Gleefully plunges through the silliness with remarkable conviction; there's a thrill to be had. Time and money are rarely wasted in such entertaining and inoffensive ways.
The Skulls (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:83
Fresh:6
Rotten:77
Average Rating:3/10
Consensus: The Skulls is full of nonsense and empty of good script and plot.
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: At a top Ivy League college, a prestigious secret society has begun recruiting new members. One of their selections is Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson), a local working-class boy and star of the crew... At a top Ivy League college, a prestigious secret society has begun recruiting new members. One of their selections is Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson), a local working-class boy and star of the crew team. After a dangerous and arcane induction ceremony, Luke and other young men are welcomed into the Skulls, an elite fraternity with two former presidents and numerous powerful and important men as members. Luke enjoys his newfound privileges, which include fancy cars, money, and admittance to the law school of his choice. But when Luke's best friend and editor of the school newspaper goes investigating into the Skulls' inner sanctum and winds up mysteriously dead, Luke believes there may be sinister forces at work. Luke tries to quit the Skulls, refusing to go along with a cover-up involving the wealthy Caleb Mandrake (Paul Walker), son of the Skulls' president, and soon ominous forces are threatening not only Luke but his girlfriend, Chloe (Leslie Bibb). But can Luke get away from the Skulls, or is he a part of them forever? THE SKULLS is a creepy blending of conspiracy thriller ideas, based on the actual Skull & Bones Fraternity at Yale, which included screenwriter John Pogue as a member. [More]
Starring: Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker, Craig T. Nelson, Leslie Bibb
Starring: Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker, Craig T. Nelson, Leslie Bibb, Hill Harper, Steve Harris, Christopher McDonald, Jenn Melino, William L. Petersen
Director: Rob Cohen
Director: Rob Cohen
Screenwriter: John Pogue
Producer: Neal H. Moritz, John Pogue
Composer: Randy Edelman
Reviews for The Skulls
The story looks promising up to a point, but then it gets downright silly with a series of car chases and improbable coincidences.
The Skulls is such a generic, automatic-pilot movie -- seemingly stitched together out of disconnected outtakes from the USA Network archive.
A good movie gets you hooked by introducing a fascinating story, likeable characters or thrilling action. The Skulls has none of these.
When material is this silly, you're better off making fun of it than going down the solemnly ridiculous path Jackson chooses.
A secret society so powerful it can get away with murder. A secret society so exclusive it firebrands everyone who joins with its mark. A secret society so secret... it has a big logo up on top of the building!?
The writing is so bad that it's impossible not to laugh out loud at scenes intended to be scary or serious.
The Skulls is less interested in politics than in profitably flattering the suspicions and resentments of its intended teenage audience.
Some movies are moron movies without seeming to know it, which can be charmingly pathetic or just dumbfounding.
A youth-oriented mystery programmer about as deep as a fraternity punchbowl.
Dull and oddly outdated, only the lush photography by Hurlbut, accentuating its gorgeous Toronto-based setting, saves the picture from being a surefire cure for insomniacs.
A movie populated entirely by stupid people doing stupid things, yet it somehow escapes being anything more than mildly irritating.
Director Rob Cohen has crafted a bouncing escape yarn stocked with sharp twists and twisted characters.
It's better than you expect going in, but not quite good enough to leave you with more than a vaguely pleasant, vaguely disappointed aftertaste.
To explain the number of things wrong with The Skulls would require more space than is available and more time than can be spared.
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