Wednesday, February 13, 2013 THE KERSHAW NEWS-ERA
Despite strong start, Mama quickly unravels
By Joseph Garris Jr
Entertainment Editor
For at least the first half of Mama,
the material is pretty interesting and
the chills and creeps are in full force.
Then it all takes a nosedive, settling
for reused scares and an unsatisfying
ending.
The back story has a nice hook for
audiences. On top of that, Director
Andres Muschietti seems to have a
flair for visual terror with more than
a handful of uneasy moments early
on. Still, these strengths are short
lived and eventually forgotten as the
story weakens.
The movie opens with a man having just shot and killed his wife and a
pair of co-workers. He takes off with
his two little girls Victoria (Megan
Charpentier) and Lilly (Isabelle
Nelisse) in the car. They speed down
a mountain road in the snow until the
man loses control of his car and they
slide down the side of the mountain.
The camera catches up with the
three as they trudge through the snow
into the woods looking for shelter.
They find an old cabin and enter, seeking warmth. Shortly after, it appears
as if the man is planning to kill his
daughters before taking his own life
when a creature snatches him up and
kills him.
The girls are left there alone to be
cared for by this mysterious figure.
The story picks back up five years
later and the girls are discovered. They
are brought to a psychiatric facility
where their strange behavior is studied
by Dr. Dreyfus (Daniel Kash). They
are later released to their uncle, Lucas
(Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain).
Annabel isn’t in any hurry to have
kids and therefore, doesn’t warm up to
the idea immediately. As if that isn’t
bad enough, it appears the girls have
brought along their mysterious ghost
mother to watch after them.
Mama has the creepy factor that’s
necessary to keep audiences on edge.
It begins and ends with the little girls,
Mama
DIRECTOR:
Andres Muschietti
CAST: Jessica Chastain,
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau,
Megan Charpentier, Isabelle
Nelisse
RUNNING TIME:
1 hour, 40 mins
RATING: PG-13 for violence
and terror, some disturbing
images and thematic elements
GRADE: C+
WHATTA YA
KNOW?
1) What was the original title of The Blob?
A. The Lump
B. The Glob
C. The Spheroid
D. The Creature
2) What horror movie features a serial killer wearing a
mask inspired by an Edvard Munch painting?
A. Halloween
B. The Man in the Black Suit
C. Scream
D. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
3) What horror film caused some theatres to suggest
that patrons prone to motion sickness sit in the aisle
seats?
A. Vertigo
especially Lilly, whom viewers never
grow to trust fully. Crawling around
on the floor like a spider just looks
scary and her disheveled looks makes
her character even more frightening.
The scares feel very fresh at first.
But as the film labors through the
overly long runtime, it begins to
resort to tired jump scares to keep
audiences from growing bored.
Mama doesn’t come without some
mild bright spots here and there. Both
Charpentier and Nelisse played their
parts effectively. Lilly has her share
of eerie moments while Victoria is
quicker to open up to her new situation and gets more of the screen time.
Chastain is strong in the lead with
significant character growth. She has
the acting chops to play a role that
requires plenty of serious moments
balanced by tense fear and anxiety.
Viewers will connect with her as they
experience the change from apprehensive guardian to loving mother figure.
It all comes totally unraveled in an
ending that doesn’t make a whole lot
of sense. The final 15 minutes is
entirely too rushed and the intent of
it, whatever that may be, doesn’t satisfy. The tension that had existed
early in the movie is completely
missing in the final moments when
it was needed most.
Mama works briefly but slowly
and painfully begins to unravel in a
poorly paced film that isn’t nearly as
fresh as it was promised.
Horror Mixture
M O V IE
T RIVIA
B. Mimic
C. Friday the 13th, Part III: 3D
D. The Blair Witch Project
4) What child actress was originally offered the role of
Regan MacNeill in "The Exorcist"?
A: Carrie Fisher
B. Melissa Gilbert
C. Dana Plato
D. Lisa Bonet
5) What classic horror movie was originally titled The
Babysitter Murders?
A. Rosemary's Baby
B. Scream
C. Halloween
D. A Nightmare on Elm Street
Safe Haven
Thursday - 7:00
Friday - 7:00, 9:10
Haunted House
Thursday - 7:00
Safe Haven
Thursday - 7:00
Texas Chainsaw
Wednesday - 7:00
Silver Linings Playbook
Wednesday, Thursday - 7:00
Identity Thief
(1:50), 4:20, 7:05, 7:35, 9:40, 10:10
Mama
(2:25), 4:40, 7:25, 9:50
Parker
(2:15), 5:00, 7:40, 10:20
Side Effects
(2:20), 4:55, 7:30, 10:05
Silver Linings Playbook
(2:30), 5:05, 7:45, 10:25
Warm Bodies
(1:35), (2:05), 4:25, 7:00, 8:00, 9:25
Page 9
Answers: 1.B, 2.C, 3.D, 4.C, 5.C