Terror-lite

Rating: 5/10 (16 June 2008)

Interesting story that lacks a sense of real terror.
On the surface this is basic Sci-fi entertainment: some unexplained force wrecks havoc on the masses, and as the characters struggle to survive they also struggle to understand the cause to better enable them to survive. The story, acting, dialogue and filming are all competent.
The way the characters piece together the cause and how the larger groups break down into smaller and smaller factions to survive are interesting to watch.
However, the film never really has the sense of mass panic and chaos that one would expect under such circumstances; WAR OF THE WORLDS provided a better sense of this. In the train station, on the train, at the diner and at the crossroads the characters' actions seem quite restrained, almost subdued. Yet, these are the times when apprehension should peak because once people start dying others in close proximity are beyond saving.
The film just never seems to go far enough like when the characters flee from the diner, they leave but not with the frenzied, reckless sense of urgency that one would expect under such circumstances. As such, the film lacks the sense of realism .