The Mist (2007)

Well... What can I say?

I just saw The Mist.

An almost perfect adaptation of my all-time favorite Stephen King story, except it’s 2 minutes too long :-(

Stop reading now, if you don’t want to know any more...

It gets the paranoia right. It gets the hopelessness right. It gets the critters right. Then it tacks on the most depressing ending since 1984.

Apparently Frank Darabont made a deal with the producers that, if they let him keep his miserable ending as written, he’d make it for half as much money. They should’ve paid the full amount.

So, my suggestion? Watch the film till they run out of petrol, then turn it off. That way it’s up in the air, just like the original story.

What’s most amusing is that I normally like “Director’s Cuts” of movies. In this case, I’d really like to see a “Producer’s Cut”!

The ending itself is almost an “anti-Spielberg”... Instead of the standard Spielberg approach of tacking on a pathetically happy ending to an otherwise forlorn and depressing film, Darabont has taken the exact opposite approach. He’s tacked on a ridiculously cynical ending onto a forlorn and depressing film.

It all just makes me pine for more endings like Screamers... i.e. endings that, while incredibly dark and dismal, are totally in context, and stem from what we’ve already seen of the behavior of the characters. The one thing that stood out in the story, and in the film right up until that point, was that, in a hopeless situation, the one thing you can’t afford to give up on is hope.

No matter how impossible the odds, or widespread the catastrophe, if you give up, what’s the point of fighting before you give up? It cheapens and detracts from any previous effort.

It also reminds me of the beginning of Alien 3. Ripley never gives up in Aliens, and saving Newt is her moment of glory. At the start of the next film, however, Newt’s just dead. “Oh, I’m sorry, but that was all a waste of time and effort. You understand, don’t you”. I mean, how pathetic!

Oh well, enough of a rant. See it. Don’t see it. Whatever. The shame of it is that it’s just SO good right up until that point. What the hell was he thinking? Why, oh why, do people think they can “improve” on something that they proclaim to love?