The first trailer for the upcoming television adaptation of "The Mist" hit the internet earlier today. As such, I figured, much like I did with the trailer for 'IT', I'd offer my thoughts on this one.
I was skeptical about this. We got a solid film adaptation and while Darabont is very reliable, it seemed like bringing him in was redundant. Granted, I was going to watch it anyway, but I didn't think it would be anything too special.
On the plus side, it seems like this isn't so much an adaptation as an alternate take. There are a lot more characters and locations that seem to be in play. It makes sense, this is a 10 episode mini-series and focusing that long in just a grocery store would have resulted in slow pacing and potential boredom. Doing it this way gives the writers more to work with, keeps the viewers engaged, and gives us a better idea of what the town as a whole is enduring.
It's hard to tell, as no character is named, but it doesn't seem like any of the characters from the story are going to appear. That one woman may be Mrs. Carmody, but beyond that, there wasn't anyone that stood out. Considering the cast in the story are largely everyday joes, it probably isn't that big a deal, but it does seem worth noting.
It does seem like Arrowhead is going to be getting a lot more focus. It was an afterthought in the book and movie, but with the extra time, giving it some more focus makes sense. While it was the assumed cause of the whole fiasco, there was some ambiguity. I wonder if that's going to remain intact. It's as good an explanation as any and if they are going to spend more time on it, they might as well make it the official cause.
I was skeptical about this. We got a solid film adaptation and while Darabont is very reliable, it seemed like bringing him in was redundant. Granted, I was going to watch it anyway, but I didn't think it would be anything too special.
On the plus side, it seems like this isn't so much an adaptation as an alternate take. There are a lot more characters and locations that seem to be in play. It makes sense, this is a 10 episode mini-series and focusing that long in just a grocery store would have resulted in slow pacing and potential boredom. Doing it this way gives the writers more to work with, keeps the viewers engaged, and gives us a better idea of what the town as a whole is enduring.
It's hard to tell, as no character is named, but it doesn't seem like any of the characters from the story are going to appear. That one woman may be Mrs. Carmody, but beyond that, there wasn't anyone that stood out. Considering the cast in the story are largely everyday joes, it probably isn't that big a deal, but it does seem worth noting.
It does seem like Arrowhead is going to be getting a lot more focus. It was an afterthought in the book and movie, but with the extra time, giving it some more focus makes sense. While it was the assumed cause of the whole fiasco, there was some ambiguity. I wonder if that's going to remain intact. It's as good an explanation as any and if they are going to spend more time on it, they might as well make it the official cause.
Actually, as noted in the comments, you don't see any monsters. I'm not sure whether that was the right play or not. On the one hand, you could argue that the imagination makes it scarier. On the other, a lot of dialogue suggests that the mist is just driving people crazy. It sounds like it has some sentience, but I think viewers might find it lacking if there aren't any legit extra-dimensional monsters lurking around.
The first half is much stronger, if you ask me. It does a better job of building up a foreboding atmosphere. As you move further in, it's just cuts to random things and it loses some of its power.
Also, the fact that it uses the 'BAAAUUUM' effect will likely divide people. You could be like me and find it funny, but if you're legitimately annoyed by it, than I could see it being marked as a strike against the show right off the bat.
While this is the sort of story where a smaller budget shouldn't necessarily hurt it, you can still tell that this was made on a TV budget. It's apparent by both the shooting style and the acting, which pale in comparison to the movie.
All in all, this trailer doesn't really give me an idea on how the show will turn out. I could still see it going either way. The comments are negative, and while I was whelmed, I didn't hate it. I wasn't blown away by any stretch, but there wasn't really anything that made me call bullcrap or anything like that. It would have been nice to get a better grasp on some of the characters, but at least it didn't fall into the trap of summarizing the whole show.
We'll have to see how it plays out when it premieres at the end of June.
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The first half is much stronger, if you ask me. It does a better job of building up a foreboding atmosphere. As you move further in, it's just cuts to random things and it loses some of its power.
Also, the fact that it uses the 'BAAAUUUM' effect will likely divide people. You could be like me and find it funny, but if you're legitimately annoyed by it, than I could see it being marked as a strike against the show right off the bat.
While this is the sort of story where a smaller budget shouldn't necessarily hurt it, you can still tell that this was made on a TV budget. It's apparent by both the shooting style and the acting, which pale in comparison to the movie.
All in all, this trailer doesn't really give me an idea on how the show will turn out. I could still see it going either way. The comments are negative, and while I was whelmed, I didn't hate it. I wasn't blown away by any stretch, but there wasn't really anything that made me call bullcrap or anything like that. It would have been nice to get a better grasp on some of the characters, but at least it didn't fall into the trap of summarizing the whole show.
We'll have to see how it plays out when it premieres at the end of June.
Click here to join our Patreon campaign
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