Darabont and King do it again!

Rating: 8/10 (1 March 2010)

Stephen King. You probably know him. The 62 years-old American author is one of the best writers in the horror genre. His novels, novellas, and tales have been adapted to the big screen more than 100 times. All-time classics like Brian De Palma's 'Carrie' or Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining' and many others are all based on his novels. Frank Darabont. You probably don't know him. He is the guy behind two of the best King's adaptations - the 1994's 'The Shawshank Redemption' and the 1999's 'The Green Mile'. And back in 2007, six years after after Darabont's last picture ('The Majestic'), he decided to adapted another King's novel, 'The Mist'. Well, he did a pretty good job.
'The Mist''s story is focused on a small group of people that are trapped into a supermarket after a giant mist covers the whole town they live in - a small city in Maine. Afraid of what is outside, they lock themselves into the market - only to find out later that there are blood-thirst creatures hiding in the mist. Among these people, there is David Drayton, a local artist (Thomas Jane), his son Billy (Nathan Gamble), Mrs. Carmody, a very religious woman (Marcia Gay Harden), Brent Norton, a lawyer (Andre Braugher), etc. While 'The Mist' could be defined a a monster movie, it shows more of human relations than anything else. The movie's story is all about how people react to the unknown and the unexplainable. This script, focused on character development ans study, is great, with a excellent storyline and development. The only problem me and most of the critics is the movie's ending. Frank Drabaont completely changed Stephen King's original ending - and for worse. Of course I'm not gonna spoil it here, but Darabont's ending is just plain stupid and doesn't make sense with the rest of the movie. Only if he had sticked to the original ending...
The acting here is average. Of course this isn't the kind of movie where the acting is the strongest point, but they did a nice job. At least the movie was well-casted, and while you get a few members doing a good job, like Marcia Gay Harden and Nathan Gamble, in a good performance by a child, others are too normal, like the own Thomas Jane. Of course there isn't no one really bad here, but no one is great either. Nothing award-worth.
The directing here is absolutely perfect. This movie wouldn't be the same without Frank Darabont. His directing is calm when it has to be, frenetic when it has to be, sentimental when it has to be, and scary when it has to be. That, combined with a incredible unique style, utilizing all the directing resources, and with a perfect editing, making the movie neither too long or too short make his direction work perfect. The movie''s budget wasn't big. This is proved with the lame special effects and the bad sets. But Darabont did what he could with it. The soundtrack here isn't marvelous either, but sets the mood when it has to. When thing that bothered me was the cinematography - the movie could have a more dark mood.
Overral, 'The Mist' is a great horror movie from 2007. Of course it's nothing compared to the previous Dabaront/King cooperations, but it holds its own rights. The script has some really good character study, but it's ruined by the bad ending that Drabont changed from King's original story. Darabont's directing is great here, and the acting is average. Good thriller, a really nice addition to the horror genre.
8/10