My wife ordered this based on reading reviews in IMDb, which I had always suggested is a good idea. Apparently she read only the first review, which gave it high marks. She did not notice the average rating, which was quite a bit lower.
In addition to transparent characters, a predictable plot, and a disappointing ending which left lots of loose ends, it was clear that the script was not given any technical scrutiny.
At the beginning of the movie, a single vehicle takes out a single ground-based transformer and wipes out the power for Manhattan. That can't happen. The fire department comes and cannot remove the van because it has become an electrical conductor which is supplying power to the only thing holding up all of the stuck elevators in the city.
The most important quality of the elevator, which opened the door to building skyscrapers, is that the braking system, developed by the Otis Elevator Company, has fail-safe, mechanical brakes. They fail only if that part of the building is destroyed. But there's more...
Although the van mysteriously supplies power to "elevator brakes," it also apparently supplies power to brilliantly light up all of the elevators in the plot. If, OTOH, the backup power system in (for example) the hospital is working, the elevators would be powered.
And then there was the construction elevator, located outside of a building, which now traps a single passenger. This elevator seems rather clumsily built, in that if one leans on the door, it falls off, and you fall out, but you can hang on and climb back in if you're lucky. Still, it is temperamental. If you yell too much, it drops several floors and slams to a stop, warning you that something, somewhere, is angry with you. This elevator finally brings its passenger to tears, who finally regrets all of the horrible things he did.
But was I warmed by the courageous woman who recovers from heart surgery in an elevator full of strangers, only to be told by her surgeon, right then, that she as a month to live? Well, she got over it in a few minutes, took control of the situation, and convinced the atheistic surgeon to lead the elevator in prayer, asking God if he could maybe do something. The dying woman was already getting snarky, goading the atheist to perfect his praying. Snarky and smiling, she finally let him finish. Really?
Watching this movie was like buying a car. The more time you have invested, the more want to just get it over with. Too much time invested to go to the next car dealer...or movie.
I voted this the worst movie my wife has ever picked. So far.
