Director: Andy Muschietti.
Mama is old wine in new bottle. It starts off promisingly setting up an intrigue right up front but then falls into the category of those “predictable ghost movies”. Scary is the last word you would use to describe Mama.
Victoria(Megan Charpentier) and Lilly(Isabelle Nelisse) are brought into their Uncle Luke’s (Nikolaj) house after being left alone in the forest for 5 years. Annabelle (Jessica Chastain) plays Luke’s love interest. Luke and Annabelle find out that they were not really alone while in the forest.
What follows is mostly a Jessica Chastain show which she plays out beautifully. Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nelisse as two kids trying to get back into normal life socially and emotionally do a fantastic job for someone their age. Nikolaj Coster who has a limited role does what is necessary.
Cinematography and lighting which are crucial for any ghost movie are really nice but that effort is compromised by the very average and trite screenplay which is loaded with clichéd sequences. The supposedly scary scenes evoke sighs rather than shrieks and you see what is coming way too early for it to have any effect.
Director (though he is the co-writer) has done a decent job with the limited content available in the screenplay. Good BGM provides a decent feel to the otherwise dull movie.
I am giving a 2.25/5 for Mama. It had so much potential but sadly you get tired expecting Mama to scare you.
IMDB Link - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2023587/?ref_=sr_1
Rating Scale (Out of 5)
Less than 2 - Unwatchable.
2 to 2.25 - Below average.
2.5 to 2.75 - Average.
3 to 3.25 - Good.
3.5 to 3.75 - Great.
4 to 4.25 - Exceptional.
4.5 and above - Extraordinary.
