Excellent representation combined with great storytelling

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2013)

Reading the reviews of this film, I find it a shame that so many users have labeled it a racist view of this disaster. It appears many people on IMDb were expecting to find a documentary and were shocked that the story followed a western family. These people clearly do not understand that a movie aimed at westerners is going to be far more effective with characters they can relate to.
This film was filed under drama and in my mind, it was one of the best in that category in 2012. I'm glad we didn't watch a wave of water for half the film. The time spent telling each part of the story was perfect. From my memories of the incident, the wave hitting the shore was the first 1% of the story. The recovery and rescue efforts were what made the world come together and push their support to Thailand. When I heard about this film, I didn't picture the wave. More the images we saw on every news broadcast of temporary shelters with injured tourists from all over as well as natives. This was the setting for most of the film and within that is a well told story.
The acting was 8/10, with all actors plying their part reasonably well but for obvious reasons, it would be simply impossible for them to represent the authentic emotions of a victim in such a disaster and it does show. They can yell and scream and cry all they want but even the best acting in the world is still acting when playing out such events which cannot be recreated.
The visuals were a 9/10. Absolutely stunning. I was amazed by the way the water looked to be coming 'with more power than you could imagine' as so many described it in 2004. The extras, the injuries, the shelters all looked authentic and detailed. Cars, buildings, trees all swept away and left spread across the land. The only complaint i would have is that only small destination was shown in at the point of impact. If someone didn't already know, they could be forgiven for thinking the wave only hit one of the beaches. There were very few aerial shots with more than 100 meters or so in sight but the shots we did see were violent and realistic.
The writing was great for a drama. Probably 8/10. Not a thrilling film that would have you jumping out of your seat but at no point boring. While scenes felt uncomfortable at times and you just wanted to look away, I think that was simply the result of the direction capturing the horror that was seen by everyone involved in the disaster. There were a few loose ends which again I think were intentional as they kind of sum up the feelings of the victims. With nothing but a first name for those around you, it would be impossible to find out if they ever found their families and made it out alive and I suppose the actual victims would be still wondering what happened to the the others they met in the days after the wave hit.