jds1040

Attended the first commercial screening of The Orphanage (El Orfanato) last night at FrightFest, London.

Juan Antonio Bayona and writer Sergio G. Sanchez have delivered something really special for their first feature.

I have never jumped out of my seat like I did last night, nor my partner, nor most of the audience it seemed. Apart from the terrific scares, there are solid performances from the whole cast, stunning cinematography, and the editing is flawless. If I had to criticise one element, it is that the music swells just a little too much a couple of times, but it is a good score nonetheless.

See this one at the cinema.

I have no idea how much Paul Haggis contributed to the final product, but it is clear that since Messrs Wade and Purvis started providing the 'scripts' for the Bond films, something has gone awry. Daniel Craig is excellent, Martin Campbell shows a real flair in his second Bond outing, and the (mainly Czech) crew have done a tremendous job, But the script is simply DIRE. (I paraphrase) - example - the line '...they are demanding your head on a plate' - the next line ought to be '..I might just give it to them' - but instead is transformed into '..I might just feed you to them (sic). The screenplay is filled with squandered opportunities for witty exchange, finally degenerating into outright vulgarity (the scene in the hospital gardens for example). The pacing is completely off - the film is front-loaded with two length action sequences - then nearly an hour of very little. Worst of all - there is no climax to the story - 'twists' (such that there are are) revealed well before the end, and the obvious attempts to pull off a Batman Begins with the closing scene fell completely flat at the screening I attended at the Odeon Leicester Square this afternoon. I am genuinely surprised at some of the critics' high praise for this one - I enjoyed Die Another Day more than this - and my favourites are Goldfinger and OHMSS.