Review of The Mist (2007) by Emod L — 02 Sep 2014

Man, I've heard of running into weirdoes at the grocery store, but the creatures attacking this market are almost as horrifying as the ones you'll find at Wal-Mart... almost. These monsters get a grocery store, and George A. Romero's zombies get a mall, so I guess Frank Darabont ended up getting up the ladder when he got on board with "The Walking Dead", and abandoned the Stephen King adaptations. Seriously Darabont is finally doing a real, horror-themed Stephen King adaptation, because, you know, we could do without another prison drama like "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile", right? I joke, but it's time the man start working his way up in the monster film industry, because first he has a cameo in "King Kong", and now he'd be lucky to find gorillas in this mist. He was able to find the Punisher in there, so you know that this is going to be either an awesome clash between superhero and unholy monstrosities, or, well, Thomas Jane continuing his desperate attempt to maintain his relevance. This film is gory enough with the Punisher having to clean up his act in front of his kid, and looking at the over-the-top "dry sponge" scene in "The Green Mile", I reckon it's safe to say that Darabont has been wanting to do this gross stuff all along. I'll take it, because he's able to make the film pretty good at the same time, although there are a number of reasons why this is not even close to the level of "The Shawshank Redemption" or "The Green Mile"... or even as good as "The Majestic" (Wow, I am a wimp of a Frank Darabont fan).

One of the bigger issues of the film is that it is often, well, a little dull, because when Frank Darabont's thoughtful direction fails to resonate, the entertainment value of this quiet and claustrophobic affair more-or-less flatlines, as does the tension and dramatic engagement value that Darabont makes up for when given the opportunity, sometimes to an overt extent. The level of subtlety throughout this film is a little uneven, and particularly lapses when tension really comes to a mount, through anything from some cheap jump scares, to some gratuitously overblown gore which loses its dramatic significance in the wake of disturbing indulgence. When realized, the thrills cut deep, and when they get lost in their more superficial elements, they in turn get lost in ostensibly intentional, but nonetheless clichéd B-movie sensibilities that even work their way into the dramatics, by way of a few trite spots in dialogue, and a number of contrived elements to characterization and plotting. The manufactured subtlety issues to the storytelling are at their worst within the development segment which gets carried away with the superficial drawing of character types to get invested in, but there are certain melodramatics here and there throughout this film which shake up the focus and genuineness of this layered thriller, and challenge one's patience along the way. I've already made my complaints about the cold spells in directorial storytelling which are found with lapses in material to draw upon with thoughtfulness, and considering that the subject matter, no matter how weighty, is minimalist to be crafted into a film that runs over two hours, material lapses often, because when bloating isn't applied to the characterization that makes the eventual removal of certain roles jarring, it is applied to filler that may come to devolve into repetition for many. Those able to embrace this thriller with patience are likely to find that Darabont mainly builds tension as things progress, until a rewarding state is achieved on the backs of piercing tension and rich dramatic value, but the missteps border on glaring, gradually growing thinner, but never completely dissipating in this problematically paced, clichéd and sometimes contrived effort. Whether he be misguided or simply faulty, Darabont doesn't come close to matching the standards he established for a Stephen King adaptation through "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile", but he still delivers plenty, ultimately crafting an engrossing thriller with a number of strengths to meet missteps.

The film is deafeningly quiet for the most part, but when Mark Isham's score comes into play, some moving choral symphonics (Music doesn't get too much more tonally depressing than Dead Can Dance's "The Host of Seraphim") punctuate a subtle intensity that is haunting in its taste and tension, ultimately proving to be more genuine of an aesthetic aspect than the B-movie-style effects which are shoddily rendered, but whose design concepts are solid enough for you to gradually get used to the technically spotty monsters, at least in the context of haunting visuals. Sure, the visuals are at their most flashy during frenzied action sequences that are complimented by rather controlled highlights in the often overwrought gore, but the film frequently showcases haunting imagery to define and immerse you into its horrifying mythology, and therefore play an instrumental role in literally bringing life to Stephen King's classic vision. This subject matter may not carry the scope and dramatic magnitude of, say, "The Shawshank Redemption" or "The Green Mile", - the other two King properties interpreted by Frank Darabont - but as yet another testament to King's abilities as a legend in dramatic horror storytelling, it crafts an utterly terrifying conflict about being trapped by otherworldly abominations which seek only to kill in the most gruesome manner possible which ultimately proves to be a vehicle for provocative themes regarding the barbaric and self-destructive nature of man in the midst of primal panic, and establishes a challenge of a plot that Frank Darabont takes generally very effectively. Darabont's script goes the way of the film's effects by compensating for a lack of convincingness to flare through worthwhile concepts, in that it falls a little flat with dialogue and a number of contrivances, but has the proficiency to deliver on memorable set pieces and intelligent plays on worthy thematic value, anchored by characterization that is initially thin, yet gradually becomes rich, with formulaic, but distinct and memorable roles to supplement a sense of humanity to this dramatic thriller, with the help of a cast which brings life to the well-built character roster. Maybe not all of the performances manage to sell the questionable material, but when they do convince, the talents - particularly Marcia Gay Harden as a religious nut (One of my bigger problems with the film is that it didn't feature the character getting the splattery demise that, well, I'd like to see a lot of extreme Bible thumpers face), Andre Braugher as a proud skeptic, Toby Jones as a quiet man who comes to find his voice in a time of crisis, Laurie Holden as a relatable young woman, and Thomas Jane as the everyman central protagonist - further define the human depths of this ensemble piece, orchestrated well by Darabont's direction, like most everything else. Whether he be utilizing a few B-movie sensibilities on purpose or not, Darabont's storytelling as both writer and director gets to be flimsy, but we're still talking about the cat who did "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile", almost back-to-back, and is therefore far from a flimsy filmmaker, and sure enough, as director, Darabont crafts a generally realized vision of dramatic horror whose visuals are almost captivating, and whose atmospheric, extensive scene structuring is bland when material runs dry, and penetrates as the plot thickens, capturing the sense of claustrophobia which defines this bottle thriller, and is punctuated by anything from enthralling tension to sound, often profoundly piercingly emotional resonance. There's something depressing, but admirable about Darabont's audacious dramatic abilities, which ultimately come down to a truly outstanding expansion on the ambiguous ending of the original story that, while a little familiar in a very "Twilight Zone" manner, is powerful in its crushingly cruel, but dramatically fulfilling irony, which rounds out the film's gradual rise in engagement value from an underwhelming, almost misguided first act, to a gripping body, and although the film is never without its faults, what it does right is met with so much inspiration that the final product rewards the patient as yet another example of Darabont's abilities as a filmmaker.

Once the air is cleared, slow spots and glaring clichés and subtlety issues to the scares, gore and, to an extent, characterization and plotting elements throughout an overlong course threaten to obscure a reward value that is almost surprisingly firmly secured by haunting score work and visuals which compliment gripping subject matter almost as much as the nuanced writing and acting, and often powerfully effective direction which secure Frank Darabont's "The Mist" as a terrifying, penetrating and ultimately rewarding portrait on the dark depths humans can sink in the wake of inhuman horrors.

3/5 - Good.