The Impossible

I am really glad that I took a couple days to write this review and let The Impossible sink in. It experienced a limited release last December (seriously what is the point of limited releases besides annoying people who want to see the movie) and now has a slightly "wider" release to places other than New York and LA.

You may or may not have heard of it, but essentially it is a story of a family that survived the December 2004 tsunami that killed over 230,000 thousand people. Just think about that for a second...that's an insane number and one that I feel as if many of us have forgotten, especially among all the mass shootings and other earthquakes around the world. 230,000 casualties is about the same as 77 September 11th attacks, 2.7 Haitian earthquakes, and 19,167 Aurora theater shootings. I give you these numbers not to take away from any of the other tragedies...they are all terrible. But rather I give these numbers to show just how insane the 2004 tsunami was, despite the fact that we are half the world away. 230,000 people lost is immensely sad even 8 years later. So how does a movie even begin to capture the gravity of this situation and not come across as a cash-cow? 

I believe that the answer to that question is The Impossible.

By focusing on the story of a single family, it allows us to connect to what they are going through and makes the movie immensely heavy. Never have I been so affected by seeing dead bodies in a movie. I mean for God's sake, the bodies pile up in practically any action movie that I watch. But with The Impossible, it was different. You slowly start to realize that the mayhem the movie creates isn't "Hollywood", it's something that really happened...and it took the lives of 230,000 in almost an instant. Whereas so many other movies desensitize us, The Impossible made me more sensitive.

Can you even begin to fathom?

Painful to watch

As I stated earlier, The Impossible follows a family (British in the movie, Spanish in real life I believe) and the events that they have to go through in their efforts to find each other again. After the tsunami, the family is split up into the mother, Maria (Naomi Watts) and the eldest son, Lucas (Tom Holland) as one half and the Dad, Henry (Ewan McGregor) and the younger sons, Thomas and Simon as the other half. I will flat out say it: Watts' and Hollands' portion is leagues more intense than the father and other sons' and is really where the movie begins to affect you deeply. This movie does not apologize for what happened with the tsunami; it wants to put you in the middle of it. And it does such a scary job at it that I was shrinking in my seat. At times, the screen is completely black. All you hear is water gushing around you, objects being rushed past you...and I truly felt anxious, as if I was drowning. It was uncomfortable to say the least but you start to get the idea as to what some of these people went through, and even worse, how some of them died. There are even times where we see Watts' character tumbling underwater getting hit and hit and hit and hit and hit by debris. It's excruciatingly painful to watch and I practically tear up just writing about it now. It makes me sick to my stomach, but the movie is better for it because it makes the audience realize just how truly terrible this event was. The tsunami scenes are acts of genius, and I mean that in the most respectful way to the victims. 

Just relentless near the beginning, the tsunami scenes almost move
you to tears on their own

How would you handle having to
save your mother? How would you handle
your son having to save you?

As powerful as the tsunami scenes were, they only take up a small portion of the movie and the remainder is about survival for Maria and Lucas and about finding them for Henry, Thomas, and Simon. But yet the remainder of the film is just as powerful, if not more so. And the reason for this is the performances. The little boys who play Thomas and Simon do well, especially considering their age. And Ewan McGregor is good as always with several standout scenes. But this movie belongs to Watts and Holland (who plays the oldest son Lucas). Watts is severely injured in the tsunami and Holland must take care of her and it's heartbreaking. As a child, I can't imagine gathering the strength that he did to help his mom and I'm sure that as a parent you couldn't imagine how hard it would be to have to have your child go through it. Honestly, Holland gives such an incredible performance that I am 100% positive that he will be sticking around as an actor. And Watts is tragic. You just want to help her, but you know you cant, and it kills you. Much like the tsunami scenes, the emotionally charged scenes are relentless and don't hold anything back. 

The Impossible is a movie that I cannot recommend to everyone. It really might be too much for some people. I don't often cry in movies. I am a desensitized young adult who watches violent movies and TV shows and plays violent videogames. But as I sit here 2 days later writing this review, I am still shaken up...and I still have tears welling up in my eyes. A lot has been said by other critics about The Impossible; that it is disrespectful and exploits the tsunami victims by focusing on only one, white family. And to that I have only one thing to say and probably the only line that you need to read in the entire review:

The Impossible is emotional, hard to watch, violent, sad, realistic, and tragic. But I'll be damned if it didn't make me absolutely and completely aware (for possibly the first time in my life) of what happened that December in the Indian Ocean. 

If you need a reason to go see The Impossible, I have 230,000 of them.

Pros:

• Performances by Watts and Holland stand out because they are absolutely gut wrenching. Everyone else does a great job too and you are extremely connected to all of the characters. Every time they cry, you start to get the "choke" in your throat
• For better or worse, the tsunami scenes are excruciatingly re-created. They are so uncomfortable to watch and practically had me on the verge of tears by themselves, but the movie knows when enough is enough and uses them not to make its run time more exciting, but to attempt to make you feel the pain and complete horror that so many people felt that day
• Production values are good all around. The script is good, the story moves forward well, and the CG is scary good when it is used
• Despite the fact that it is about a single family, the film consistently reminds you that there were other people affected and killed. Also does a great job of showing how fantastic the efforts of the island locals to save people and set up facilities were
• Not since United 93 have I completely grasped a tragedy so clearly and been so affected by it. It's amazing that despite the fact that movies are always criticized for being too violent, they can also make us realize just how much a human life is worth

Cons:

• The film gets a little over dramatic at times, particularly near the end
• Watts' and Holland's portion of the movie is far more powerful for most of the time. I'm not sure how you would have made McGregor's equally as powerful, but it seems like his events should have maybe gotten more screen time? Like I said, not entirely sure
• No unique original score, but at the same time I hate to think about how much of a wreck I would have been with a fantastic one...

Rath's Review Score: 9.5/10