Such a Long, Looooonng film....

Rating: 6/10 (23 September 2006)

I've got to admit that I've been really looking forward to seeing this film for some time. I'm a big fan of the video game series and it's one of the few video game to movie conversions that realistically stood a chance of being good, no mention of Uwe Boll amongst these credits ;) After watching the film, and trust me, it's a long film. Both literally and mentally, I was left feeling indifferent. Which is probably a good way to sum up the film. For fans of the video game they can rest easy at least because it is a faithful adaption and very respectful of the game and its cult status.
What made the game such a hit was the feeling of claustrophobia and the creepy story. When you're playing a game in the first person, that tension and dark setting keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you want to keep following the story. When that converts to film and you're watching in the third person. You need to empathize with the characters, they need to be 'rich' and have a good back story. There were several points in this movie where I simply didn't care what happened to the characters.
The best analogy I can give is that it was a beautiful artistic creation of the game with all the story and excitement sucked out of it. If you were ever a fan of the game it's still worth a look, just to go 'oooh I remember that bit', or 'wow! That's exactly like the game'. For someone who's a neutral, I'll think there will be chunks of this film where you're left confused and disenchanted. It's a shame because you can see all the effort and reverence that went into it...