Review of The 33 (2015) by Paul A — 18 Sep 2016
This is a film about the Chilean miners who were trapped for months in a collapsed mine. The movie is exactly what you would expect from most disaster films. It starts out introducing you to several miners (these will be the main characters of the film, because we can't focus on 33 different leads.
) Then they go into the mine like they would any other day, and then disaster strikes and they must figure out how to survive until help can come. There are moments where all hope is lost, then a ray of light causes expectations to go up, then tempers flare and you get some fighting, then there is some miraculous happy ending.
(Sorry if I'm spoiling the ending, but it's a fairly recent news story, so I figure most people know about it.) I like certain aspects, for instance when the people above ground are trying to problem-solve in order to get down to them.
And, of course, there are moments that really tug at your heartstrings (although I never teared up.) There are also tired tropes of these type of films that annoyed me, but I kind of saw them coming. I was surprised that there were a few tense moments, although they were rare, so I think knowing the ending doesn't automatically suck all the drama out of the film.
Perhaps the biggest flaw of The 33 is that it doesn't do anything well enough to set itself apart. It is an average film that I'll probably forget quickly, and never watch again. You'd think this kind of real-life survival story would be extremely compelling, but I thought it was kind of lackluster.
It's not bad, and if you want this kind of disaster film with a warm/happy ending then it's worth your time. I was just hoping for something more.
This review of The 33 (2015) was written by Paul A on 18 Sep 2016.
The 33 has generally received positive reviews.
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