Under the Mountain

Most of the necessary ingredients were there so this should have been a successful film. Billed as a Sci-Fi/Adventure, this 2009 New Zealand production though, is anything but successful. Fantastic special effects aside, the story feels incomplete, the pacing is odd, the sense of urgency slips from time to time with unnecessary distractions, the dialog was everything except informative, and the acting uniformly dull (Sam Neil in particular looked as if he wanted to be somewhere else doing anything but this movie.). The only element that worked was the spooky shape shifters living next door. If the rest of the movie had managed to capitalize on that instead of splintering off into a lackluster teen angst movie of the week this might have worked. Instead, with too many things that didn't make sense, this movie just drifted from one inexplicable scene to another: the `split' of the twins was arbitrary and forced, the sequence in the police station useless, why did the aunt and uncle keep disappearing? In addition, some of the reactions to danger were obscenely ludicrous (who, upon hearing their neighbors want to kill them, just go to bed. Or, while your front door is being broken down, just stand there and watch until the intruder is upon you!?). Crazy. What a waste.

I will add that I'm glad I watched it, but it's not a keeper.

I can't tell you how disappointed I was viewing 'Under The Mountain'.

Sam Neill, at least for the most part, has been a given winner the past few decades. He's been involved with very few duds, so I treat him like Apple stock, a blue chip given.

However, not everything he touches is golden - this being a clear example.

'Mountain' has the hallmarks of a quality film - the cinematography, set design and special effects are equal to anything produced out of Hollywood. And utilizing the stunning wonder of New Zealand is, as always, breathtakingly beautiful. I also appreciated how the writers engineered the natural history of The Land Of The Kiwis into the story.

But this horror-mystical-scifi thriller falls short on so many levels.

There are three reasons I think this failed.

First, because this flick doesn't know what it wants to be - it's a production in desperate need of an identity. It touches with and hints at several types of films, but because it only toys with each idea, there's never a full commitment by the director as to what he wants to deliver to us, the audience. Therefore, we never know how to engage the story. It doesn't help that plot-holes abound.

Once heard a funny and very revealing observation about the creative process that kept running in the back of my mind while watching this production. The late Alexander Godunov played a wonderful character in the film 'The Money Pit'. Frustrated watching the ineptitude of a workman repeatedly dabbing paint onto an unfinished doorway, he snatches the brush away and says, "Up...down. Up...down. Paint. Don't tickle."

Truer words have never been spoken about any creative endeavor.

Secondly, I think this might've worked if the two leads were much younger. The story is childish and so it makes sense that this should've been a children's film. As I think back, I can see this being much more enjoyable if Theo and Rachel were, say, 10 years old. The magic of youth allows for a much greater stretch of the imagination. As young adults, this feels so much more hokey and outright silly.

And finally, there's something not quite right about the two young actors who play the leads. I'm not sure if it's a directional failure or if it's that these two just can't convey and project. But there's something undefined in their performance; it's empty. We don't feel anything for them because they're reading lines from the script, not living their roles.

Director Jonathan King needed a stronger and more focused vision long before he put images to film. He wasted such amazing talent and creative production for this disappointing product.

This is a terrific movie, with great performances from its young stars. The writing and direction really brought out the best in them. What's more, the world the story portrays is great fun and a little scary.

Highly recommended. It's good stuff.