'Flatliners' reviews: Sci-fi reboot is shallow, mediocre, and unnecessary

"Flatliners" promotional poster.Facebook/FlatlinersMovie

The reviews for the sci-fi thriller "Flatliners" have come in which critically panned the movie as shallow, unnecessary, and mediocre when compared to the original.

The film directed by Niels Arden Oplev received a very low three percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a site that groups movie scores from various entertainment outlets. Here are what some of the reviewers had to say.

Christian Holub of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "We live in an age of unnecessary remakes - but the new 'Flatliners' movie, by Danish director Niels Arden Oplev, has the distinction of being perhaps the most unnecessary of them all." Oplev is known for his work on the hit movie "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and the television shows "Mr. Robot" and "Under the Dome."

The sci-fi movie is about five medical students namely Courtney (Ellen Page), Ray (Diego Luna), Jamie (James Norton), Sophia (Kiersey Clemons), and Marlo (Nina Dobrev) who undergo a scientific and spiritual journey to explore the afterlife. They perform a procedure to replicate death in order to see not only if the human soul exists, but if life after death is real.

Jeffrey M. Anderson of Common Sense Media stated, "This remake of the popular 1990 hit starts with the same intriguing idea and goes down the same superficial, empty-headed path. Although, unlike the original, this take on 'Flatliners' is sadly unaware of its own shallowness."

The remake is based on the original 1990 movie of the same name which starred Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, Oliver Platt, William Baldwin, and Kevin Bacon. Critics largely panned the reboot for not showing anything fresh but rather just hitting the same beats and story arc of the first film.

James Berardinelli of ReelViews expressed, "What we get is a mediocre remake of a mediocre original - not exactly must-see cinema."

"Flatliners" is now showing in theaters nationwide.