A 2 hour movie about nothing

Rating: 5/10 (6 November 2011)

Sometimes, when I thumb through reviews of movies on Amazon and IMDb, particularly those I don't like- actually being even more specific, those being made out to be absolutely amazing due to the general hype and histrionics- I notice the terms "intelligent" and "dripping with atmosphere". More often than not, I can't help feel they're essentially using those terms, because they need SOMETHING to substitute "full of plot holes/pretentious" and "very beautifully shot but lacking in anything else substantial". Sadly, Silent Hill is one of those films.
I bring this up because last night, Silent Hill showed on TV last night. It showed on a Yankee TV station, and I still had time before I hit the bed, so I figured I would watch it. I remember seeing it at the cinema back in 2006, and generally not liking it at all. But who knows, what have I got to lose but time? It couldn't be as bad as it was back in 2006, could it?
Wow, actually, it was much worse than I expected. And back in 2006.
If anything, this film could be summed up like this: it's awesome visually. It looks like the inside of a criminally insane man-child's mind, with the glowing embers, the desaturated colours and the depressing atmosphere. However, plot wise, it's like you're watching a dress rehearsal they're throwing in story elements as they go along.
I haven't played the game, so I can't comment on the overall faithfulness to the source material. But what I can say is that I've read reviews that say this is exactly like the game. So I should give it that, right? No, actually. I want something more than being faithful to a video game of all things. I can't sum up the plot at all, because essentially there's no plot... hell, something tells me this film has no SCRIPT even!!!! Its like they just came up with everything on the spot.
In other words, this is a 2 hour movie about nothing. NOTHING. Had a hard time trying to stay awake during this movie, couldn't wait for it to be over. I would complain about the glaring plot holes in the film, plot canyons, even, but there's really nothing to complain about in this film in terms of plot since there's really NO CONTENT in terms of a script.
The acting, in addition, is extremely awful. The cop is boring and says all her lines as if shes in a hypnotic trance of some sort. Radha Mitchell is just as boring and watching her is like watching an acting robot. Needless to say I'm sure the films script, or lack of, didn't excite them to the point where they cared about their characters.
Boring, far too long, missing any plot of any sort and a script to speak of, this is a very thankless, self indulgent and pretentious bore of a film to be avoided at all cost.