I remember seeing the trailers for this last summer. The wall being scaled by a pile of the undead, a wave of zombies crashing down an alley, machine guns taking down an enormous swarm of zombies climbing over a bus. I was so pumped for this movie. And only to reaffirm my zombie love was The Last Of Us coming out right before this came out, and having beaten it in 3 days of nonstop gaming (not my finest social hours...) I was more in love with zombies than ever. And I was pumped to see one of the greatest zombie movies ever made.
Maybe it was from playing the most amazing video game experience of my new-gamer life, with an unbelievable set of characters and family dynamic. This was so underwhelming, and felt so small. For a movie that was supposed to portray the entire world collapsing, I just didn't feel a sense of its scale honestly. Perhaps it was bogus politics (because one person played devils advocate, a giant wall was built...?), maybe it was the simplicity of the defeat (hearing a bullhorn alerted zombies to human presence outside a giant city?). But not very much of this movie had me emotionally connected. And where it did, it felt forced, insincere, and almost unnecessary. Plus, to see Pitt fight for his family so early on and then have them almost forgotten for the rest of the film left me feeling let down, and disconnected to them entirely for the rest of the film.
That all being said, Pitt was amazing as always. He showed himself to be a strong, dependable father, and a good person. Perceptive, quick learning, but most importantly, selfless. He's ready to take his own life in a heartbeat for the safety of his own family. And that all came across as genuine, strong, and beautiful. The rest of the performances in this movie were pretty much forgettable. The child actors did nothing to show me any reason to keep an eye on them, and the rest of the extras were forgettable or poor. And the screenplay didn't help anyone, filled with bad one liners or monologues, I don't think I remember a single line.
There is one major redeeming point from this disappointing movie - it's cinematography. This is the best looking zombie movie I've ever seen, packed with awesome shots of hordes of zombies. Whether it's watching the enormous pileup of zombies climbing a wall or seeing closeups of them walking around the med ward, every shot in this movie was pure gold. But while that leaves plenty of eye candy, the story isn't nearly as interesting as past zombie lore, or as interesting as its source material.
Rank - 2.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment