View it on its own terms

Rating: 8/10 (8 May 2008)

I know this movie has gotten some criticism, concerning plot holes, the use of CGI, differences with the book, etc. So I felt compelled to write a short comment explaining why I was so struck by this film when I watched it last night. In short, I couldn't help but admire the intensity of it all. And it's a very careful intensity.
The pace of the film, the lighting, the emotions, it all came across as entirely in the right place, and very deliberate. Here we have a film maker who knows what he's doing. Everything in this film has some purpose, sometimes only noticed after viewing it. Like some of the scenes are almost entirely in the dark, you can't see what's happening which adds to the frenzy. The part where I felt that they could've cut an entire scene (the battle at the end with the darkseekers where there's just plain shooting and violence going on), in retrospect served to add to the despair in the lab later on. By then it has become clear that those creatures are pure danger, no discussion.
And to be honest, I have never wanted so bad for a film to end differently then when the final attack in the lab takes place. I felt desperation, after already having gone through fear, excitement, a broken heart and what not.
The scenes of the evacuation of New York City were perhaps the scariest. The threat of something similar happening (because of climate change, that is) on such a scale to my hometown (Utrecht, the Netherlands) is very real. This film is not just a story, not just some action, not just some film. It tells us something about the life we lead today, our world now. That is why the small, but important message repeated at the end, is: Light up the darkness.
Not everything in this movie is drama, of course, and here once again, the pacing and dosages of action and emotions is very deliberate and carefully maintained. The scene with Robert lip-syncing to Shrek with Anna and Ethan in the room, is alive with eerie tension. Robert's interaction with the dummies is both comic relief and tender psychology.
Sure, the CGI could have been better - or perhaps done away with entirely. (Since I haven't read the book, I can't comment on that.) As for the plot holes: parts of me started wondering about stuff now and then, but I just couldn't finish those thoughts as every time I was again drawn in by the story. Perhaps because I watched this film on its own terms, instead of expecting a "thriller", "action movie", "zombie flick" "sci fi movie", etc...?