Silent Hill

Monday, May 1, 2006 » gaming movies thought

So I managed to sit through all 120+ minutes of this and I think the critics may have been a little harsh. The first hour of the movie is actually pretty amazing. It really did feel like the first time playing the original Silent Hill. The sets and the creature effects were pretty much perfect. I was also impressed with how much material was taken directly from the game, most notably the encounter in the alley, the giant fan, and the bathroom stall. It's really unfortunate that none of the reviewers played the game at all, because otherwise they would have recognized that director Christophe Gans deserves some serious props.

But then there's that whole second half of the film, which is where it runs into trouble. The script is mostly an adaptation of Silent Hill 1's very complicated, intriguing story. I was going to say it's a clumsy adaptation, but even the game didn't really do a great job of telling the story. I wonder if they were trying too hard to mimic the series' habit of revealing everything in tiny, cryptic pieces, usually interspersed with characters rambling on incomprehensibly about ancient demons and cults. I also have to wonder whether Akira Yamaoka's supervision actually sabotaged the movie for American audiences, since I know Japanese storytelling tends to get pretty weird once mythology and metaphysics come into play.

I believe I read somewhere that Gans is already in talks for the sequel. In that case, I expect it might fare a little better as the plot is much more accessible and probably the strongest of the series. As long as the art direction stays at the same level, he should be all set.

I'm going to give this 3 out of 5 stars mainly because of the strong first half, and that's upgraded from 2 because of the part where Rose is looking at the map and making a mental order of the left and right turns she'll have to make to get to the next area, because THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I DO WHEN I PLAY THE GAME. Amazing.