For a silly horror movie, my expectations for this were a bit high. I read the book six months prior to seeing the movie, and I loved it. The teaser for the movie kicked ass. And I read some material on the website that made it sound like the filmmakers tried hard to create a good adaptation. They did try, but it wasn't enough.
Finally watching the movie was an odd experience, because my hopes for it and my memory of the book kind of got tangled up with what I was actually watching. After giving it some thought, though, I have to say I'm a little disappointed.
The story concerns a group of tourists in Mexico who decide to check out some ruins. Horror ensues. The cinematography is good, the visual effects are smartly deployed, the score is effective, the acting is good. I think the problem lies in the script and the direction. The opening scenes that serve to introduce the characters are rushed. The whole movie feels like "this happened, and then this happened", allowing no room for us to care much about the characters. And that is deadly for a story in which bad things happen to everyone. To be properly paced, the movie needed to be about twenty minutes longer.
That being said, there are several effective scenes of suspense and shock.
Finally watching the movie was an odd experience, because my hopes for it and my memory of the book kind of got tangled up with what I was actually watching. After giving it some thought, though, I have to say I'm a little disappointed.
The story concerns a group of tourists in Mexico who decide to check out some ruins. Horror ensues. The cinematography is good, the visual effects are smartly deployed, the score is effective, the acting is good. I think the problem lies in the script and the direction. The opening scenes that serve to introduce the characters are rushed. The whole movie feels like "this happened, and then this happened", allowing no room for us to care much about the characters. And that is deadly for a story in which bad things happen to everyone. To be properly paced, the movie needed to be about twenty minutes longer.
That being said, there are several effective scenes of suspense and shock.