96% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 386 reviews)
Runtime: 90 minutes
Directed by: John Krasinski
Starring: Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cade Woodward
From: Paramount
Last week, I discovered that yesterday there would be a one night screening of this and its sequel; as I had never seen either, someone late in '18 asked me for my opinion on something they wanted to see (they may have been disappointed I had no opinion to give them), it was two for the price of one and my AMC A-List app could be used to pay for the ticket.. it was a no-brainer. Some things I've heard concerning the movie did give me pause-which is why this is a first time watch-but in hindsight I was a fool for not giving this a chance three years ago. My review of Part II will be posted tomorrow.
By now I will assume everyone is familiar with the general story so time won't be spent on that. In just about every movie, nitpicks can be made and some can be made here: the alien creatures aren't the most original in terms of appearance, although that has been a Hollywood problem for YEARS now. What people have deemed to be plotholes could indeed be called that (an explanation for the most niggling ones weren't explained in the sequel either), information was at times presented to the viewer in an inelegant manner and I don't know if there should have been as much score or those musical stingers. I know some did not like the idea of someone having a kid in this environment... sure that is quite the risk, although at least a reason was provided. All that said, this was still pretty good.
It was a pleasant surprise to see and hear a big studio release in the past few years have LONG stretches between dialogue at volume, and seeing all the translated sign language. The small cast managed to work because I personally liked everyone in the Abbott family; having a real life husband and wife play the same on screen doesn't always work, but it did here. Much to my relief none of the children were irritating & it was nice to spend time with them before Seeing this on the big screen was nice as I could appreciate the sound design, not to mention the scenic beauty of rural New York. Thankfully, there were nice scares in the final act which made the journey feel like one worth taking.
Before the movie, Krasinski appeared on screen and besides thanking the audience for coming out, noted that this was “a creature double feature”; I did not think of it that way beforehand but indeed it was. It was also a noteworthy directorial debut which took various chances and many of them were successful. I never asked that person if they ever did see this. If not, I'll tell them to soon.
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