There are a lot of things I would tell my younger self to have done differently, but one for sure is to have read more Stephen King novels. Actually, any of his novels.
Perhaps the main culprit was that I was imitated by the page count of the books (especially IT). You can disagree with him on Twitter all you want, but your just being silly if you think he is a bad writer (and this coming from someone who has yet to read one of his books).
It is indeed very interesting to know that the first book he wrote (under the name Richard Bachman), The Long Walk (though not published until after the release of his second book, Carrie), has never made it to the big screen until now. The result, I feel, is too little too late.
That is not to say the film is badly made, but it is just too predictable of a premise. It basically plays like The Hunger Games on the open road (the film is directed by Francis Lawrence, who was at the helm of all the sequels to The Hunger Games). In a dystopian future, there is an annual event where 50 young men (in the book it was 100) are chose to walk as long as they can. If you stop for too long, slow down (less than 3 MPH) or go off the road, they get their “ticket” (i.e., killed). The last one standing gets prize money plus a wish for anything they want.
The problem is that once you know the rules, you already know who is most likely not going to make it. We are already following Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman, who is really starting to become more than just the son of the late great actor Philip Seymour Hoffman) as he is dropped off by his mom (Judy Greer, who has yet to not be reliable as a screen presence). He meets and quickly befriends Peter (David Jonnson) before the walk begins as orchestrated by the sadistic Major (Mark Hamill, who I legit did not realize was in this until the credits as he hides behind sunglasses that make him reminiscent of “the boss” from Cool Hand Luke.
The film does have a stacked cast of strong young acting talent. These include Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang (see in the most recent Karate Kid film), Garret Wareing, and Roman Griffin Davis (JoJo Rabbit). Again, the problem is knowing that their fates won’t be entirely kind, to say the least.
I do at least give the filmmakers credit for making sure the violence is not sugar coated. We see the murders of these young men as gruesome as they can be. That plus language used throughout is more than enough for parents to respect the R rating.
There is a moment when Peter is telling Ray about how doing what is right is never easy. That is a lesson that is not always communicated these days, so I respect the film for that.
Yet even with authentic visuals and talented actors doing what they can, the predictable premise made me realize I would not walk very far to see the film again.
Overall:
Nothing else to say 