Mama
1.5/4
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nelisse, Daniel Kash
Rated PG-13 for Violence and Terror, Some Disturbing Images and Thematic Elements
Generally speaking, January isn't the best time to release a horror movie. People are catching up on the Oscar bait movies, trying to stick to their New Years resolutions of eating less and exercising more, and staying out of the bitter cold as much as possible. So when a major studio releases a movie that's intended to scare the living hell out of people in January, it's usually (although not always) a bad sign. Unfortunately, that's the case here.
Shortly after the financial meltdown, Jeffrey (Coster-Waldau) shoots his wife and flees with his two daughters. After the car runs off the road, Jeffrey takes them to a remote cabin, intending to kill them and himself. But something stops them.
Jeffrey's hipster brother Lucas (also Coster-Waldau) hasn't given up searching for his nieces, despite the fact that it's killing his finances, as his girlfriend Annabel (Chastain) tells him. In a stroke of luck, the girls have been found alive. Lucas and Annabel adopt them, although Annabel isn't so keen on the idea. The court-appointed psychiatrist (Kash) offers them a deal: he'll let them live in a state owned house rent free if they allow him to study the girls. They agree, but it becomes clear that there's more going on here than re-adjusting two young girls into normal life.
The best thing about this movie, in fact the only good thing, is that director and co-writer Andres Muschietti can craft decent jump scenes. Everything else, except Jessica Chastain, is crap. The screenplay is sloppy, the storytelling is even worse (there's a fairly obvious time gaffe about halfway through), and the story is a lame cross between "Mirrors" and "The Ring."
Jessica Chastain had a big year in 2011, and she didn't slow down in 2012. She's the front runner for the Best Actress Oscar for "Zero Dark Thirty," and it's obvious that she's just getting started. Chastain's talent lies in making her characters seem natural. Chastain is so convincing that it's hard to believe that it's the same actress who played the tenacious Maya. Her co-star, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, is likable, but bland (probably because he's conveniently injured in various ways for most of the movie. Young actresses Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nelisse effectively straddle the line between sympathetic (but not too cute) and creepy. I'm sure there were computer effects for the scenes where they crawl around, but if not, they should try out for the Olympics/
The ending is the worst part. Muschietti can't decide whether he wants to have a dark or happy ending, so he goes halfway, which isn't going to satisfy anyone. Trust me, avoid this big hairy "Mama."
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nelisse, Daniel Kash
Rated PG-13 for Violence and Terror, Some Disturbing Images and Thematic Elements
Generally speaking, January isn't the best time to release a horror movie. People are catching up on the Oscar bait movies, trying to stick to their New Years resolutions of eating less and exercising more, and staying out of the bitter cold as much as possible. So when a major studio releases a movie that's intended to scare the living hell out of people in January, it's usually (although not always) a bad sign. Unfortunately, that's the case here.
Shortly after the financial meltdown, Jeffrey (Coster-Waldau) shoots his wife and flees with his two daughters. After the car runs off the road, Jeffrey takes them to a remote cabin, intending to kill them and himself. But something stops them.
Jeffrey's hipster brother Lucas (also Coster-Waldau) hasn't given up searching for his nieces, despite the fact that it's killing his finances, as his girlfriend Annabel (Chastain) tells him. In a stroke of luck, the girls have been found alive. Lucas and Annabel adopt them, although Annabel isn't so keen on the idea. The court-appointed psychiatrist (Kash) offers them a deal: he'll let them live in a state owned house rent free if they allow him to study the girls. They agree, but it becomes clear that there's more going on here than re-adjusting two young girls into normal life.
The best thing about this movie, in fact the only good thing, is that director and co-writer Andres Muschietti can craft decent jump scenes. Everything else, except Jessica Chastain, is crap. The screenplay is sloppy, the storytelling is even worse (there's a fairly obvious time gaffe about halfway through), and the story is a lame cross between "Mirrors" and "The Ring."
Jessica Chastain had a big year in 2011, and she didn't slow down in 2012. She's the front runner for the Best Actress Oscar for "Zero Dark Thirty," and it's obvious that she's just getting started. Chastain's talent lies in making her characters seem natural. Chastain is so convincing that it's hard to believe that it's the same actress who played the tenacious Maya. Her co-star, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, is likable, but bland (probably because he's conveniently injured in various ways for most of the movie. Young actresses Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nelisse effectively straddle the line between sympathetic (but not too cute) and creepy. I'm sure there were computer effects for the scenes where they crawl around, but if not, they should try out for the Olympics/
The ending is the worst part. Muschietti can't decide whether he wants to have a dark or happy ending, so he goes halfway, which isn't going to satisfy anyone. Trust me, avoid this big hairy "Mama."
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