Saw the latest adaptation of Stephen King's work last night. Apparently this movie is not doing well in terms of ticket sales. This is kind of surprising. I really enjoyed the film. It's a worthy successor to the Stanley Kubrick film, and presumably the book version (I haven't read any of his books)
"The Shining." Given that is a monumental task to undertake, it ended up quite well.
While Dr. Sleep definitely ties into the source material (again, presumably) and the larger mythos of this world, this film is definitely it's own thing. The acting, plot, tone, and everything in between are executed impeccably. I also really like how this film utilized the inevitable nostalgia trip of the famous Overlook Hotel from the original film.
Much like the use of the plot device of this location, the characters actions and motivations are all mostly very intentional. Even if some things don't make sense in this film (like going back to the Overlook Hotel) the characters bring it into question. The protagonists make sensible decisions for the most part, and the antagonists are extremely well developed and interesting.
Ewin McGreggor's older version of Danny Torrance is a character that goes through a ton of growth and development in the film. He's extremely troubled, but goes through a very organic process to get better and be a better individual.
Kyliegh Curran plays a young woman with extremely powerful shine powers. Her character is really compelling. The lack of development of her and her family is a bit of a weak point in the movie. I get the impression a lot of that was cut from the film for the sake of run time. It's a pretty long movie.
Rebecca Ferguson's Rose the Hat is a really compelling villain. You really get a feel for the reasons she and her group do some really horrible things to young people for the sake of avoiding death.
The general themes of this movie revolve around people's relationship with mortality and how we cope with fear and trauma. There's an argument to be made for whether this film qualifies as a horror film or a psychological thriller. What makes this movie scary is how it deals with real life pain. Much like the original, much emphasis is put on alcoholism being a bigger monster than any ghost or super natural event. Like his father, Danny really struggles with addiction. Where this differs from the original is the outcome of that struggle. I would argue it's much more positive in the end than the original movie. The film treats it's subjects with a bit more humanity and tenderness without loosing any edge. In that way, this makes for a satisfying conclusion. This movie shows the other side of the coin of recovering from alcoholism and fear.
Seeing some of the super natural characters from the original return is pretty satisfying. While I'm not a big horror film buff, this is a movie I'll definitely return to later on in my life.
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