The Fog (2005)★★★☆☆

As I mentioned yesterday, this movie was kind of boring. Now that I’ve seen the original, I understand some of the choices that were made for this remake…and I still think it’s kind of boring. I guess that’s what you get when the director of Blank Check (yes, that Blank Check) decides to do a PG-13 remake of a John Carpenter film.

But it wasn’t the worst movie I’ve watched. The acting was fine, and they definitely went for gold in the music department – the composer, Graeme Revell, did the music for several movies I really liked (Gossip, The Craft, Idle Hands) and one movie I’ve named as my favorite on more than one occasion, The Saint. And he does a great job in this one! The music was the least boring part about the movie.

This movie stayed mostly true to the original, so it’s a bit weird that it bored me so much. The pacing was about the same in both, so why didn’t the original bore me more? I think it’s because I believed the group chemistry between all the characters. And I liked the characters more in the original. Tom Welling is just fine as an actor – I genuinely liked most of Smallville – and so is Maggie Grace, but they just weren’t sympathetic characters in this remake.

Selma Blair, though. I’ve always liked Selma Blair, though I wasn’t sure how I felt about her part in the movie until I saw the original. And you know what? Spot on. Of all the casting decisions made for this one, Selma Blair is by far the best.

Oh, and the plot twist for this remake that wasn’t in the original? Neat idea, but boring execution. That’s not all bad though – this movie would be great to watch if you wanted to fall asleep on an airplane. For other scenarios, you’re better off watching the original instead.