5 Reasons Why Dreamcatcher Was Good

I remember watching Dreamcatcher in the theater with my dad when it came out and thinking this is the best movie ever… but since then, I don’t think that’s true any more but it’s not as bad as people are saying it is. I decided to write a short little post giving 5 reasons why Dreamcatcher is not the worst Stephen King adaptation ever. I actually enjoy this review and there were points that scared me but I guess that’s the reason why most people hated this movie is because of the bad acting and the fact that it was too short for such a long book. So, let’s get counting:

These are not in any specific order.

1. For argument’s sake, lets say the acting in this movie was good, now lets look at the dialogue… yes, if not for the acting the dialogue in this movie would have been brilliant, witty and smart. If you pay attention to what’s being said, you’ll notice that it mirrors what’s written in the book and I think this is one of the high points of this film but cheesy acting overshadows it. Listen to what’s being said next time and not whose saying it.

From Blogger Pictures

2. For a movie of this caliber, it had some pretty good special effects, including the makeup, the gore and the CGI. When we first see the alien… it does not look that bad compared to what some CGI looks and when the spaceship explodes the fire looks like blood cells and cancer cells, which fits perfectly with the story’s Ripley virus. Even the shit weasels didn’t look that bad, they looked pretty good. Honestly, if you watch this movie again and keep in mind this was in 2002, I’m sure you’ll forgive the CGI for being that bad.

From Blogger Pictures

3. From what I remember from the book, this movie follows the initial story line of it pretty good… down to the bone almost. If you consider the amount of accurate Stephen King adaptations, this follows pretty close. I think 

the ending is different though, but not that much. I think this was the movie’s downfall as well, because the book is so long, condensing it into a two-hour movie may have been a bad decision but if you forgive easily than I’m sure you’ll like it.

4. This is not your typical alien movie. Most alien invasion stories tell it from the perspective of the government or a struggling family but there are usually cliché alien icons such as ray guns, giant space ships, mass destruction of towns and usually some scene that has scientists working on the alien. This movie balances out the clichés of alien flicks. There are no cliché alien moments in this movie that I saw. Plus, even the aliens are different in the sense that they retain their classic ‘Grey’ look but also transform into completely original looking aliens.

From Blogger Pictures

5. Dreamcatcher is a very heartwarming story if you subtract the aliens out of the equation. Several scenes that have Duddits being tormented or just Duddits being Duddits is sort of heartwarming since these kids believe in him and they believe that he is capable of wonderful things. The scene when Henry comes back for Duddits when they are older is one of the film’s saddest moments; it really is emotional to see this seemingly retarded kid leave his home so that he can save the world.

All in all, you’re the judge of this movie. I only wrote this because I saw how poorly this movie made it at the box office and how universally hated it was… and in fairness, it’s not that bad of a movie. Compared to some Stephen King adaptations… it was right on the money. It even did a fantastic job of visually showing us what the memory warehouse looks like. I just hope this post changes a few minds.

Coming Soon: The sexuality of Dreamcatcher.