Hitman (Xavier Gens, 2007) - C-
It's dumb as a rock and nearly incomprehensible, but the dealbreaker is how inconsequential it all feels; the backstory has no weight whatsoever (sorry, Xavier, but color-drained flashbacks of a little tattooing don't equate to pathos), and Agent 47's "mission" -- to figure out why a Russian politician he's assassinated has come back healthy and happy -- has all the emotional pull of, well, a level in a video game. Paramaters of the film's universe are unclear -- we're not even sure if Agent 47's "brotherhood" of assassins is secret or not (I'm guessing not, judging by the enormous bar codes tattooed on the back of the members' shaved heads), for-profit or not (they have "ties to every government" but what the hell does that mean?), or mandatory or not (I'm guessing they don't ask those little outcasts and orphans whether or not they'd like in) -- which makes the main character even more problematic: it's already hard to build a movie around a protagonist intended to be a cipher, but even harder when he doesn't have a convincing context to play in. Timothy Olyphant has nothing to work with, and the action is ho-hum and uninspiring. A loud, confused bore.
The Mist (Frank Darabont, 2007) - A
"There's something in the mist!" Holy fuck! A dream come true -- horror made as more than a lark, with real scares and suspense, attention to character and detail, something on its mind, and a wide-eyed sense of wonder. This is the Stephen King adaptation that 1408 wasn't, filled with terror at something otherworldly and utterly beyond human comprehension, which, for all that King can get sappy and ponderous sometimes, is a brand of horror he understands and does extremely well. First and foremost, a masterful piece of survival horror, with the sort of lucidly thought-out logistics I haven't seen since the original Dawn of the Dead. Then, awe-inspiring sci-fi, with a premise no less frightening for its simplicity -- mostly because the film convincingly conveys that there is infinitely more that we don't know simply by virtue of our perspective. Finally, an unforgettable, pitch-black parable about human nature, with an ending that's both incredibly upsetting and strangely optimistic, suggesting that, though it may sometimes not seem like it, we're better than the worst among us. Blisteringly anti-sectarian, too, which is particularly gratifying this fall given the sterilization of The Golden Compass.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
You know how Jeffrey DeMunn staggers into the supermarket early on in the film? That was me leaving the theater after this. I had a feeling you'd dig the hell out of this.
I loved it, but, like 28 Weeks Later, it's not something I'd watch again anytime soon. Actually I watched 28 Weeks again when it came out on DVD. Jeremy Renner's death is any easier to take than it was in the theater.
You have to love a movie where Toby Jones can be seen as some sort of action hero.
I still have not managed to watch 28 weeks again, but hope to soon. I think The Mist is even stronger. Man am I a sucker for that sort of thing done well.
Another thing I noticed, not just for me but for other people I've talked to, is that there were many people laughing while watching it.
The people that I was in the theater with were laughing quite a bit early on, most noticeably at Jim and Myron and their reactions after Norm dies.
I wonder if they were laughing because they thought it was funny or if it was nervous laughter.
Post a Comment