Thanks for ruining 20 years of anticipation, Mr Darabont!

Rating: 3/10 (27 November 2007)

Gawds how I wanted to give this a full 10 stars! I've waited 20 years for this movie to be made! The novella captivated my imagination as a teen (as did so many of Mr. King's other works) and I've re-read it dozens of times since then.
My daughter is 13 and a budding fan as well....so I figured a nice evening with Dad to see a great story brought to the big screen by a talented directorwould be great....Oh, sadly wrong I was!!
My short version: For me, the majority of the movie was good -- not breathtakingly riveting not a cinematic masterpiece, but enjoyable and true to the story nonetheless. The CG monsters and bugs were actually a little better than expected -- and did not detract from the experience. The kick to the gut came at the end...and that is truly what it felt like...a big-ass kick in the gut.
If Darabont wanted to evoke an emotional response in viewers he succeeded: I've never felt more sick and cheated in my life. I sat there wishing I had never come into the theater. I KNOW King himself endorsed the "new ending" but that horrible ending changed the entire timbre of the story. In my book, Darabont's ending is senseless and needlessly morbid. It does not add to the movie in any way; in fact I felt the operatic finale was over-the-top cheesy! Unnecessary.
If the last five minutes had been different I would be voting 10 stars right now. Thanks for ruining 20 years of anticipation, Mr Darabont! You've lost at least one DVD sale here. (Gawd -- and I loved Shawshank, too!)