When I first read that Stephen King was writing a sequel to The Shining, my instincts said it was probably a bad idea. Happily, sometimes my instincts suck. I thoroughly enjoyed Doctor Sleep. The book had me hooked with excellent characters and a small-scale narrative that actually had little to do with the events in The Shining, and certainly didn't pander to the reader in the way Hollywood loves to do (see South Park's "Memberberries" for more on that). I admire the way in which King handled this difficult sequel.
I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed this movie as well, and highly recommend it. It is mostly true to the book, the acting is great, and the pandering is confined to the ending (the least impressive part, more on that later).
The characters seemed as true to the book as should be expected. In particular, I thought Rose, Abra, Crow Daddy, and Danny Torrance were all bloody fantastic. Rose is an interesting character, presented in great yet mysterious detail in the book, and not easy to bring to life. But for me Rebecca Ferguson was flawless. Ewan McGregor makes for an excellent, likable-but-flawed Danny Torrance, and in one particular shot, I thought he channeled Jack Nicholson's acting very effectively, a startling moment.
The movie contains some beautiful and haunting shots. Two highlights for me were Rose flying through the sky, looking for steam, and a certain shot of Grandpa Flick savoring the steam he's just consumed, looking like something out of Bloodborne. (The only thing I really missed was Rose's one-toothed face! Wish they had included that.) The Baseball Boy's torture scene was incredibly gruesome and hard to watch - but that, of course, is precisely its intended effect.
The score is effective, frequently using the 'heartbeat' effect from Kubrick's The Shining, which produces an instant atmosphere of tension. Now, in my opinion, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a masterpiece of art, and in my experience, no modern film comes close to the quality of its shots, audio, or filmcraft, including this one. But that doesn't mean that Doctor Sleep's cinematography and soundtrack aren't excellent in their own right.
There are some interesting differences and similarities among the two books and films. Doctor Sleep (the movie) omits some interesting aspects of the book, such as Danny's sponsor and the love affair between Rose and Snakebite Andy. But that probably makes sense in terms of the screenplay. More crucially, in the films' universe, The Overlook was never destroyed, thus giving the movie adaptation of Doctor Sleep the opportunity to.... Go back to the hotel.
This takes us to the ending, which is the film's weakest part (the same is probably also true for the book). Going back to the Overlook and touring its key locations did nothing for me, and at that point I began to feel the movie's considerable length.
But at that point I was already a satisfied customer. I got to see an excellent novel brought to life in an excellent way. Go check it out.
I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed this movie as well, and highly recommend it. It is mostly true to the book, the acting is great, and the pandering is confined to the ending (the least impressive part, more on that later).
The characters seemed as true to the book as should be expected. In particular, I thought Rose, Abra, Crow Daddy, and Danny Torrance were all bloody fantastic. Rose is an interesting character, presented in great yet mysterious detail in the book, and not easy to bring to life. But for me Rebecca Ferguson was flawless. Ewan McGregor makes for an excellent, likable-but-flawed Danny Torrance, and in one particular shot, I thought he channeled Jack Nicholson's acting very effectively, a startling moment.
The movie contains some beautiful and haunting shots. Two highlights for me were Rose flying through the sky, looking for steam, and a certain shot of Grandpa Flick savoring the steam he's just consumed, looking like something out of Bloodborne. (The only thing I really missed was Rose's one-toothed face! Wish they had included that.) The Baseball Boy's torture scene was incredibly gruesome and hard to watch - but that, of course, is precisely its intended effect.
The score is effective, frequently using the 'heartbeat' effect from Kubrick's The Shining, which produces an instant atmosphere of tension. Now, in my opinion, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a masterpiece of art, and in my experience, no modern film comes close to the quality of its shots, audio, or filmcraft, including this one. But that doesn't mean that Doctor Sleep's cinematography and soundtrack aren't excellent in their own right.
There are some interesting differences and similarities among the two books and films. Doctor Sleep (the movie) omits some interesting aspects of the book, such as Danny's sponsor and the love affair between Rose and Snakebite Andy. But that probably makes sense in terms of the screenplay. More crucially, in the films' universe, The Overlook was never destroyed, thus giving the movie adaptation of Doctor Sleep the opportunity to.... Go back to the hotel.
This takes us to the ending, which is the film's weakest part (the same is probably also true for the book). Going back to the Overlook and touring its key locations did nothing for me, and at that point I began to feel the movie's considerable length.
But at that point I was already a satisfied customer. I got to see an excellent novel brought to life in an excellent way. Go check it out.