Loved the airport survival stuff, but....

Rating: 7/10 (18 June 2004)

The Terminal is, at the same time, one of my favourite movies that I've seen this year, and a partial disappointment. It just further proves that there has yet to be a single movie released this year without considerable flaws. I don't want this to come across like a negative review because I really did enjoy The Terminal a lot.
This is obviously a great premise. The movie jumps right into things with Victor being detained, Victor having communication problems as they try to inform him that he has no country, and of course, as you already know if you've seen the trailer or any TV spots, Victor is forced to stay in the airport. The scenes that played the best, the moments that I felt were the best of the movie, all happen in the first hour. All the scenes of Victor adjusting to life in the airport was enough for me. The segment with him returning the carts for quarters was the point when the movie seriously took off. All the way through his quest to find a job, the movie really had me won over. Those airport survival scenes were more than enough to hold together this movie. I wonder why The Terminal needed to introduce a love story (if you can call it that) and formulaic elements near the end. It's the introduction of these things that lost me. This was an interesting and moderately original entry in Speilberg's career before he decided that it needed a formulaic story. Stanley Tucci's character that's constantly out to get Victor, that was just typical and lame. And call me crazy, but I think this movie could have done without the love story. Very out of place, not to mention the fact that this "love story" never goes anywhere. There's a very unfulfilling end to it. I also don't see the point of the twist where Victor gets the temporary Visa. That idea was dropped from the movie and never used. It was a waste of time that overly-complicated things. I wasn't too crazy about the final showdown as Victor tries to leave the airport. It would've been corny even in a Frank Capra movie. That's the major problem here. Spielberg started it out as a movie based in reality, and half way through he turned it into an almost fairy tale Capra movie.
But, minus these complaints, like I said at the start, this was one of my favourite movies of 2004. It also enforced my belief that 2004 is a year when everything will disappoint, even on a small scale. Tom Hanks puts on a great show. He always does. Some of the supporting cast is good, but the characters are poorly handled. I liked the very last scene of the movie. I loved Janusz Kaminski's Cinematography. He's one of the only DP's that's daring enough to blind the audience with light. I really loved John Williams score, as always. The biggest praise I will give is for the scene where Victor translates for the crazy Russian. Every contribution to the execution of that scene was perfect. That was a memorable cinematic moment. I wish the last 30 minutes had that kind of delivery. I do believe that Spielberg is one of the most consistent Directors working today, and he does direct The Terminal well, however I can't help but fantasize about what this movie would have been like had Andrew Niccol handled it, like he was originally supposed to. I have a feeling Andrew Niccol would have brought a lot more originality and focus overall.