SPOILER ALERT. The Impossible – Review

The Impossible – Review

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'The Impossible' is based on the real life events of a family, swept apart by natures most fierce forces. Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor) take their three sons on holiday to a remote area on the coastal region of Thailand. As December 26th 2004 arrives, the family go out to play around the pool, but minutes later, all the fun and games come to a complete stand still as they are caught up in one of the worst natural catastrophes to date. A huge, black wall of water sweeps Maria, Henry and family, as well as other holiday goers off their feet and into the abyss. 'The Impossible' follows the sheer madness which arises as the family attempt The Impossible task of finding one another. 

'The Impossible' conjured some very interesting and effective camera shots. There is a particular scene in which the camera focuses on Maria from a wide angle, to establish the type of danger that she is in. Followed by a close up of her struggling face, this together puts emphasis on the size of the catastrophe.  Another effective camera shot again is used on Maria; she is emerging out of the water and there is a somewhat angelic, glow about her. Therefore, suggesting a miracle may have occurred; she is alive. 

The story is straightforward and is told in an absolutely brilliant way, through powerful visuals and an emotive script. Of course, the biggest challenge of the film was making the tsunami look as realistic as possible. Though with the aid of top CGI artists; Antonio Lado (The Expendables 2 and The Others) and his team of FX artists, all came together to create arguably, one of the most realistic and believable natural disasters to ever appear on the cinema screen. The effects make the audience feel completely submerged into the tsunami itself, as though we are actually there; the camera bobs in and out of the water and the rendering of the waves fit nicely within the scene. 

Lucas (Tom Holland) makes his feature film debut in 'The Impossible' and his performance has surprised many people; a very good surprise, that is. Throughout the film we see him mature, from playing with his new toys; showing his child like behaviour, to saving his mother’s life. As he realises the severity of his mother's injuries, he tries to do everything he can in order to make her proud of him within what could be, her final hours.

Overall, this film sends you on an emotional roller-coaster. It is a brilliantly crafted master piece by J.A.Bayona and writer; Sergio G. Sanchez. I was immersed into an event, which thankfully I didn't actually experience, nor would I ever wish to experience. 'The Impossible' showed me as realistically as possible, what it would be like to be involved in such an horrific event, albeit one families experience out of 300,000 people who unfortunately aren't with us any longer. 

ASHLEY'S OPINION: One of the most outstanding pictures of the year! Go and see it people!