5½ Pies

Reviewed by Limey

Plot Summary

A group of citizens stocking up on supplies after a freak storm find themselves trapped in the store fighting an unknown threat hiding in a mysterious mist.

Review

I must confess to having high hopes for this movie. I am not a particular fan of Stephen King or the numerous screen adaptations of his work, but King as adapted by Frank Darabont is a different story entirely. Plus I love the ‘base-under-siege’ subgenre when it is done right. Did the final product live up to my expectations?

The original plan was for me to say yes with a few criticisms sprinkled in here and there, but I soon realised that to do so would have made me a liar. It started out well enough, with engaging, three dimensional characters that I could believe had existed before the film started and cared enough about to follow on their mundane journey to the store to fetch supplies after a freak storm.

I also thought the initial appearance of the mist was impressive, as a usually calm man arrives at the store making hysterical claims of an unseen force lurking in the darkness and attacking people, mere seconds before the entire area is covered in the bleak and gloomy mist. At this point I could feel the fear and mystery of the situation and was genuinely concerned and interested in what would happen to the shoppers.

Sadly it then became the worst kind of ‘base-under-siege’ movie. The earlier character development was discarded in favour of watching stupid people doing stupid things and listening to a two dimensional cruel and crazy woman rant on and on about the end of the world, with the idea being that in a time of fear and confusion otherwise rational people would latch on to her ideas.

That would have been fine with me if any of the sane characters had challenged her intellectually or if she received a satisfying death that proved her wrong but instead she served only to make me angry and lessen my enjoyment of the movie, with no payoff whatsoever. I wasn’t even distracted by the action sequences, as they were poorly choreographed and the CGI was unconvincing.

So sadly, no, this film did not live up to my expectations. I will add that at least parts of the ending are as effective as the beginning and made me wish they could have shown us more of the world outside of the store, but between those bookends I was bored and frustrated, which are not the emotions anyone looks for in a good movie.

Quotes:

Ollie: Leave it alone, David. You can't convince some people there's a fire even when their hair is burning. Denial is a powerful thing

Ollie: As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up ways to kill one another. Why do you think we invented politics and religion?

Spook Factor: ½ Pie

The film successfully gave me the creeps at the beginning when what was hiding in the mist was a complete mystery and again at the end when the scale of its inhabitants and their effect on the world was hinted at, but for the most part I was utterly under whelmed. I imagine that people with certain phobias will be shaken occasionally, though.

Antagonist: ½ Pie

The mist itself is scary; what lurks within failed to get a rise of any kind from me, until I believe the very last inhabitant shown, and that was awe at the idea rather than fear. Again, certain phobias will elevate their effectiveness.

Story: ½ Pie

I’m starting to notice a pattern with these scores. It starts off well enough and if they had just maintained the development and chucked in a little originality, it would have been fine, but the events of the film are simplistic and frustrating.

Acting: ¾ Pie

There are many talented actors in this film which why it is such a shame to see them given so little to do. Still, everyone worked hard and I was particularly impressed by the restraint shown in each performance bar that of Mrs. Carmody who in contrast I felt was hideously overplayed.

Directing: ½ Pie

This score would be higher if not for Mrs. Carmody and the action sequences. I don’t know whether it was because Darabont struggled with the CGI elements or what, but they just felt flat and confused, with no energy or focus to hold them together. If I am neither concerned with the safety of the characters in an action scene nor distracted by the chaos taking place around them, then the scene has failed.

Soundtrack: ¾ Pie

Much of the soundtrack has passed from my memory at this juncture, but I do remember thinking that they made the right choice in allowing certain scenes to remain silent. There was also one particular track that cropped up towards the end that I didn’t like at all initially but which grew on me by the time the end credits rolled.

Special Effects: ½ Pie

There is no denying that the models themselves look good; no, the problem is that it was painfully obvious that they were not genuinely in the scenes or truly interacting with the actors and the environments. I also thought their first appearance took place way too early and that they were then used way too often, especially given how badly they were integrated into the movie.

Gore: ¾ Pie

The bad CGI was able to do some damage, though, with a little help from its human friends, as there was a fair amount of blood and guts on show, running the gauntlet from gun shot wounds and burns all the way to infected bites and exploding chests.

Replay, Rewatch, Rewind: ¼ Pie

I’d really rather not if it is all the same to you.

Pros

The only positive that comes to mind is the high standard of most of the acting, especially that of Toby Jones, the unquestionable star of the show.

Cons

The fact that I felt like punching something for the majority of the movie has to be considered somewhat of a negative.

Final Word

Oh dear oh dear. To think I had such hopes for a film that proved so arduous to sit through and even more so to actually write about; for me this has to have been the most difficult review to complete since launching the site. If I never ever have to watch or talk about this movie again, it’ll be too soon.

I gave it a good shot.