Flashes of inspiration, but mostly disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (11 June 2014)

MAMA has plenty of potential, I'll give it that. It's produced by no less than Guillermo del Toro, a man who's had a hand in some of the best ghost stories of recent years (THE ORPHANAGE, THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE). It stars Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau, an actor currently riding high thanks to the success of GAME OF THRONES. Unfortunately, though, there are simply too many problems with it to make it a truly successful movie.
In essence, this is another clichéd ghost story along the lines of THE WOMAN IN BLACK or INSIDIOUS. Yet again we're treated to a pair of creepy children who have an invisible friend - except in this case it's a surrogate mother figure who's determined to look out for "her" wards no matter what. It all boils down to attempts at creeping dread, ominous shots of wardrobes and out-of-focus ghosts in the backgrounds of shots, and that sort of thing.
What I'm trying to say is that it's all rather predictable and a little wearying in places. The cast work hard but the writing isn't particularly strong when it comes to the characters. Coaster-Waldau spends most of the movie off-screen in a hospital bed, leaving a clearly struggling Jessica Chastain to hold the reins. Unfortunately, Chastain is saddled with one of the most selfish, self-centred protagonists I've seen in a while, leaving a huge dead spot in the centre of the movie.
Sadly, MAMA becomes increasingly silly as it goes on, with more and more of the CGI ghost (who looks like...a CGI ghost) appearing and failing to frighten the viewer. JU-ON: THE GRUDGE this ain't. And it all ends in a rather twee, predictable and unsatisfying way, which is a real shame. A film bogged down by predictability then, instead of genuinely novel ideas.