nendil: (Default)
nendil ([personal profile] nendil) wrote2006-04-23 07:36 pm
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A lot about Silent Hill, miraculously no spoilers.

Silent Hill was fantabulous.  I'd read some negative things about the plot - critics thought "WTF is going on with this nonsense", while hardcore fans thought "stupid freaking info dump aghagagaggagh".  But I felt that the explanation level was pretty perfect, much better than the "._. what" I was at after getting only vague vague clues for the whole game in SH1.  I was all prepared for a lame pandering block of exposition when the obvious scene came, but it was well-done and didn't ruin the flow at all.

Heh, having spoiled myself beforehand about what happens during Pyramid Head's second appearance, I thought it was going to be The hardcore gory moment in the film (aside from the ending) that was all "OH GOD WHAT DID HE JUST DO THIS IS NOT RIGHT" for the audience but after seeing all that had happened in the first half of the movie, it was just all in a day's work for the P-man. =P

Anyway, I think the movie was perfectly done for a casual fan like me.  The atmosphere, both visual and audio, couldn't have possibly been better.  I also really liked that I was able to discuss with my friends afterwards about what various aspects of the film could mean, just like the deep amounts of symbolism in the games.  The ending climax was the only thing that slightly disappointed me - I thought it was a bit over the top and unnecessary, plus the CG at that point gets just fake-looking enough to break my immersion.  Director Gans watches just a tad too much anime, I'd say XP

Must watch again at any available opportunity.

(P.S. not enough Pyramid Head)

[identity profile] simhuman.livejournal.com 2006-04-24 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I agree -- Rose was underdeveloped at the start, but her first encounter with the burned children was really horrifying, not just because of the HORRIFIC noise those things made. After that she was harder to connect with, especially when she hopped over a fiery pit to say "sup" to the kid she apparently knew wasn't Sharon. She had a really nasty case of the horror-film stupids and radical characterization shifts.

Pyramid Head bursting through the church door is the coolest thing I can imagine happening during that scene. Yeah, the lack of clear symbolism behind the barbed wire was what I meant Everything else she does has interesting symbolism behind it. Why burned children? Fire + parallel to the harassment she suffered in school. Hell, a shot of her tied with barbed wire during the botched exorcism would've satisfied me.

Do you have any idea what was up with the cop? He looks 40 in present time, so he should've been 10 back when Alessa was burned. The best hypothesis I've heard is that Alessa somehow granted him longevity for helping her. That or a really stupid continuity error.

[identity profile] nendil.livejournal.com 2006-04-25 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
You're reading SA just like I am, I'm sure you're already familiar with these things I'm parroting back at you. =P

Hell, a shot of her tied with barbed wire during the botched exorcism would've satisfied me.

Or even a shot of her tied with rope, like some people suggest that she restrained the Janitor like he may have restrained her, since Silent Hill obviously has a way of evil-fying symbols. But it would still have to be a hellova lot of rope to justify the amounts used in the movie.

Do you have any idea what was up with the cop?

I don't think there was any deep significance to it, I think they just forgot to do a better makeup job for him (say he was 20 back then and 50 now). Then again, I'm kind of iffy about Silent Hill being burned 30 years ago instead of 7/9 years ago; I like the timeline better if Sharon (Cheryl) was created as soon as the evil force manifested with Alessa, and then the baby grew up normally from there. I wonder if Gans had that timeline in mind at an earlier point, and just neglected to make sure everyone's ages matched up after they changed things.

[identity profile] simhuman.livejournal.com 2006-04-25 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
What? OMG GOONS What's your SN over there? I didn't know you had an account.

The age problems are pretty bad throughout. It'll be hard to make Silent Hill a recent vacation site if they want to adapt 2 directly. :(

[identity profile] nendil.livejournal.com 2006-04-25 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
I'm Nendil, just like I am everywhere else. EVERYYYYWHERRRE ELSE =P

I hardly ever post, though, just like I do everywhere else. Mostly a few times in the Animal Crossing threads.