Bird Box

Based on a (far superior) book by Josh Malerman, Bird Box follows Sandra Bullock’s Malorie as she attempts to keep her two children safe in the wake of an ongoing catastrophe that’s affected the entire planet. Filmmaker Susanne Bier, working from a screenplay by Eric Heisserer, delivers a hit-and-miss adaptation that’s rarely as gripping or suspenseful as one might’ve hoped, as the movie, which runs a palpably overlong 124 minutes, suffers from a decidedly erratic narrative that’s compounded by a needlessly prolonged and somewhat anticlimactic third act. There are nevertheless a number of elements contained within Bird Box that absolutely work, with the performances, Bullock’s especially, certainly ranking high on the film’s list of overtly positive attributes and it doesn’t hurt, either, that Bier has suffused the proceedings with a handful of electrifying moments (including society’s initial breakdown and a sudden appearance by Tom Hollander’s mysterious stranger). But there’s ultimately not a whole lot of momentum here; the time-shifting structure ensures that the picture rarely achieves an expected sense of propulsiveness, while the decision to adjust certain elements from the source material ultimately proves somewhat disastrous (eg the exceedingly silly choice to make the threat vocal) – which, in the end, confirms Bird Box‘s place as a hopelessly uneven endeavor that could (and should) have been much better.

**1/2 out of ****

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