Disregard the early bad reviews, this is a good movie!

Rating: 9/10 (25 December 2018)

I waited patiently for this to be available on Netflix. And when it did, I started to see bad reviews on here. After watching the movie, I just don't get it. I guess some reviewers like to find fault with everything. But I think that while it is important to post a bad review when a movie is deserving of it, and thus sparing others from wasting their time on it, I think it is equally important to let people know when a movie is good. Bird Box is very good. Not great, but very good.
Bird Box falls into the genre of films like 'The Happening', and 'A Quiet Place', but it is not a ripoff of either. In fact, the book was written before 'A Quiet Place'. The movie gets going pretty quickly and pulls you in, and then keeps you there. Some observations then...
THE STORY: Like all movies like this, there are some small things that might be a bit of a stretch. But this is a fictional story, so those things are not a problem. They help make it better. The story jumps back and forth between the present, where Sandra Bullock's character is trying to transport two small children down a river with all of them blindfolded, and the past, which tells how everything got to where it is. Basically, there was some kind of force which came to Earth and when people looked at it it caused them to see their greatest fears, sadness, and loss. This then caused them to go mad and commit suicide. The only people exempt where those that were already insane, as it didn't bother them and actually made them happy (brilliant if you think about it). It bounced back and forth like this pretty seamlessly, so it worked very well. They did a much better job with this than the makers of 'Annihilation', which was an absolute mess. By the end, everything was tied up nicely, all questions were answered, and there were no holes left in the story. They never really explain what this force that was wiping out the population, but that was done on purpose and added to the suspense of the story. It also helped you connect with the characters, as you understood how they felt not knowing what this thing was. All in all, the story was excellent.
THE ACTING: Top-notch all around. Bullock, John Malkovich, BD Wong, Sarah Paulson, Trevante Rhodes...great cast, great acting. Also, the 2 young children were not annoying, which was a nice change (unlike the kids in 'Extinction'...OMG).
CINEMATOGRAPHY AND EFFECTS: The effects were very good. Watching Sarah Paulson step in front of a fast moving 18 wheeler is a scene that sticks with you, as is the scene where a woman calmly switches from perfectly fine to mad within seconds, suddenly talking to her dead mother as she calmly gets into the driver's seat of a burning car, catches on fire (without making a sound) and then blows up with the rest of the car. Eerie as hell! The rest of the film work is beautiful, especially the scenes on the river.
My only complaint is that it is a little too long. If it were shortened by about 20 minutes it would be perfect.
Disregard the early negative reviews. Bird Box is a very good, edge of your seat, scifi/horror type movie that is well worth the time you will spend watching itwith elevated blood pressure and sweaty palms...lol
I give it a 9!