★★★★★○○○○○ [ 5/10 ]
I should preface this review with a disclaimer; I’m usually not big on zombie movies. With that being said this movie was enjoyable even though it had plot holes the size of craters.
It starts off with a stroboscopic intro that might trigger seizures if you’re suffering from photosensitive epilepsy. So watch out for that. I personally hate strobes so it did rub me the wrong way.
The one big critique that I have for this movie is the fact that the zombies in the movie were totally atypical. It’s as if they tried to break every single zombie stereotype at once. Either that or they didn’t know how zombies are ought to behave. The zombies in this movie possess superhuman strength, speed, and agility. Add to that the fact that they are cognizant and you can’t help but wonder; are those even “real” zombies? Well, not in my book. FYI, they don’t eat brains either. And did I mention that they even retain fine motor skills? Some of the zombies can be seen shooting firearms…
Another thing that made no sense was the pathogen itself. The virus that was responsible for this zombie outbreak was a big plothole. One of the doctors claimed in the movie that some people have a “natural immunity” to the virus. The writers probably thought that this was a clever way to fix the confusion that the first half of the movie generated. Well, the doctor then adds; “…but if bitten, the virus infects regardless of the immunity”. Anyone with a decent understanding of immunology knows that this is impossible. You can’t be immune and not immune to something at the same time.
I have to give big props to the makeup artists. They did a really great job. The zombies and their mutilated victims looked great. Which leads me into the next point. The movie looked great. I liked the cinematography and as I stated before the makeup artistry was really impressive. One might say that this movie’s saving grace was its visual aspect. Because the story itself was rather “underwhelming”. There were just way too many cliches and plotholes. Like e.g. the part where the protagonists just happen to find a secret research facility which also happens to be the ground zero for the zombie outbreak. What a coincidence [sarcasm].
Final verdict: you can watch it (but don’t expect to be blown away)
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489018/
Ontology: #movie #review #horror #zombies #MenaSuvari #NickCannon #pandemic #epidemic #cliche