The Stand

A poor, unfaithful adaptation, turning some scenes the other way round to fit into these multi-cultural, irreligious times. The unclearly structured storytelling kills any chance of identifying with the separate characters and their interactions can make sense only to those who read the book. But if you have, you will be disgusted at how lamely done the introduction is. The least interesting part in Boulder is given the most space. And all that’s left of the Trashcan Man, probably the most intriguing character in the book, is a one-dimensional caricature. Some of the characters are absolutely superfluous, because the scenes where they do anything useful have been cut. The last episode is just a space filler; the things that happen in it aren’t in the book at all. A couple of things here are fine, but overall this is a big disappointment. P.S.: Notice that nobody in this movie is wearing either a facemask or a respirator. (27.02.2021)

The way the makers fooled around with the chronology of the storytelling makes viewing more difficult. And the chaotically layered scenes give away too much of the future. And also, it seems like the central character is Harold, and not Stu. We’ll see how things pan out. (14.01.2021)