Blow by blow review Or How To Ruin a Classic Story
The intro:
Instead of using the tailor-made intro as written in the book King has decided to use a snippet of a flashback from much later on. Already a fail as he portrays Mr Jones as a weak, uncaring, indecisive character and the twins brandishing the stones like weapons...which they're not!
On to the present day and traditional NZ film-making kicks in with fake comaraderie. No teen presumes his sister is going to through his bag over the fence. We're already distended from them as real characters but I did like the inference of the telepathy, despite it not being even a large part of the twins.
4:15 They burst in and we have a nervous, shaken policeman. WTF? Is he on his first day of Police College or something? Considering the role the 'Police' play in the story this is another flaw. But then King overdoes the telepathy and it takes the palce of real communication. So we have characters freezing on the spot and talking in their heads? For 20 seconds?? Jesus Christ.
Ricky is too young - he's supposed to be an older, more responsible athletic type, not a slighter older teen.
The music is good but it's building suspense where there isn't any. We're just setting the story up. Leave it til later.
9:00 Terrible acting from the aunty. And why would they still have bunks in an Auckland house when their youngest, Ricky, is nearing his 20's?
'Are the volcanos dangerous?' What, have they been home-schooled in an Amish community? That's like asking if Hawaii is going to blow up soon.
14:00 Mr Jones sits in public and sets his hands on fire. He NEVER takes the stones out in public, they're valuable tools so they're hidden away. Reckless and unlike the character. Plus he's supposed to be an old white haired, weather-beaten man. Think a skinnier version of Richard Attenborough in Jurassic Park.
15:00 But here's the real crux. Jones is supposed to have hand-picked the twins when they were children! Why does he not know who they are?
15:28 Kayaking with no lifejacket - again, raised in Amish community?
17:10 Finally something right! The hair sniffing and look is perfect.
18:20 ...which is ruined by some random guys gathering around the house. Security lights anyone?
18:40 Rachel looks at Rangitoto and says 'Bleeding Skies'....even though it was her brother that read the book with said titled painting.
20:00 'Ugh it stinks' 'It's a hearse' 'Must be them' 'What are they doing here?'. Award winning dialogue, direction and acting here. This scene is inexplicably bad.
21:00 Theo is a total fktard. If I was Ricky I would smash his head in.
24:30 'The Fireraiser'?? 'We make them dead ...soon. We make them all dead'. Oh dear.
26:01 Sibling fighting....for no reason at all.
29:30 This is just ridiculous. Mr Jones ordering them around? Not knowing about the sister?
30:30 The Police scene. In the book he's normal and the deception only starts to break when she presses him for info - it's far more suspenseful and the relentless strength of Mr Wilberforce is frightening. The fact he's after both twins makes it all the more exhilirating. In this scene we have door-melting, bad wirework and a waste of CGI. 5 minutes of nothing and then a 'bloody foreigners' comment.
36:38 Now they're going with Mr Jones....but they still don't know who the hell he is or what's going on.
.
.
.you know what? I'm just gonna stop there.
This movie is one big stinker.
Not even gonna say a word about the ridiculous ending.
When all of your wishes are granted....
Many of your dreams...will be destroyed