The Long Walk

I debated whether I should give this an 85 or 90. It's probably more like an 87 or 88 but I don't feel comfortable rounding up because then it puts it in a tier with movies I like more. You could probably shave off a little bit of the runtime by cutting out some unnecessary bits and/or decreasing how many contestants there are. But it's like in the plot, the movie sometimes dips below 3 mph. So there are a couple warnings, but nothing major, and it barely impacted my enjoyment. I loved this.

It could have gone so wrong though. It is just people walking. And it's really contained to this moment, outside of a couple flashbacks where it gives insight into why Garrity's doing it and what kind of world this is. To be honest, I wasn't sure where I would land on it.

The Long Walk does two things really well, and both were essential to make this work:

1: Good dialogue. We have to care about the main characters, see their interactions as interesting and meaningful. We do. I cared a lot about the Four Musketeers. Hell, even some of the minor characters came around and got their moment.

2: You have to feel the fatigue and horror of this. Many times throughout I thought, "Man, this would be an awful experience." This is shown visually and with the character interactions.

I agree that it's a predictable movie. Sometimes that's shitty, but honestly, it's like a pro wrestling match where there's an outcome that makes sense (like how Sting should have went over HHH in his WWE debut but didn't), and it's fine if it goes as expected. The Long Walk is one of these moments.

I do have to say though, I think Francis Lawrence is one of the most underrated directors. He mostly stays in post-apocalyptic/dystopian worlds, but I think he's damn good at it. And while I can't speak for a couple of his movies, even Red Sparrow didn't get the credit it deserved. Do I consider him one of my favourite directors ever? Nah. I don't think his directorial style sticks out even though it's competent, but when I look at what I rate his movies, he often gets 80+, which has to count for something.

One final note and it's not really a criticism: I've never read the source material but because of what luord said I looked up the ending. The movie ending is powerful but I think I might have preferred the novel ending. I think it's probably thematically richer, or at least hammers home the themes better. Though the movie ending does make McVries's character arc a little more devastating because he's supposed to be the one who can see the light in the darkness but he inevitably gives into Garrity's wish of killing the Major and he doesn't "choose love" like he told Garrity to do prior. So I don't know. I'm kind of talking myself out of my initial statement as I write this. I think both movie and book endings are great, ultimately.