Stephen King's take on the zombie apocalypse subgenre should have been made into a TV miniseries, because with a few notable exceptions, I find Stephen King's work translates better on television than it does on the big screen. Particularly the miniseries format works best with both versions of Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Stand, Desperation, Rose Red, and Storm Of The Century being among his best. Even as was the case with Rose Red and Storm Of The Century, when Stephen King writes a teleplay based on an original idea for the screen it usually turns out better than many of his feature film adaptations.
Stephen King was co-screenwriter for this big screen version of his book, Cell, which stars John Cusak and Samuek L. Jackson, but this film wrapped years ago and evidently Cusak tweeted both he and King were cut out of the creative loop at some point and he did not know anything else. Well whoever cut King out, should have had more respect for the man's source material because while it may not be his best book, it was far more enjoyable than this film.
Oddly, Stephen King changed the ending from what happens in the book to a new ending that is frustratingly awful and robs any meaning of Cusak's character's quest. The movie is more lifeless than the infected of this film, which is not so much reanimated corpses, but rather people who have had their brain wiped and reprogrammed presumably into rage filled killers sort of like the ones in 28 Days Later, but not nearly as well executed. If you want to see a better film that deals with similar material, check out The Signal (2007). Cell is playing in limited theatrical release in Manhattan and presumably elsewhere.
(C) Copyright 2016 By Mark A. Rivera.
All Rights Reserved.
