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The Terminal Movie Review

The Terminal is a 2004 dramedy film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks. It’s the worst Spielberg movie of all time.

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“I usually read history books.

They’re long and cheap and usually

about men killing each other“

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Viktor Navorski gets stranded at an airport when a war rages in his country. He is forced by the officials to stay at the airport until his original identity is confirmed. Wow, was this movie a bad idea. Everything about this plot was horrendous, and yet Spielberg went out and made it anyway. It is absolutely ridiculous how just one movie could have all of the worst tendencies of this director, but this is what happens with this ‘Tenet’ for Spielberg.

Tom Hanks plays a refugee from a made-up Eastern European war-torn nation. I have always liked Hanks in anything that he’s done, but this I could not approve of. His Slavic accent here is absolutely atrocious and his acting is quite over-the-top as he basically plays Forrest Gump 2.0. Needless to say, it is his worst performance ever.

It’s a shame that Stanley Tucci was straddled with this movie as well as Catherine Zeta-Jones. Her character is just not good and the romance between the two is simply terrible. I did not buy any second of it as it felt cheesy and dumb.

The Terminal is also not that accomplished in its technical aspects. Everything from the score to the cinematography is just serviceable with only a couple of sporadic moments being well shot and memorable. The direction from Spielberg is also bad as is the pacing with many parts of the movie stalling horrendously.

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But the plot is the reason why I hate this film. It is the type of corny, theatrical flick resembling the nineties in the worst possible way. I do get that some moments may be charming in a way, but most of it was just incredibly annoying to sit through. It is vomit-inducing honestly. This film getting passable reviews is to me very problematic and it just goes to show that some directors “can do no wrong” according to biased critics.

The Terminal is the Tenet of Spielberg’s filmography, and by that I mean that it is the absolute nadir, the bottom of the barrel and the film that has all of his worst tendencies as a director put into one terrible package. Tom Hanks has a horrible Slavic accent and he gave his career-worst performance. The storyline is atrocious and the film’s cloying and corny nature was suffocating to experience. I hated every second of it. This is a great example of the critics’ bias as no matter what this director puts out, he is sure to get passing grades.

My Rating – 1.5