The Impossible (B or 3/4 stars)
The tsunami that devastated Asia on 12/26/2004 is the 6th worst natural disaster in history; where over 250,000 people tragically died. This film is based on the unbelievable true story of a family of 5 who managed to survive said disaster. As 'The Impossible' (a Spanish production directed by Juan Antonio Bayona) begins, we meet Maria & Henry (Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor), as well as their 3 sons, Lucas, Simon, & Thomas (Tom Holland, Oaklee Pendergast, Samuel Joslin) aboard a flight beginning their family holiday in Thailand. They land, check-in to their resort, get upgraded to a beach view room, & start their vacation in fine form.
But on the 3rd day into their vacation, Maria quickly senses an abrupt change in the atmosphere. Something is wrong. And within seconds, she (and we) sees the enormous tsunami as it pummels everyone & everything in its path. Maria is blasted through a glass wall yet sees her eldest son Lucas struggling to stay afloat in the surging, lightning fast flood. The sheer powerful & deadly force of the water rips hotel rooms apart, uproots palm trees, & turns the entire area into a river of floating cars, boats, etc.. With unbelievable courage & strength, Maria gets hold of Lucas and they cling to scattered debris.
Emerging from the nightmare with only a few nicks, Lucas realizes that taking care of his mom is his 1st priority. After a long & arduous journey, they arrive at a crowded makeshift hospital where doctors worry about Maria's horrifically damaged leg. Maria tells Lucas not to waste his energy on her but to see what he can do to help others. And Lucas improvises a service for people looking for lost loved ones; helping to reunite a desperate father & his missing son {cue the waterworks}. Meanwhile, we discover that Henry also survives, saves his 2 younger sons; and then searches tirelessly for Maria & Lucas through the massive wreckage.
The tsunami sequence has to be one of the most visually impressive & harrowing sequences caught on film this year. The raging torrent of water that flushes Maria & Lucas away gives a sense of the tsunami's easy power. I don't know HOW Bayona & his craft team (art directors, editors, visual effects) filmed this -- it truly is a wonder. But after those early scenes of destruction, the film morphs into a quieter survival story with more character interaction & mood than big-budget explosions.
This film conveys the chaos & loneliness that comes in a disaster's aftermath. Naomi Watts is aces. Ewan McGregor has a heart-wrenching scene on a cell phone. But as Lucas, Tom Holland gives a truly remarkable performance; hitting every complex emotion that a young teen would hit as he desperately tries to hold it together for himself & his mother. The scene where he looks down & sees the severity of his mother's injury, but tries not to show fear or concern on his face so as to keep her calm, is simply amazing. And when he reunites the father with his lost son in the hospital, I thought that Holland nailed the youthful intensity, surprise, joy, & then ensuing fear that one would have in those moments. For any lost child looking for a parent, then we get a sense of the fear, & despair that sets-in.
Although the brunt of this story is true, the director & screenwriter Sergio G. Sanchez take some liberties. To generate tension/suspense, they film the family's reunion at the hospital as a series of coincidental just-misses (Lucas walks into a room just after Henry wanders out of it, etc.). This works cinematically. But after the 4th or 5th miss, it started to get agitating; the more you realize that it probably didn't really happen this way. Also, if you're looking for a plot-filled, character-driven movie, don't look here. It tells the survival story quite linearly & literally. And I take some issue with the sentimental aspects of the film in the last 45 minutes.
Did I cry? HELL, yeah. But I knew I was being manipulated every step of the way as the family reunion lingered on, and on, annddd onnn, anddd onnnnn - with swirling cameras, gasping, crying, swirling, hugging, more crying, and twinkly piano music playing in the background. My eyes were rolling, even as tears were falling from them. And so, though I was manipulated & didn't care for some of the narrative choices, this is still a powerful motion picture about a family's cohesive strength. And it also shows various examples of the self-sacrifices & kindnesses that occur by people from all walks of life during a calamity.
But on the 3rd day into their vacation, Maria quickly senses an abrupt change in the atmosphere. Something is wrong. And within seconds, she (and we) sees the enormous tsunami as it pummels everyone & everything in its path. Maria is blasted through a glass wall yet sees her eldest son Lucas struggling to stay afloat in the surging, lightning fast flood. The sheer powerful & deadly force of the water rips hotel rooms apart, uproots palm trees, & turns the entire area into a river of floating cars, boats, etc.. With unbelievable courage & strength, Maria gets hold of Lucas and they cling to scattered debris.
Emerging from the nightmare with only a few nicks, Lucas realizes that taking care of his mom is his 1st priority. After a long & arduous journey, they arrive at a crowded makeshift hospital where doctors worry about Maria's horrifically damaged leg. Maria tells Lucas not to waste his energy on her but to see what he can do to help others. And Lucas improvises a service for people looking for lost loved ones; helping to reunite a desperate father & his missing son {cue the waterworks}. Meanwhile, we discover that Henry also survives, saves his 2 younger sons; and then searches tirelessly for Maria & Lucas through the massive wreckage.
The tsunami sequence has to be one of the most visually impressive & harrowing sequences caught on film this year. The raging torrent of water that flushes Maria & Lucas away gives a sense of the tsunami's easy power. I don't know HOW Bayona & his craft team (art directors, editors, visual effects) filmed this -- it truly is a wonder. But after those early scenes of destruction, the film morphs into a quieter survival story with more character interaction & mood than big-budget explosions.
This film conveys the chaos & loneliness that comes in a disaster's aftermath. Naomi Watts is aces. Ewan McGregor has a heart-wrenching scene on a cell phone. But as Lucas, Tom Holland gives a truly remarkable performance; hitting every complex emotion that a young teen would hit as he desperately tries to hold it together for himself & his mother. The scene where he looks down & sees the severity of his mother's injury, but tries not to show fear or concern on his face so as to keep her calm, is simply amazing. And when he reunites the father with his lost son in the hospital, I thought that Holland nailed the youthful intensity, surprise, joy, & then ensuing fear that one would have in those moments. For any lost child looking for a parent, then we get a sense of the fear, & despair that sets-in.
Although the brunt of this story is true, the director & screenwriter Sergio G. Sanchez take some liberties. To generate tension/suspense, they film the family's reunion at the hospital as a series of coincidental just-misses (Lucas walks into a room just after Henry wanders out of it, etc.). This works cinematically. But after the 4th or 5th miss, it started to get agitating; the more you realize that it probably didn't really happen this way. Also, if you're looking for a plot-filled, character-driven movie, don't look here. It tells the survival story quite linearly & literally. And I take some issue with the sentimental aspects of the film in the last 45 minutes.
Did I cry? HELL, yeah. But I knew I was being manipulated every step of the way as the family reunion lingered on, and on, annddd onnn, anddd onnnnn - with swirling cameras, gasping, crying, swirling, hugging, more crying, and twinkly piano music playing in the background. My eyes were rolling, even as tears were falling from them. And so, though I was manipulated & didn't care for some of the narrative choices, this is still a powerful motion picture about a family's cohesive strength. And it also shows various examples of the self-sacrifices & kindnesses that occur by people from all walks of life during a calamity.