The best horror-adaptation of a King-story, spoiled by the silliest ending imaginable

Rating: 7/10 (14 March 2008)

Let's be straight with this one. No one ever but Frank Darabont should direct Stephen King's stories. Dot. Having been to Shawshank, walked across The Green Mile, this man leads us once more to the dark realm of the living author-legend, and introduces us to The Mist. After tons of failed attempts -yes, even 1408-, up until The Mist's last minutes, I had thought: the best adaptation ever from a King novel. The suspense, the characters, the actors, the faith and heart put in the movie makes it far more than a usual horror. It makes us scared to death of the unknown. We feel surrounded, powerless, and we just count our heartbeats to know whether it's the last one or no. I haven't imagined it to be this great. And then, in the last two minutes, Darabont acts like an idiot: destroys everything that he has built. Destroys the meanings, the uncertainty, the fear, the hopelessness. He comes up with the silliest, unforgettably stupid ending that I've seen since The War of the Worlds. No, I have no problem with David killing all the survivors in his hopelessness, and no, I have no problem with him being the last man to face his fate. The stupidity lies in the sudden disappearance of the mist, in the army coming out of nowhere, and the trucks loaded with dozens of survivors. These images ruined all the fear of the mist, makes all sense disappear, and makes us say "no way, dude, this is just utterly crap". Where has the military been all the time? How come the mist disappears just from one minute to the other? And the mother from the beginning? Come on, people couldn't make 300 yards from the store, but she ends up being saved? And why should we leave the cinema with the feeling that the only man who could be sane through the movie ends up being the one who made a wrong decision? This makes no sense, and the scene, him shouting on his knees when the military drives by, looked definitely ridiculous. And what's the point? "Davey you should have waited 10 minutes with killing off everyone in your hopelessness, because the military just stopped the mist, and is marching towards you"? Silly. So, I still feel positive about the movie as a whole, only disappointment remains in me. The novella's uncertain, interpretable ending would have fitted in this, from every other perspective the best, adaptation. I'm sorry.