MOVIE REVIEW: Stephen King's The Mist

Rating: 7/10 (24 November 2007)

I personally don't like the IMDb summary. It doesn't really speak about the movie that I just saw nor the story I have read and like a lot. So let me try to work up a summary that is worthy.
My Summary: A day after a huge thunderstorm that puts a tree through the window of their lake house and topples the Draytons boathouse, a mysterious mist rolls in off of the lake. David Drayton and his son accompany their neighbor Mr. Norton into town to the local grocery store to get some supplies. They quickly find out that the mist is more than just fog. Becoming trapped inside the store along with many other town members and out of towners, they engage in a battle that will test their ability to reason, sanity, and faith as they come face to face with what evil really is.
A string of many familiar faces, including Thomas Jane (The Punisher) as David Drayton, are among the amazing cast assembled for this film . The story is one about the nature of fear and what will happen when you take people out of their normal surroundings and pack them together in an intense, stressful, and terrifying situation.
Frank Darabont, who directed The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, takes a different approach to this film. Instead of playing it safe with crane shots, steady cam work, and sweeping music like the previous two films, he instead decides to use a much more rough style involving hand held shots, old school special effects, and virtually no music. This in turn gives the viewer a much different experience. You feel as though you are trapped in the store with the players and that you can't escape either. When things start happening to the people, you feel for them, you can understand their pain because you are going through it also.
I also must give Darabont credit for writing an ending to the story that originally didn't have an ending. It is a very good ending and one that Stephen King approves of. I do feel there were some things lacking from the film and I thought that it could have been better. However, I did enjoy it.