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One sign that a tsunami is about to hit is that the ocean recedes rapidly. Suddenly, hundreds of feet of ocean floor are exposed, then, just as quickly, are covered with hundreds of feet of water. Like the receding waters, Milla Jovovich is, for me, the sign of impending disaster. If I see her name in the credits, I head for the hills. Get out of my way, people, because here comes THE FOURTH KIND, ready to drown us in its awfulness. Jovovich introduces the film as herself, saying that she will be portraying "real" psychiatrist Abbey Tyler, who is investigating possible alien abductions in Nome, Alaska. Throughout the film, scenes of Jovovich as Dr. Tyler are split screened with "actual" footage of the terrified patients. This might work for the first one or two times we see it, but after awhile the overacting and shaky camera give the whole thing look of a Fox TV special circa 1996. When THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was released, the concept of faux realism had the element of surprise going for it. THE FOURTH KIND is 10 years too late. It also doesn't help that PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was released only a couple of weeks ago, and does a lot more with a lot less. The title may imply the fourth kind of alien contact, abduction, but for me it had a different meaning. If movies a usually great, good, or bad, this movie is the fourth kind: unwatchable.
This is a dumb movie.. more of doc**entary than a movie.