The Skulls (2000)

One of my all time favorites.

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

In the late 90s a lot of supposedly mysterious themes were explored in movies. Urban Legends, ghosts, nuclear power, vampires, the list goes on. In the Skulls, teen movies decide to take a look at secret societies.The film stars Joshua Jackson as Luke McNamara, a young rower who wants to study for a law degree. But as a poor townie, it's going to be an uphill struggle to finish, unless a secret society known as the Skulls decides to make him a member.Of course they do make him a member. The first thing we learn about secret societies is that they endorse the buddy system, and Luke is paired with Caleb Mandrake (the late Paul Walker), a boxer. Luke's room mate Will, decides it would achieve something to break into The Skulls secret chamber, and does so. Sadly all it achieves in doing is annoying Caleb, who pushes Will down a ledge, knocking him out. Caleb's father and Skulls big-wig Judge Litten (Craig. T. Nelson) tells his son he'll take care of it and orders some subordinates to kill Will and make it look like a hanging.Luke is pretty shaken up about his friend's death, but not as shaken up as Caleb, who believes he killed the man. The rest of the movie is pretty much Luke working out what happened to his friend with help from another senior Skull Senator Ames Everitt (CSI's William L. Peterson), and love interest Chloe (Leslie Bibb). The ending is pretty satisfying without delivering anything unexpected.The Skulls is a bit ridiculous at times, but it does work reasonably well in its own right. There's enough going on to keep you interested and the performers are all invested enough in the story to put out a sincere product. It is very much a product of its time, but fans of the era should check it out if they are looking for a trek down nostalgia lane. Not essential viewing by any means, but worth checking out if it comes on cable.

'The Skulls' is a movie so unbelievably ridiculous that you keep watching just to see what idiocies the movie will have the nerve to come up with next. Here is a thriller so predictable that you find yourself counting down the seconds until the line 'It's over' is uttered (and not by the audience).Joshua Jackson stars as a poor college kid named Luke McNamara who works in a cafeteria, rides a bike and is the star of the Varsity rowing team. Those seem to be his only activities because the college in this movie is one of those Movie Colleges where no one ever goes to class and everyone looks like a blue jeans model. The name of this institution is never mentioned even though it takes place in New Haven and the school logo is a big 'Y'.The school has its very own secret society named The Skulls (obviously suppose to be Yale's Skull and Bones but changed probably to prevent a lawsuit). Luke is tapped for The Skulls via a phone call that has him running from one phone to the next and drinking water that renders him unconscious.The following scene had me falling out of my chair laughing, The Skulls new recruits wake up in a watery basement each in their own individual coffin (which are laid on their own individual island) where they arise in their new lives. Then they have The Skulls logo burned into their wrists and are given the rule book. They are also given a new sports car, a new watch (to cover the branded logo) and a hooker at their pledge party.The Skulls' clubhouse looks like something out of a Cecil B. Demill biblical epic with stone walls and columns and arches and that strange 'Y' hanging over the proceedings.Luke's best friend Will (Hill Harper) gets too curious about The Skulls and steals the clubhouse key and rule book from, Luke's pledge brother Caleb (Paul Walker). This leads to Will's death which we can see coming because 1.) he's too nosey and 2.) he is the black guy in a movie that requires someone to die.Luke begins inquiring about Will's death, which is followed by the inevitable warning not to get too nosey. The death is ruled a suicide but when he finds evidence that it was murder at the hands of one of the club's head honchos, Luke is drugged and sent to a mental institution for psychiatric evaluation.I wasn't all the surprised that the movie contained a car chase but I swear I slapped my hand to my forehead when the movie ended with Luke and Caleb agreeing to pistols at ten paces on the campus grounds (they have a concrete porch intricately carved just for the proceedings).My mouth was agape during much of The Skulls, not so much for it's sheer stupidity but for it's willingness to tack on even the most ridiculous plot point. This is a movie that really does leave you asking 'Y'.

Well, first off I don't understand the real purpose of this secret society. I understood, they are secret, they have some authorities in the group, but what is the main point of having a secret society?The story's development isn't bad, the story is quite engaging, but we never really know any of the characters. Caleb Mandrake, is he a bad boy or a good guy? And Will, the guy who 'accidentaly' died? Why did he want to tell everyone about The Skulls, maybe for money? Comparing "The Skulls" with the other teen films of 99~01, I believe this is a weak movie. Nothing much really happens and all the happenings are a little pointless to me. Also, it's not very plausible that Caleb would shoot in his own dad instead of shooting in a "friend". Not to say how bad Paul Walker used to act in this period. It's a miracle he went from this to "Fast & Furious" franchise.It deserves six stars because it's quite original and entertaining, but it's no big film in any aspect.

this movie really has it all,, action, violence, pretty girls,, intrigue , mystery, real life aspects,, stars Paul Walker, and a great cast of others too many to mention here,, paul plays caleb a son to Craig T. Nelson who plays one of the leaders of the Skulls, apparently there are roughly 322 members worldwide, give or take.. so our hero Joshua Jackson gets accepted into the Skulls where he had to pass a number of tests before he could get accepted, once inside the Secret Society that's where the real fun starts. a reporter friend of his is killed and Joshua starts to wonder if Caleb had something to do with his death,, well without giving away any endings or anything like that the intrigue does build as people within the skulls start to take sides against one another , pitting good against evil, this is a great moviein my opinion that should not be missed.