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Ebert Reviews 'Silent Hill'

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the not-so-much dept.

Last week, along with attending an 'epic' debate, Ebert had the time to take in Silent Hill. Did he enjoy it? Not so much. From the article: "Now here's a funny thing. Although I did not understand the story, I would have appreciated a great deal less explanation. All through the movie, characters are pausing in order to offer arcane back-stories and historical perspectives and metaphysical insights and occult orientations. They talk and talk and somehow their words do not light up any synapses in my brain, if my brain has synapses and they're supposed to light up, and if it doesn't and they're not, then they still don't make any sense. Perhaps those who have played the game will understand the movie, and enjoy it. "

3 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. Saw it last night by Yoweigh116 · · Score: 5, Informative

    A friend of mine got some screener passes so I went and saw this last night. I only have one word for the movie: AWFUL!

    Let me say first of all that I was never a big fan of the game series. A number of the people I was with were, though, and they were just as dismayed as I was. There were little bits from the game stuck in there, but even those who caught them said they felt like scraps from the dinner table. The storyline vaguely follows the game, but I totally agree with Ebert for once. I even said to my friends afterwards that I felt dumber after having seen that movie.

    I guess they must have realized their movie was terrible, because they threw in massive amounts of wanton violence and excessive gore in to try and cover it up. I had to actually turn my face away, something I've never had to do before, to avoid wathing a closeup of someone's face melting over a pyre. After that, it only got worse, and some of the disturbing stuff is definitely not from the game.

    -Yoweigh

  2. Ebert is a great critic by DG · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While there are plenty of critics out there who are a waste of print, Roger Ebert isn't one of them.

    He is a serious student of film, he has seen almost everything ever made, and his opinions are well informed with details to back them up.

    And yet, he's no stuffy academic either - he can enjoy a guilty pleasure as much as anybody.

    Very, very rarely do I wind up disagreeing with him, and even when I do, I can usually see his point.

    The man is a rarity: a great critic.

    DG

    --
    Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
    1. Re:Ebert is a great critic by MuNansen · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Ebert is the only critic that I even read. I often disagree, but he's the most educated critic out there, AND he can let himself enjoy movies as they're meant to be enjoyed. He gave Mortal Kombat a well-deserved thumbs up, for instance. It was just a kung fu, game-based movie, but for a kung fu, game-based movie it was quite good. Good fight choreography, an interesting spin on the Bloodsport genre, and it didn't try to be anything it wasn't. Eberts the only critic that always recognizes what the movie is trying to be, rather than what he thinks it should have been.