“The Long Walk,” a bland and superficial dystopia that does not do justice to Stephen King’s novel

Under the supervision of soldiers, forced to walk at a speed of at least 5.5 miles per hour and without permission to rest, the young men struggle to survive and win a prize consisting of getting what they desire most. His victory equals glory; And also to reinforce a system that, through the aforementioned competition, glorifies values ​​such as ambition, competitiveness or a misunderstanding of work ethics.

After George A. romero (The dark half, Creepy show(And Frank Darabont)Fog, The green mile, Permanent series, The woman in the room(They owned the rights to the novel without their projects coming to fruition, Francis Lawrence)I am a legend) was responsible for producing this edit signed by JT Mollner which includes Minor differencesespecially in the last part.

The main characters remain, from the protagonist Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman), whose father resisted falling under the yoke of the new regime, to his key allies within the apocalyptic marathon, such as the tough and passionate Peter McVries (David Johnson) or the talkative Hank Olson (Ben Wang). There is, of course, Major (Mark Hamill), a character who has not seen any development. Which is presented to us as an example of state power.

The rules of the game imposed by King are also respected: if participants go below the set, electronically controlled speed, they receive a warning that they can retreat if they maintain the set pace for an hour straight. If they receive three warnings, they are given a passport.

Contestants can request a canteen of water whenever they want and are given their daily food ration every morning. Applicants may not disturb or obstruct the rest of the competitors (but may assist them), are prohibited from maintaining contact with spectators located along the track and of course, They cannot leave the designated circle. If they break any rules, they receive a warning. Third: passport.

King’s novel, which he wrote during his college days, although it was not published until more than a decade later, resonated with… Echoes of the Vietnam War – Young people are sent to certain and senseless death – but also those in novels e.g 1984 By George Orwell – Major as a human version of Big Brother – or stories like Lottery By Shirley Jackson Serendipity as a camouflage for implementing control mechanisms, also associated with terrifying social conformity.

So what’s wrong with this weak version of The long walk? Well, once the scenario takes its first turn, Development is monotonous and political reading is superficial Beyond those updates related, above all, to the racial issue, contained in the last section. Nor does he delve into the demonstrable similarities between a totalitarian United States and the Trump era.

The setting becomes embellished, predictability spoils the relationships between characters, and even the effects of deaths that fill the narrative have no creativity. The formal abandon with which Lawrence illustrates this fateful station of the cross doesn’t help either—just three monotonous camera shots. travel Follow-up Doesn’t do justice to the source material His influence lies in his ability to capture the mark of his era.