The Mist (2007) Dir: Frank Darabont
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Frank Darabont seems to have a thing for adapting Stephen King novellas, having also directed 'The Green Mile', 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'The Woman In The Room'. I'm not complaining, those first two examples are among the best films of the 90s.
This mid-2000s horror is renowned for its iconic and brutal ending as much as anything else, but I have wanted to watch it in full for so long. I was worried that knowing the ending - it being hard not to know if you are on the film side of the Internet - might ruin my viewing experience, but it didn't really hamper it all that much.
The CGI wasn't amazing, but it was passable enough to not ruin the experience of the film, especially because the majority of the film doesn't require it, instead relying on the suspense built from the narrative and acting. The titular mist looked pretty realistic for the most part, which really was the most important thing in terms of the visuals.
The plot doesn't really have much in the way of substance - it's a pretty standard apocalyptic survival scenario, in which the danger could be interchanged with a number of other humanity-ravaging options, such as zombies. That said, I didn't really mind it. It was a simple story with a simple set-up. The audience knows what kind of film its getting, but that's no reason to criticise too heavily.
I do wish that the subplots had been a little more creative, or, at the very least, had more of a definitive direction. A lot of it felt like very minor plot points in a TV series, rather than a film. Regardless, they weren't terrible arcs, by any means - they just weren't that invigorating.
Thomas Jane made for a reasonable enough protagonist, although he gave too little when he needed more, and too much when perhaps more restraint would have served the scene better. That said, his final scene was really well acted, and helped hammer home the significance of the events of said-scene.
Laurie Holden, who I recognised immediately from The Walking Dead, was a solid face in the supporting cast. I think she could certainly have been given more to do, to the benefit of the film, but, regardless, I enjoyed the time she spent on-screen. She was the most consistent actor in the film.
Who would have guessed that Toby Jones would be the biggest badass in the film? I didn't see it coming, but it was pretty fun to see. He was also one of the more enjoyable actors in general here - his acting pedigree was on clear display, especially compared to some of the other cast members.
Marcia Gay Harden committed strongly to her role, which I will commend. However, the problem comes from it being a pretty poorly written role, which Harden doesn't really deliver on anyway, despite the aforementioned commitment. She overplayed her persona's characteristics way too heavily, which didn't help with the writing.
It was a complete, but very happy, accident that I stumbled upon a film featuring the now late Andre Braugher, known to many as the beloved 'Captain Holt' in the sitcom 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'. It should come as no surprise that I enjoyed his performance here a lot, even though it was far more serious than his most famous character. I think he played it well, and felt like one of the more interesting characters in the film.
The film features some notable, if varying performances from supporting cast members. The two I was most excited by were from Jeffrey DeMunn and Melissa McBride, although that was partially influenced by their involvement in The Walking Dead series - much like Holden. I think that Nathan Gamble, Frances Sternhagen, Chris Owen and Sam Witwer also deserved mentions too.
Overall, this was pretty much what I expected it to be; a pretty basic sci-fi survival horror that has some cool surface features, but not much underneath. The ending is the clear highlight, but I actually enjoyed the whole film, even with the lack of character development or captivating plot.
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