Jonathan's Universe

So last night, I decided to go see Blindness. This guy at work said it was going to be good. … I didn’t like it. And I’ll tell you right now not go to the theaters to see it. If anything at all, wait for it to come to Netflix so you don’t spend money specifically on it.

I will say though, the movie has a very interesting premise. What if blindness was an infectious disease? Well of course, the government would resort to containment and quarantine those who are infected. Lock them up in wards. Heavily ration their food, put armed guards all around the building, et cetera. Though, the clear up any misconceptions, this is not any type of zombie or undead film. It’s an “everyone is turning blind, our government is breaking down” film.

The infected storage area is comprised of wards that fit maybe 30 some people per ward. For the most part, we follow ward number #1, which contains the characters that were identified early in the film. The other wards fill up with blind people (obviously) but we don’t learn too much about the others, except ward #3. There’s one trick though. In ward #1, there’s a woman who can see, but no one knows (save for her husband). This woman sets up a guideline system so that the blind can navigate from ward to ward. Pretty soon, the compound goes from looking like your typical medical facility (bare, cold, white), to a disgusting dumb where people defecate and relieve themselves on the floor. It truly is gross, but I guess that is probably what would happen.

Pretty soon, Ward #3 takes over the compound. Some how they acquire a gun (seriously wtf?) and the “king of ward #3″ becomes the “king” of everyone. So Ward #3 takes all the food and says that everyone must pay to be fed. Don’t have any money? Oh that’s okay, in their infinite benevolance, they will allow you to pay with your jewelry and the little valuables you might have on you. Oh what about the next day? No more valuables? That’s okay, they’ll take your women.

Yes, that’s right. One of the most disturbing scenes in the entire movie is a brutal mass-rape scene. Actually there’s two of the scenes. It’s really unsettling to watch. You don’t see anything really, you just see bright white silohuettes and such, but it’s still awful.

Anyway, moving away from the story teller mode to the actual review mode, the movie is quite boring. It takes awhile to get in any kind of momentum. And it’s ending is just as worse. It leaves the viewer without the typical movie-ending satisfaction. The viewer leaves the theater no different than when they entered the theater. The story doesn’t keep you attached the story, it’s not a gripping or enticing story; well I suppose that mass rape scene might induce your stomach to tighten and turn.. but that’s an entirely different kind of grip.

In the end, I felt this movie to be a bit of a waste of time. Too bad, though. The idea and premise has a very interesting concept. Also, with a cast like Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Danny Glover, you can’t go wrong… well I guess maybe they just did. Oh well.

Oh and they never named any of their characters: Doctor, Doctor’s Wife, man with eye patch, etc.

Recommendation: Netflix it.

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