Quick Reviews: Bird Box

Netflix drops a Horror Film on Christmas- why not?  I saw it that day- why not?  How is it?

In a Cold Open, Bullock is taking two kids down a river while they must wear blindfolds.  Huh?

In a Flashback, we see a pregnant Bullock- apparently without a partner- before a freak event occurs leading to the self-inflicted deaths of many.

It's hard *not* to see The Happening here, even if this may or may not have been written first.

Bullock ends up at a House with a bunch of random people (e.c. Night of the Living Dead) as they try to figure out the cause and survive.

Birds apparently react to the 'force'/creature(s?), hence the Title.

Back in the Present, the trip gets rougher as they near the Rapids.  They can either look (and die) or not look (and possibly die).

Can she make it to Shelter?  Can anyone else?

Does this constant jumping from past-to-present help the narrative instead of just SPOILing most of the Plot?  To find out, watch the Film.

A good, but somewhat-disappointing affair.  This should be great.  An Oscar-winning Actress in a showcase role.  A story about mankind trying to survive extinction.  The problem- well, there are many.  For one thing, the format here didn't work for me.  They should have told the tale from beginning to end.  Alternately, we could have just gotten the first part- in the House- as a longer feature with more content.  Alternately, we could have gotten just the latter part with more content.  What we ended up with was just a weird mix of the two.  Little is gained from the flashbacks as a whole that couldn't be gained in other ways.  Likewise, starting with the River and then going to the House gives much of the mystery away.  It kills all of the build-up, since you don't see any of them in that part.  It doesn't *mean* that they are dead per se- they just don't matter.  Here's my simple (and too late) pitch: make this a Mini-Series/Event Series.  You want your Cold Open?  Fine, but make it more vague.  Spend the time you need at the House in Part 1.  Spend the time you need outside of it in Part 2.  Done!  There are good moments, good bits of acting and the thing doesn't look cheap.  It just feels...familiar when it should be ground-breaking.  And yes, the comparisons are easy to see, especially when you run similar images one after another...

A decent enough Film with some unique, inspired moments.  The problem- the format is all wrong and there's not enough unique content.