The Impossible — A family caught in the 2004 tsunami

Rating: 4/10 (29 January 2013)

The Impossible is based on true events, and it has the merit of showing its public how catastrophic that 2004 south-east Asian tsunami was, but there its merits end. I guess what most people liked was the fact that it really happened to a family and it tugged at their heartstring, because cinematographically speaking, it's not worth much. Most of its fault are certainly the consequence of sticking to facts. That better done in a documentary.
There's basically no rhythm to the movie, the scenes are just thrown one after the other, just like in real life, but with the polish of a movie, which is a bad dichotomy. I mean, the "homemade" video sequence is no such thing. We just get jangled around a little bit more. The editing is poor. In some places the reaction times are stretched to push more drama. A big mistake. There's also the failure to capitalize on real drama. At times, the script just falls on its face for logical reasons.
The special effects are excellent though.
I can't recommend this film unless you love real stories, family drama, and are interested in the 2004 tsunami.