good cinematography, but shallow, too short, and disappointing ending

Rating: 5/10 (21 January 2012)

i loved alex garland's novel, and so even though many people warned me that the movie is not as good i decided i had to see it.
it starts out fairly good, the opening scenes get you right into it, the actors are well-picked, the music fits well, the scenery is beautiful
unfortunately the longer the movie runs the worse it gets. none of the characters on the island get developed at all, there seems to be no time for that. the movie stays pretty shallow, and navigates around the more nasty parts of the book, especially towards the ending
the ending is such a let-down if you know the book. instead of a gradual descent into madness with a thrilling climax it just kinda ends... thats it. none of the Vietnam war stuff, none of the psychological stuff between the inhabitants of the beach... well, i guess to do that boyle would have needed to develop the characters from the start, which he never did. the only character that has even a little depth is sal,
its not an easy book to turn into a movie i guess, but a little more depth would have gone a long way in improving this. as it is, it comes off as shallow and superficial as your usual travel acquaintances in thailand...