute but improbable and kindof stupid, and there were many better ways to have handled it, without even changing the actual lines said. Jonathan Tucker was good in what I hope will be a breakout role for him. Jena Malone was good as well, once again expanding herself beyond what she's been playing before and rising clearly above her peers as the best actress in the bunch. Laura Ramsey was good, but choosing another horror role for her second major film was probably a mistake. As for Shawn Ashmore, the only thing I can think of was he was trying to expand himself like Jena Malone was. The trouble is, he failed. Instead of playing a somewhat naive but serious kid, he was trying to play a slightly naughty, adventurous and ready-for-anything party guy. He failed and came off just kindof a dumbass, despite having a couple of the best-written and best-delivered lines.
Obviously don't bring your small children, but if you don't mind some gore, the plot is probably safe for anyone over the age of ten. See it in the theater to get the full effect, and rent the DVD when it comes out. Especially if you don't work with plants a lot, it will be easy to distance yourself if you want to, so non-horror-fans will probably enjoy this movie, if for nothing else but the effects and Jena Malone's performance.
Acting: 8.5 of 10
Writing: 4 of 10
Direction: 6.5 of 10
SFX: 10 of 10
Overall: 7.5 of 10
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