Mama

[The Sparrow]

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Directed by Andrés Muschietti
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier

Plot: Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years.... but how alone were they?

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[SamKelpie]

I cannot wait to see this one!

[kevinknapman]

Saw this last week. It's an effectively creepy film that works best when it keeps the ghostly figure of Mama in the background and limited to a series of quick glimpses. Sadly the more you find out about her and the more she appears on-screen in all her dodgy CGI glory, the less effective the film becomes. Still worth seeing for some enjoyable jump scares and a disturbing atmosphere though and Jessica Chastain & Nikolaj Coster-Waldau are both excellent (even if the latter is a little underused). Director Andy Muschietti shows promise even if it doesn't entirely work.

My full review - http://www.thefilmpilgrim.com/reviews/m ... ation/9697

[brettie]

looks sh*t..

[valda]

Shepherds Bush was very entertaining
we got there just in time, cinema was packed so we ended up 3 rows from the front after a couple of people moved their bags and made room for us. So there's these two older Jamacian ladies, rocking the row, and screaming out loud at the jumpy bits . When not jumping, we got 'don't go in don't go in'. 'that's not Victoria' etc, spoken very loudly.

I still got a bit jumpy, but once the CGI kicked in, it all lost momentum. 6/10 for the scary little kid and the lovely 'Jamie Lanister'

[eumenides]

Saw this at a pretty fully Southampton Odeon and got to sit and have a very pleasant pre-film chinwag with big_bad_wolf. Well, it was an above average film but probably could have gotten away with a lower certificate. As for Mama, there were shades of Cousin It though there were a few jumpy bits which certainly worked on the children to my left who were cowering from when the beginning titles started rolling.
Good looking leads and creepy children, it's a 7/10.

[stuartboy]

Rather good!

Liked by me.

Plenty of stock jump out scenes and BOO!s but still an engaging story with enough originality to keep one's interest.
I found the cgi a bit jumpy and off-puting, but I've only just realised why that actually worked so well - it is the same thing that makes you jump or cringe when you see a spider, go towards it and it moves in that horrid jerky rapid movement. If spiders moved like elepahants they'd lose their credibility in the shreik stakes!

Quite a few twists and an unexpected ending makes this well worth a watch.

An easy 8/10 from me.

[biggins]

I arrived at the Omni, Edinburgh at 5 to 6 and it was very busy then. They seemed to be going in earlier and earlier to get a good seat. Saw you down near the front as usual Stuartboy but didn't get to speak to you. Saw Alythonian and spoke to her on the way out.


The film was much better than I expected with a few scary moments especially when Mama first appears behind Annabelle. The little girl, Lily, was creepy. An unexpected twist at the end made it better than average. 7/10

[Diane65]

Rather good!

Liked by me.

Plenty of stock jump out scenes and BOO!s but still an engaging story with enough originality to keep one's interest.
I found the cgi a bit jumpy and off-puting, but I've only just realised why that actually worked so well - it is the same thing that makes you jump or cringe when you see a spider, go towards it and it moves in that horrid jerky rapid movement. If spiders moved like elepahants they'd lose their credibility in the shreik stakes!

Quite a few twists and an unexpected ending makes this well worth a watch.

An easy 8/10 from me.

And by me - I was a bit jumpy on my own on the front row as it was 100% full at the Trafford Centre. I'm a wuss but still enjoyed it but hasten to add I won't be looking in my wardrobe tonight . 8/10 I can pick up spiders with my hands so do have braveness qualities.

[raj101]

nice scary bits from Mama, though the kids were too cute to be scary. There some silliness to the point of it being funny, you know the kind where characters in the movie do incredibly stupid things that you'd never do in those circumstances. Good work from the kid actors, though I am not altogether happy with young children being involved in such movies.

This was compelling until the final act which felt complacent in its CGI-ed compromise. We were left not really knowing Mama's motivation properly as far as I could read it, and that wasnt the only thing that was unexplained, no more said for spoilers.

All in all it kept me rivetted to my seat up till then. The journey was much more satisfying than the end destination in this case.


I should apologise for finding horror movies like this very funny at times (and conversely, teen movies a la Miley Cyrus type, graphically horrific).