Since his fall from being in the Hollywood "A" list, Antonio Banderas hasn't been terribly successful in finding quality direct to video productions to star in, and "Black Butterfly" doesn't do anything to break him out of the doldrums. I will admit that I never got to the point of being bored by what I was seeing. However, all the same the movie failed to engage me. It's a very slow-moving movie, taking much longer to get to key points in its storyline. It takes about 40% of the movie for the Banderas character to realize that he might be unsafe about the hitchhiker he has invited into his home. But what's worse about the movie is the two (yes, two) twists the movie decides to pull off in its last half hour. While I admit I didn't see the first twist coming, right after it was pulled off, it instantly became ludicrous when thinking about it. And I thought about it a lot. Even worse is the second twist at the very end of the movie, a clichéd and oh-so-tired twist that essentially makes what we have seen up to that point a waste of time. Had the movie instead gone the more logical and believable route, and ditched those two twists, we might have had an okay thriller. But as it is, it will most likely frustrate and anger viewers.
P.S. Attempts to pass the shot in Italy countryside as being Colorado are very unsuccessful.
P.S. Attempts to pass the shot in Italy countryside as being Colorado are very unsuccessful.