Unoriginal and anti-climactic

Rating: 1/10 (25 March 2008)

Like most horror movies, The Mist is a moral tale about the nature of man. In this endeavor it fails. As a scary film, it is similarly limited. Most simply, there is nothing to this film; no central meaning of any value, no original monsters, situations or even effects. The film does not scare you; if it were not so disappointingly over stated, it would be funny, but it isn't. This film should not have been made and ought not to be viewed by anyone with intact sensory organs.
Most obviously this "horror" film is supposed to represent the "horror" of mans own nature. The characters fall into appallingly predictable parts as generic stereotypes of mans behavior under the influence of fear. This same plot has been carried out time and time again elsewhere, to a better and more interesting degree. On this count, The Mist achieves little more than an after school special about kids who sneak out of home only to get locked in a shed/mine/warehouse, after which point, the kids are morally categorized by their ability to keep their wits and integrity under pressure.
The film rushes to its conclusions about the nature of man in a reckless fashion. Plot devices are installed too quickly, there was no attempt made at suspense, and the moral statements it made, though underlined tirelessly, were laughable and inconsistent.
One's laughter could continue past the moral/existential goal of the film, and right on into the films attempt at horror. The monsters were often plagiarized (for example, the spiders lair in the pharmacy could be replaced by clips from the Alien franchise). The events of the film were neither shocking nor scary; the predictable dispatch of the sherminator was downright hilarious. Every event of the film was heralded well in advance by clues which were too obvious to allow for suspense. One is tempted to think that the creators of this film decided to forgo horror to focus on the message of the film. The message was this: If you let fear get the best of you, you do stupid things, even when you're not panicking, and you can't avoid it, so there! You should just go about your business until the great and unjustly criticized American war machine valiantly defeats all evil with unexplained and miraculous ease.
One could criticize this film all day, from all angles, and not grow short on flaws to examine. If it had not taken its self so seriously as a fable of morality, this film could have risen in a few years, to the status of a cult icon, in a similar league to snakes on a plane. The deepest circles of hell should be reserved for the makers of such boring anti-climaxes. For your own health and the health of your loved ones, DO NOT VIEW THIS FILM. Do not view it in seriousness or as a joke. There is no place for a work of such ridiculous anti-climax, so filled with dramatic, awe inspiring, but ultimately hollow imagery, in either modern cinema, video stores, or personal film collections.