“Mother nature is a bitch”
Just a quicky, as I’ve been pretty busy refurbishing my new house. The missus and I found time to go see this summer blockbuster. And, to be frank, I really enjoyed it. The wife did so too, though she is still worried about zombies getting into our house, which just goes to show that the movie is certainly effective.
Brad Pitt plays the lead as a retired UN special agent, who is forced back into his old job in order to save the world from a mysterious and rabid plague that has all but destroyed the civilised world: a zombie plague. He has a wife and kids and such, but they disappear from the movie in any real sense after the first act. Which is a wasted opportunity. The movie’s plot consists of mr. Pitt zipping around the globe searching for a cure against the zombie plague. Amazing how it’s still possible to travel with the world in turmoil…
The film is shown in 3D, once again I have no idea why. I have heard from Hollywood sources that due to the strange logic in Tinseltown it’s now easier to get financing for a 200 million dollar 3D movie than a 50 million dollar “normal” movie. Alas.
The story is well thought out, fun and exciting. There are a few plot holes, but on the whole the movie adheres to Hitchcock’s “sandwich logic” rule. (The average viewer will figure out the plot holes only when making a late night sandwich, at home, hours after seeing the movie).
The zombies are well done, and in contrast with the existing “mythology of zombie-ism” move with lightning speed. This makes them a lot more scary than the usual lollygagging zombies of yore.
There are some great set pieces which use effective CGI, although the lemming-like crowd storming that is shown to great effect in the movie’s trailer is less of a feature in the actual movie, which is a shame. Here’s the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md6Dvxdr0AQ
The way Brad finally figures out a way to defeat the zombies is well thought out and occurs in the most exciting part of the film: an almost classic set-up of man vs. zombie in a laboratory. After all the whizzing round the globe to find the clues to the solution, this cramped, tense finale just goes to show that less may in fact, be more…
Winding up. It’s a summer blockbuster, but a pretty good one, which I can recommend to most. It’s not half as frightening as my wife made it appear, but we did agree to go see something more akin to Despicable Me 2 next time we go to the theatre to relax…