Movie Review; The Mist (2007)

Frank Darabont directed The Mist. He also directed two other Stephen King movies: The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Shawshank is an alright film to me and Green Mile was actually quite good. The Mist came out in 2007 and starred Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, and Toby Jones. The film's about a group of people in Maine who are stranded inside a grocery store when a mysterious mist surrounds the shop. The people inside eventually learn that a monster is lurking inside the mist and that even a few seconds outside could put your entire existence to test. Out of all of Darabont's King adaptations, The Mist would surprisingly seal the deal as my favorite. This is a great movie with an excellent sense of human emotion and suspense. This film is constantly eerie and filled with white-knuckled scenes that will satisfy anyone who watches this movie. Unlike a lot of his other films, this is a Stephen King movie that virtually anyone can enjoy. It's not tied down to his lore and this really is a fantastically fun monster movie. Now I won't spoil too much about the movie in case you haven't seen it, but Thomas Jane is fantastic. I love The Punisher and while he's great in that, its a guilty pleasure movie for me and this was a far more intriguing role from him. The main antagonist of the movie (Marcia Gay Harden) is so good in this movie and she sells such a hateful character. Nathan Gamble is so great in this movie and delivers a heartfelt and emotional powerful child performance. What I think works so well about these actors is that they really understand the goal of the movie. The outcome of The Mist is almost documentary - style. The camera zooms in order to give us a sense of people's reactions and seems to be documenting these events as if they are happening in real time. The special effects aren't all excellent, but early on they show a severed tentacle that's breathtakingly realistic. This is a real underrated movie and I think that might be due to the fact that people don't realize how bad some of King's films are. Not saying The Mist would not be good without those, but you have to realize that this adaptation is far more vivid and lively then your typical Stephen King movie. The ending is quite tragic. It's all I really have to say about this movie. It doesn't end happily and I don't believe that was ever the intention. It's a monster movie and the ending does justice to fans of that genre who are looking for something more retro, but with a mature feel and tone. Overall, The Mist is grounded in realism, with not a bad performance in sight, which gives us a great film that hits on all the right places. Three stars= A-