A solid movie which could have used some more work

Rating: 7/10 (21 April 2006)

Now let me first state: I know a few things about the Silent Hill series, but I've never actually played the game. In fact, my status as a gamer is disputable. Let's call me a non-gamer just for the purposes of this discussion, as that's what I essentially was going into the movie.
There are several things the movie certainly did extremely well. The atmosphere was set perfectly starting right from minute one. The art and graphical direction were supremely amazing, and the entire style of the film leaves you feeling exactly the proper type of suspense. There are multiple segments which use a remarkable film grain technique, remarkable in the way it is combined with focusing effects and general cinematography to create a very stylistically different and yet natural feel. In fact, in general the cinematography is rather well done, though there are just one or two instances where I was left feeling like a shot was off balance during action sequences. The sound was also very well made and atmospheric, though there was one point during which the action suddenly loosened off and the music changed instantaneously, as often happens in video games. This was the one point during which I thought I was watching a video game movie.
The plot is fairly solid in its premise - there are always inescapable potential problems with a plot like this, so it's not a big deal. However, the presentation of the plot left something to be desired at times. The beginning of the movie especially left a great deal to be desired - the movie opens with a rather tense scene which slackens off; this is normally the point in which some character development occurs in a natural environment so that you feel like you know the people - however, this movie instead moves the plot along like a bulldozer, and the forward-moving but none-too-suspenseful section to follow could have used a great deal more life; it's as if normal life is something to be lived in silence and apathy, and that the characters don't express any warmth or real life. The plot also suffers from the presentation of the child character, which is never distinctly defined as well as it should have been. I felt like I didn't know the girl at the beginning, and knew her less by the end. Another phenomenon which occurs over a span from beginning to end is that the creepiness/scariness factor seems to decrease as the movie progresses - after the first few action scenes, the plot seemed pretty secure in where it was going through multiple delayed climaxes.
The acting was solid, but left something to be desired at times. Perhaps part of the reason the opening to the movie was so bland and lifeless was due to the acting, but this could only be in part. Emotion in general was a little on the weak side from these actors.
Thus, I believe this movie was rather solid. It's an interesting experience, and worth a trial. It was just missing a few human factors which made the already cold material lifeless at times.