The Long Walk

Man, that was heavy. I had to sit in silence for a bit just to recover.

This has got to be one of the biggest surprises of the year so far for me ,tbh I didn’t look into the film before watching it so I went in mostly blind I seen the trailer in the cinema and it looked pretty decent but it wasn’t on my watchlist until my partner decided to watch it today so glad I did now thought it was absolutely brilliant.

Stupid me thinking that the plot was them just walking haha but damm we got so much more that in some ways a hunger games like theme to it you walk until there’s only one left standing,well my friend told me who directed this and I’m surprised how dull I actually am it literally says the hunger games director at the end aswell 😅.

This should be such a boring film just seeing people walk but the immense tension and atmosphere between the characters with the brutal nature really keeps you on the edge of your seat my eyes were glued to the screen not ashamed to say I had tears in my eyes at one point.

The group of characters done a fantastic job at making you route for them especially the self named 4 Musketeers the main lead Garraty #47 very impressed with him and loved his friendship with McVries #23 and the rest of the group, Baker #6 and Olson #46 he was definitely one of my favourites the actor was fantastic in karate kid Legends aswell promising young career ahead of him, the way this film builds the group’s friendship up so quickly is so impressive showing how important friendship is just seeing them just keeping each other going was heartwarming.

The only negative I would give the film is that I wish it had more of a build up to the walk to see what the world is like and why they would just volunteer for the walk , I know the film explains some reasons why they do but I there should be more backstory I think personally.

Once again so happy I watched this wouldn’t mind giving it another watch soon because for now I’m giving it a 9/10 but honestly could eventually be a 10 just for the pure emotion it gives you recommend this to anyone.

Despite the overwhelmingly depressive nature of the circumstances these boys have got themselves into, The Long Walk still manages to craft a beautiful tale of brotherhood. The entire movie is like looking at the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. It's sad and depressing, but not hopeless. To see such incredible displays of the indomitable human spirit is so powerful that I brought me to tears.

This isn't a good movie in the entertaining sense, but a holy crap is it an experience worth seeing.

I absolutely did not expect to be as emotionally invested as I was in this. I thought this was excellent on all fronts. I’ve never read a single Stephen King novel but have enjoyed a lot of his movies. This isn’t something that I would say is very enjoyable but it was so incredibly well made. I became so invested in several of the characters. They developed the characters and created excellent relationships as the walk went on. The cast that they put together was incredible. I loved Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson and Ben Wang. This was a lot more graphic than I expected it would be. I like how extremely serious, unforgiving and depressing this was. I miss watching movies that captivate and make me feel so much emotion when I’m watching it. It was very well paced and made you feel like you were on the long walk with these young men. I thought the movie looked like it should. I could feel the dread and ugliness while I sat there. It had some incredibly gorgeous shots. My only gripes would be that I would’ve liked a bit more background on how this contest came to be. But that’s a very small complaint, everything else I absolutely loved about this.

* AMC Crestwood 18

The Long Walk starts off right away, no lengthy preamble, and I was emotionally invested without even realizing it. Very quickly, it becomes clear how visceral and bleak the movie is going to be. If you know the premise or have watched the trailers, it might feel like the movie is going to be relatively predictable. It's a movie about people walking and talking, which can seem boring. However, those moments let the humanity shine through. The relationship between the characters and the way they bond despite all the terrible stuff around them becomes the beating heart of the movie. Make no mistake though, this is a dark and raw movie. The director Francis Lawrence is known as the guy who directed The Hunger Games, and you can see flashes of that in the dystopian framing. This movie doesn't shy away from the violence, and the sound design and score really help heighten the punctuated violence. JT Mollner is really starting to make a name for himself with Strange Darlings and now this. All of this only works because of the immense acting talent on display here though. Cooper Hoffman is following in his father's footsteps, but the standout is clearly David Jonsson who is phenomenal. He's a future Oscar winner for sure. I was blown away by him.

Unfortunately, all of this builds towards an ending that feels anticlimactic. It is coming off some emotionally charged scenes, but I just don't think it really comes together in a thematically consistent way. I actually think it contradicts the message it has built up with the rest of the movie. I think we needed something a bit more to really flesh it out. This is trademark Stephen King unfortunately (though it significantly changes and improves an even worse book ending), but it made what should have been a haymaker of an ending land with significantly less impact.

**Things I liked about the movie:**

**++** The score! The score has lots atmospheric tracks which really elevate the film. Curley is my favourite.
**++** The way the characters are written and performed is great. Ray and Peter's friendship is maybe the sweetest I can recall. I want to know more about basically all the characters!!
**++**It's quite grim in places and the manner that some contestants exit the race is suitably unpleasant.

**Things I didn't like about the movie**
**--** I think the setting let the movie down. America is described as a dystopia where everyone signs up for The Walk because life is so tough out there in dystopia America. But the shots you're shown as they walk through... well, it seemed _okay_. Maybe this is intentional. Maybe the director is saying our present circumstance is a dystopia.
**--** The ending was slightly unsatisfying and I would have liked more of a definite resolution. Is Peter hallucinating walking away? Did he get away with killing the general?

So I guess I wanna say go see it! It is easily the best movie about walking I have ever seen. But seriously, the characters and performances are awesome!

p.s. I had no idea the general was Mark Hamil, but now that I've found it out I don't see how I didn't realise ha.

That was a beautiful, somber and harrowing movie about the systems of oppression, friendship, hope and capacity for growth.

Took me a while to get into this because at first I found every character to be extremely unlikable. I softened on some of them by the end and found myself having a good time.

After I finished the movie, I just had to take a walk.

I wasn't expecting to become so emotionally invested in these characters. A very bleak and depressing film. I left the theater with the heaviest feeling. I'm not sure I like the ending.

So much of this film hinges on the bond between Ray and Pete, and both actors are brilliant and had great chemistry together. I look forward to seeing them in future projects.