Sunday, December 27, 2020

"The Midnight Sky" is Boring and Forgettable

 

by John Zenoni



Slow · Boring · Forgettable · Unconvincing · Illogical · Depressing · Unrealistic · Plot Holes · Thought Provoking · Confusing
These are the top tags for the latest film entry on Netflix, directed by George Clooney, ‘The Midnight Sky’, and I have to say that these pretty much sum up the film. It really should be called ‘The Midnight Snooze.’ It started off with great promise and then just went nowhere. I will say that you can tell this film had a big budget based on the special effects. But as far as the pace of the film, and in fact the acting, it was slow and just never picked up the steam I was looking for.
George Clooney portrays Augustine, a scientist in the Arctic who tries to contact a crew of astronauts returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe. Basically, it appears that he's the only person left on earth until at one point he encounters a young girl who he tries to keep safe. So the entire film at that point is them trying to find a way to contact the astronauts and warn them to stay away. During this time, we see flashbacks of Augustine’s life. We also see George Clooney in character fighting the frigid cold, rescuing the little girl from danger, and talking about survival.
Even the astronauts leave a lot to be desired as far as character development. They are just plain boring. There is a moment in the film where they cut up and all seems well among them and a song is used that elicits happiness. Well this type of scene is so overplayed in films that you know something horrible is going to happen as everything is just ‘too good’ and sure enough that's what happened. I won’t go into details in case any one does wish to watch it.
There is a ‘big’ twist at the end but even that's nothing that impressed me too much. It leaves a big question about what will happen next but honestly it's not something I hope they try to answer with a follow up.
I like George Clooney as an actor and director but he's definitely not consistent as far as a filmmaker and I have to say he missed the mark with this one in my opinion.

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