Movie Review: SILENT HILL: REVELATION - 7 Stars

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I just saw SILENT HILL: REVELATION last night and I have mixed thoughts about it. If you are a fan of horror, the video game and heck, movies with a good story and characters than you probably won't be jumping for joy at the end of it.

However, I will say that the 3D looked amazing. The cinematography, 3ality Technica (3D camera rigs & expertise) and the visual effects saved whats left of the movie and actually salvaged a 7 out of 10 score from me. Without them we're probably looking at a 4 or 5 star movie.

Why? Where to begin. How about at the top - directing. Michael J. Bassett (SOLOMON KANE) just didn't get the job done here. What irked me most was when you have an actor of the caliber of Sean Bean and you have scenes where he does look all that good at all, you're in trouble. Bassett couldn't have had enough takes for these scenes or just couldn't edit it effectively.

Hit the jump for more...




**SPOILER**
Another example of poor directing is when Kit Harington's character Vincent literally tells Heather that he is part of the cult and was in fact sent into reality to bring her back to Silent Hill. HE TELLS HER THAT. Instead of showing her. Instead of having her suddenly come to that shocking revelation that he isn't what he appears to be. Instead of building up the psychological tension. *sigh*
** END SPOILER **

The acting was passable most of the time, but nothing memorable. Suspension of disbelief was broken in quite a few spots - too many times for my liking. For example the nurses looked real (great job!) but the spider creature I found to be too fake - not visceral enough for me. I did like the detail they put into describing how that monster came about though.

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The sound should have been much more too. It passed, but not remarkably so. Things like the town air raid horn should have used many, many more times to build tension - even little chunks of it worked into the score would have really given the movie that little extra push.

But the biggest two flaws of this movie to me was the lack of a compelling story and the almost total disappearance of the town of Silent Hill as an extra character. Yes, the location was so well done in the first two acts of the original SILENT HILL that it seemed to be alive and contributing to the telling of the story. It was that good. All that is practically gone in this one.

But if you enjoy 3D, some awesome visual effects and one particularly good battle scene at the end (with respectable background info to amp it up), then by all means go see it! Definitely in 3D. 

7 out of 10 stars.

Special thanks to Empire Theatres for the screening in RealD 3D. The screen was crisp and well lit as well as a perfect sound level!