This is a more personal movie from director Peter Jackson, it’s more about characters than it is about big action and spectacle. That being said he’s still using visual effects heavily, in this case to create the world in-between where Susie is stuck after she is murdered.
I must admit I was more interested in what happens in the real world than the purgatory world. The fantasy world just didn’t seem to matter, Susie is stuck there but what else does she do? She sees her family deal with her death, just like we do, and that’s what I’m interested. How they deal with the loss of Susie.
The mother can’t deal with it, so she goes away. That’s a bit of a wasted character I thought. But I think the father was better developed, he does think about her and we see more of what he feels.
But the best performance is Stanley Tucci, playing the murderer. That was the part that I felt more connected to, because I really wanted him to get caught.
There are some questions that bothered me a little, like why wouldn’t the killer get rid of the body earlier? How come the body didn’t smell?
Half of this movie really didn’t interest me at all, and I think the visual effects didn’t enhance this story at all. I hope Jackson will be able to go back to his roots even further and find a good balance between a small personal story and the way effects can enhance that. A good example would be Heavenly Creatures.
Rating: 2.5 Stars