After the world is in ruins, due to a man-made plague, a battle of Biblical proportions ensues between the survivors.
I enjoyed the 1994 miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Stand” more than this new iteration because it took its time telling the story it needed to tell whereas the new version feels significantly rushed. It’s almost like the producers wanted to get to the story’s finale, the confrontation between good and evil, and in the process, sacrificed story exposition and character development. While this new translation is beautifully shot, moreso than its predecessor, that is about all it has going for it. Even utilizing its all-star cast, including James Marsden, Odessa Young, Whoopi Goldberg, Alexander Skarsgård, Greg Kinnear, Ezra Miller, and Amber Heard, the show amounts to nothing more than flash over substance.
When a top-secret government laboratory in rural California accidentally releases a weaponized version of influenza, called Project Blue, it quickly spreads around the world, killing 99.4% of the world’s population in two weeks. Some survivors, those who are flawed but good at their core, receive visions of kindly Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg), a 108-year-old lady who is deeply religious, with psychic and prophetic tendencies who instructs them to make their way to Boulder, Colorado, to help her in the fight against evil. Others, those who are easily corruptible and hateful in their hearts, are plagued by visions of the demonic “Dark Man,” Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård), the ultimate personification of evil who orders his followers to make their way to Las Vegas, and who will do everything in his power to eradicate Mother Abigail and her believers.
The story of good vs. evil is nothing new but while this modernized version of “The Stand” follows all the blueprints laid out in King’s novel, and even its 1994 predecessor, the final result is nothing short of disappointing. It is exquisite to look at, and obviously, its sizable budget is on full display, and while it takes full advantage of its talented cast, it still cannot escape the stereotypical horror tropes that are consistent with a story of this ilk; cheap jump scares, abandoned and creepy locations, backstory horror, scary nightmare sequences, an egregiously unkillable antagonist, they all pile up on top of each other until there is no hint of originality left.
What I liked about the 1994 version was that it took its time informing the audience of what happened. Gradually, we saw the Earth succumb to influenza, and the world’s population decrease, little by little, but here, while we do see the immediate aftermath of the influenza outbreak, the lead-up to it is pretty much glossed over in exchange for character evolution and narrative progression, and even those are paltry at best. At one point, there were rumors of a second season but thankfully, the gods of reason interjected and that will not be happening, leaving “The Stand” as a self-contained limited series. But, and I repeat but, because the series came to a very different denouement than the ending of King’s original novel, it means that a second season could just be around the corner. This being Hollywood, anything is possible. Sigh.
Now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD
