Let me start by saying that I think the comic book 30 days of Night is one of the most overrated comic books in recent history. After reading it once I tried to give it to some friends of mine. After they read it, they brought it back to me, they didn't want it either.
So when I heard Steve Niles sold the rights to his book for one million dollars to Sam Raimi's production company I was hopeful that they would turn it into something worth watching. Sadly they stuck close to the source material.
I've never in my life seen a two hour movie that actually made me feel like I had been siting in the theater for thirty days. The problem is this movie takes itself too seriously, just as the comic book before it had. There are action scenes that fall flat, and emotional scenes that carry no weight. The actors all did an admirable job trying to bring their characters to life, but in the end the script just isn't strong enough. The biggest problem with this movie overall, is the score. It just sits there, doing nothing. There is a scene where one of the survivors drives down main street with a piece of heavy machinery running down and cutting through anything that gets in his way. Does the music pulse and thump? Does the music rise as the hero takes a stand and confronts the baddies head on? NO! The music just sits there. We get a few strings, a nearly inaudible tambourine, and an even more inaudible drum cadence. Why? Because the director thinks he's making a scary movie instead of a monster movie. Another scene like this is the final fight. The last stand. As the scene opens we have the hero making a lonely walk toward the center of town. As he begins his walk we get a rock snare thumping. Alright some music!!! Nope. He gets to the center of town and suddenly the drums disappear and instead we get quiet strings and what sound like someone running a drill over guitar strings. Exciting stuff let me tell you. The only reason this movie gets five stars is because the cinematography is really nice. There is one overhead shot near the beginning of the monster invasion that makes you feel like you're there, and helpless to do anything. Kudos to the cinematographer.
So when I heard Steve Niles sold the rights to his book for one million dollars to Sam Raimi's production company I was hopeful that they would turn it into something worth watching. Sadly they stuck close to the source material.
I've never in my life seen a two hour movie that actually made me feel like I had been siting in the theater for thirty days. The problem is this movie takes itself too seriously, just as the comic book before it had. There are action scenes that fall flat, and emotional scenes that carry no weight. The actors all did an admirable job trying to bring their characters to life, but in the end the script just isn't strong enough. The biggest problem with this movie overall, is the score. It just sits there, doing nothing. There is a scene where one of the survivors drives down main street with a piece of heavy machinery running down and cutting through anything that gets in his way. Does the music pulse and thump? Does the music rise as the hero takes a stand and confronts the baddies head on? NO! The music just sits there. We get a few strings, a nearly inaudible tambourine, and an even more inaudible drum cadence. Why? Because the director thinks he's making a scary movie instead of a monster movie. Another scene like this is the final fight. The last stand. As the scene opens we have the hero making a lonely walk toward the center of town. As he begins his walk we get a rock snare thumping. Alright some music!!! Nope. He gets to the center of town and suddenly the drums disappear and instead we get quiet strings and what sound like someone running a drill over guitar strings. Exciting stuff let me tell you. The only reason this movie gets five stars is because the cinematography is really nice. There is one overhead shot near the beginning of the monster invasion that makes you feel like you're there, and helpless to do anything. Kudos to the cinematographer.