The Impossible (2012) – Encore Review 2

“Some of those stars have been burnt out for a long, long time. They’re dead, but once they were so bright that their light is still travelling through space. We can still see them.” – Old Woman

“How can you tell which one is dead and which one is not?” – Lucas Bennett

“No, you can’t, it’s impossible. It’s a beautiful mystery, isn’t it?” – Old Woman

Number of Times Seen – 4 (7 Jan 2013, 14 May 2015, 29 Aug 2019 and 25 Aug 2020)

Link to original review – Here and Here

Brief Synopsis – Based on the true story of a family vacationing in Thailand when a tsunami hits and separates them form one another.

My Take on it – This is a movie that I seen numerous times and my opinion of it gets higher each time I watch it.

The story is quite amazing to watch unfold and they are able to make things so wondrous and powerful to observe everything that transpires here.

The scenes of the tsunami hit are quite intense and breath taking as they give us the chance to experience everything right along with the characters.

We get to see both the human and structural devastation that this tsunami caused while also giving us a glimpse into the way that the people there needed to deal with everything that happened and how they each were able to deal with the aftermath also.

Naomi Watts is superb in the lead role and was very deserving of her Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her intense portrayal here because she allows us to believe all that she goes through.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to win despite the fact that I think her performance was the bets among the nominees.

Her performance here is among the very best she has given during her career and it’s quite amazing to watch due to the intensity of it all.

In addition to Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland (in his film debut) are amazing here and they help keep the story flowing as we get to see how each of these characters deals with the situation both physically and emotionally.

Bottom Line – Amazing story that is so powerful and wondrous to watch. The way that they filmed the tsunami scenes are breath taking and it is so intense watching it all unfold especially since they make us feel as if we are right there with these characters. The film is able to show both the human and structural devastation of this natural storm and gives us a glimpse into the way that people who lived through it must have felt during and ultimately following this ordeal. Watts is superb in the lead role and really makes us believe everything that she goes through. She was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for her work here yet, despite some less intense nominated performances running against here, she ended up losing. Her performance here is among the very best that she has given and is so enjoyable to watch due to the intensity of it all. The story is helped along by the performances of both McGregor and Holland who also show how their characters deal with everything transpiring around them. Highly Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – For the underwater scenes, Naomi Watts was strapped in a rotating chair. While filming, Watts couldn’t hold her breath any longer and she gave the ‘stop’ sign. Instead of stopping, the chair started spinning the other way around. Later it was revealed that it was a technical error and Watts stated that she felt very scared and hated the chair for that reason. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (10/10) (slight upgrade from original review)