Midnight Special - movie review
Midnight Special
Plot: A father and son go on the run, pursued by the government and a cult drawn to the child's special powers.
Cast: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst
Director: Jeff Nichols
Rating: 12A
Runtime: 1hr 54 mins
Release Date: Friday 8th April 2016
Original science fiction films are a dime a dozen in today's society. Gone are the experimental risks taken to tell an obscure story that some may find discomforting. Instead, we see countless franchises take over such as Star Wars/Trek (that being said, I love both). The last real impactful original sci-fi movie was Interstellar and despite some hating this film, I found myself adoring its magnificence. Midnight Special has the potential to build from my admiration for Interstellar with a movie that never gave away anything in the trailers and looks self contained enough that it may contain some elements of realism. But now having seen Midnight Special, the trailer still gave away nothing but nor did the movie.
Perhaps the greatest selling point for Midnight Special are its top class performances. After his phenomenal turn in the tremendously underrated 99 Homes, Michael Shannon is fantastic as Roy, the father of a boy who begins to experience strange and abnormal powers. Shannon delivers a very subdued and toned down performance. He never really raises his voice in a temper even in the most tension filled situations and this calming attitude blended well with the film's melodic pace. The underlying issue I had with Shannon though, had nothing to do with his performance, but more with the fact that I didn't like his character. I understand that much of the film is focused on a father and son bond and how he would do anything to protect Alton but I found myself disliking many of the choices Roy made resulting in little emotional connection being formed. In contrast, Joel Edgerton completely dominates this film giving a masterclass in acting. I still think his performance in last year's The Gift was the best of his career, but this isn't too far behind. It seems that Edgerton gets better with every film. What I loved about Edgerton's character was that he was the one that I connected most with. Having no emotional attachment to Alton, Lucas is simply helping a friend and finds himself caught up amongst the strange powers and governmental attacks. Removing herself from her mediocre portrayal of Mary Jane Watson many years ago, Kirsten Dunst seems to have found her stride in the lesson known films and that is again apparent in Midnight Special. Dunst, much like Shannon, is very nuanced and calm in her performance but the mother aspect and connection towards her child was what I enjoyed most and in the final scenes, Dunst really shines. As for Alton himself, played by Jaeden Lieberher, he's good. Lieberher works well with the more experienced cast members and in a scene that he shares with Adam Driver, shows elements of greatness. What stops him reaching the levels of better child actors was that I thought he spent too much time screaming and then mumbling. Against the main group, trying to catch Rey is the fearsome, Kylo Ren. Wait, that's wrong! Trying to catch Alton, is an NSA official played by Adam Driver (doesn't have the same effect as my previous attempt). Driver doesn't let the stigma of Star Wars overshadow him here as he gives the second best performance of the film. He manages to blend his geekiness over this case with large amounts of subtilty, never overplaying dramatic scenes. And then finally, we have Sam Shepherd playing a religious cult leader. He's in it for about ten minutes and then just seems to disappear almost as if the film forgot about him entirely.
But performances only help make a film great. Many occasions there are films with great performances throughout but have a disappointing story running through (Bridge To Terabithia, Ocean's Twelve) or visa versa (Transformers, Speed). Midnight Special does something unique by presenting amazing performances with a mediocre story at heart. Some are going to look at this film and disregard the sci-fi components and focus on its deeper meanings of parenthood and allowing your child to grow. That isn't to say they aren't prominent because they definitely are (in some cases, too prominent bordering on preachy) but I found myself focusing on the story that was presented as it was. To begin with the positives, I loved the entire chase running throughout from the government authorities and the multiple conspiracies that are presented. I also think that the writing between characters was so realistic that it became a welcome breath of authenticity which seems strange within a film containing a boy that possesses superpowers. In spite of all of this positivity, Midnight Special did leave me annoyed. As I had said regarding the trailers, they reveal nothing significant about the movie at all, but that isn't because of clever marketing. It is due to the fact that many of the questions that I had going into the film are never answered. They reveal how Edgerton's character became involved and they do slightly hint towards how Alton got his powers but because the film begins with the characters already on the run rather than informing the audience of how it all began, we are thrown into the mix immediately and spend much of the runtime trying to find our bearings. Once the film had concluded I was still clueless as to; what the extent of Alton's powers are, how Alton and his family became involved with a religious cult, what does the light projected from Alton's hand show whoever looks into it? I think that if this film had less ambiguity just to make it more unique then I would have enjoyed it all the more. What I loved about Interstellar was that whilst it didn't give concrete answers for everything, there was enough explanation for other things that you could make you own assumptions. Midnight Special just confused me and never gave me answers. I would have even preferred some answers that I may not have necessarily agreed with rather than this ambiguous mess that just spoilt a good chance of wowing me.
If answers were revealed and the needless ambiguity removed, then Midnight Special may have been a fantastic movie. However, I'm happy settling with a fine science fiction film that isn't afraid to take risks giving great performances and managing to keep the hope of original sci-fi alive.
My Verdict: 6.5/10
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