Blindness (2008)

This movie is part of a long line of dystopic/social breakdown picutres, and it doesn't really bring anything new to the proceedings, but the specific concept at hand is actually kind of interesting. While this movie isn't as terrible as some have made it out to be, it's no masterpiece, and it could have been a whole lot better. It's a mess, but I give it some extra credit with the rating because of it's ambition, some really good individual sequences, and because the acting is really pretty good, even if the material is lacking. Julianne Morre's character is also quite intriguing and interesting, so that's also a plus. The way the the filmmakers choose to tell the story is interesting, but it's kind of annoying. Instead of trying to produce the expereince of going sightless, they should have just done it conventionally, instead of toying with sight and sound. I know they have good intentions, but a little goes a long way, and it gets tiring after the first 1/3 or so. I've never read the book this is based on, but maybe this should have just not been adapted. A few more issues I need to address are the length, pacing, and material itself. The film feels way too long, it drags, it could have been a little tighter, and this is just, in general, a really depressing and disturbing affair. It's also probably offensive to the blind community, even if it is just a "what if?" scenario. This is some hard stuff to sit through. It's bleak, unrelenting, and full of too much hopelessness. It seems like they were aiming for an artsy and thought provoking film, but end up with a tedious exploitation film with high production values and good intentions gone sour. Like I said earlier though, the specific variation to this unoriginal theme is interesting, and the characters (mainly Moore's) and performances are terrific. I'm undecided though as to whether or not it's a good thing that the epidemic and its conclusion are unexplained.