Although certainly not perfect, it's a movie worth watching.

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2013)

Review posted originally on InspirationRation.com - Last night I went to the advanced screening of The Impossible starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.
First of all, if you're planning to go see this movie and haven't seen the trailer, be sure not to see it. I think it's a perfect example of a trailer that reveals too much of the movie. There is even a part that has to come as a surprise, but when you've seen the trailer (or even some of the movie posters) it isn't, and you were just waiting for it.
The movie is about a happy family who spent their Christmas Holiday at the shores of Thailand in 2004. Indeed, the year the tsunami hit The movie starts with an eerie sound, a sound that sets the feeling for this movie perfectly. The first fifteen minutes the movie is building up to what we all know will happen, the tsunami. The moment where this happens is a great scene. The filmmakers did this very well, by using one powerful thing: Sound. By not using a song or sad melody but just using the sound of the powerful, powerful water it is as if you are there! We all know how everything sounds when your head is under water, multiply it by 100, add some debris, a lot of panic and a rush of water and it feels immense. The sheer noise of roaring water. If you are going to see this movie, be sure to have an adequate sound system.
After the severity of the tsunami itself subsides, begins the silence, the loneliness, the search. I think they showed this very well and you feel the brutal reality of it.
About an hour into the movie things start to go downhill. At some point I got annoyed by the plot becoming too forced and the cheesy American-movie-things happen. The near-misses, the doubtful choices of the characters and the illogical things. They (try to) make the movie more dramatic than it needs to be. This is unnecessary because the whole tsunami-thing and aftermath IS dramatic enough. Sure, maybe only because it happened for real, but if it didn't happen for real there probably wasn't a movie like this.
The main characters are the family, where especially the kids are great in the movie. Aside from the fact that they are cute they're also good actors and it's the children who manage getting you watery eyed now and then.
Funny detail; at a given moment there are people of different nationalities who say something. Among them there is a Dutch woman, and surprisingly (contrary to what often happens) I could understand what she said in Dutch. I think it's great that they cast a Dutch person even for one sentence in the movie. I don't know how it is with the other nationalities (my Swedish isn't great ;-) ), but it was a welcome surprise.
It wasn't a great movie, but there are plenty of moments the theatre was dead silent and no one dared to make any noise, not a single bag of crisps was crackling and even breathing stopped for a moment. Especially in the first hour you are drawn into the movie and the fact it is (based on) a real story adds to its power. The second half of the movie wasn't the greatest, but nonetheless I think it's a movie worth watching. - Review posted originally on InspirationRation.com