It’s sad to think they don’t make them like this anymore, because this isn’t an old movie and at a script level it’s pretty standard genre popcorn entertainment. It’s hard to imagine a studio spending a hundred million dollars today on an original screenplay that requires two movie stars who can sell tickets on their name and a director who will spend that much money to deliver entertainment and nothing more. I still remembered some of the scares, but I was able to get absorbed in the story’s slow progression towards its main point instead of feeling restless with all the distractions before we arrive there. The lead ups are very good too, its just once you know, they stick out more as dead ends and Hitchcock tributes abandoned before they’re done.
Robert Zemeckis’ digital effects trickery comes on like an avalanche by the end, and while the seams are largely obvious 20 years later, the shots themselves are very clever and deliver more suspense than flash. He gets you to care about what’s going on in the story rather than think about what’s wrong with the story. The finale draws out the moments showing a director who has the patience to stay with something when it’s working so well.
Leave A Comment