Midnight Meat Train
Do I like a film that takes an unexpected turn and makes me question what I’m watching? Yes. Does Midnight Meat Train accomplish this? No.
The problem with this film is that it is good until the last 20 minutes or so. If a film is going to be daring and change the ending into something unexpected it needs to do it successfully, so that the viewer is left feeling surprised but satisfied that it all worked out. I won’t spoil the ending for those who haven’t seen it, but sufficed to say the ending let the film down.
The rest of the film, however, went better than expected. There are some excellent uses of time lapses to both speed up and slow down time. The fast forwarding effect shows the busy atmosphere and threatening environment that is New York City, as we follow photographer Leon, played by Bradley Cooper, struggling to make it big. After visiting art dealer Susan Hoff, played by Brooke Shields, he sets out to improve on his already gritty photography of the darker side of the city.
Enter Vinnie Jones. Clearly selected for the role due to his big build he plays butcher Mahogany who Leon begins to follow. What ensues uncovers a sinister plot of butchery and murder on the subway with Leon struggling physically and emotionally with what he photographs. There is excellent use here of slowing down time as the camera circles the events a full 360 degrees. Perhaps my favourite is when Mahogany moves in on his victims the camera focuses on a man’s face as his hammer smashes into his head and his eye pops from his socket. As grisly as this sounds the effects here are brilliant to watch, even more so with the clever use of first person viewpoints. The camera assumes the point of view of the second victim, a woman, as he drags her back up the train and promptly beheads her. The camera resumes a third person stance only after her head has stopped rolling, which I thought was a genius decision.
The film delivers all the elements that a thriller should: suspense, drama and mystery. However, as I already mentioned, the ending lets it down. It just seems rushed: like the film makers were trying to make something unique but didn’t quite think it through. There are many questions that are asked but the film runs out of time and doesn’t answer any of them. Which is a shame because the rest was very entertaining to watch.
