I have to straight away that I expected a bit more out of this film, even while aware that it was being generally described as serviceable to the genre. Its a remake of George Romero's film in the 70's of the same name that I have yet to see in order to compare the two.
Now, I have a respect for George Romero, and god knows I love a good zombie flick, but the sad truth is that the same damn plot devices aren't going to do it for me anymore. I realize that if a large portion of a population becomes biologically enraged or rendered undead and psychopathic, you'll expect the trademark "Lets get the hell outta here" and "We're surrounded we have to fight" and all that rot. Yes, there are going to be human beings that may not be infected but are already predisposed to go haywire at the promise of certain horrible death. Yes, there are bound to be zealous militants and ethical power points abound.
The reason this film passes as fresh in my mind comes down to the casting; I believe that Timothy Olyphant is one of todays most underutilized leading men as he projects humility and competence especially when charged with enforcing the law. Perhaps he's in danger of being type-casted as "the Sheriff with a heart of gold" (as in the short lived HBO series Deadwood), but its a role he plays well and we would are better off for it. In "The Crazies" he is the badge carrier of a typical close knit small mid west town; Ogden Marsh IA. Oh, and his name is David Dutten.
Relatively unknown Radha Mitchell plays his wife, Judy Dutten, the town physician. These are the only two characters we should even care about, because every other character is stock. Victims of a government mishap; a plane carrying a virus meant to destabilize populations crash lands nearby and If your familiar with these scenarios, its easy to envision what happens next. Slowly at first, then more rapidly, the unsuspecting townspeople are infected with the biological weapon and turn on each other in random and sometimes overly playful acts of violence.
The government is good at ruining everything, and here it manages to ruin the film. At times when it seems the suspense is building nicely and the implication of an apocalypse settles in, we are bombarded with loud, tension shattering montages of the military stomping around and barking orders as they attempt to contain the virus. The way they treat civilians you wonder why they even bother at all and don't just bomb the whole region like they (spoiler alert) end up doing anyways. We never get to hate them as much as we'd like, because there is no clear villainous figure acting as their voice. I would have rather have spent more time trapped in close quarters with our two leads and allowed them to develop further reasons for me to care about their survival. Olyphant and Mitchell seem to have a chemistry, but the movie is too busy propelling them into danger, and robbing us of much needed dialogue.
In the end, "The Crazies" is better fare than much of what passes for horror these days, but falls short as a shining example of its genre. It restrains itself where it shouldn't, and goes a too far with certain elements that should have taken a back seat, if not only to strengthen the kind of dread inherent in a film like this. Breck Eisner is a director still coming into his own, and this film doesn't say anything definitive about his promise beyond technical ability and perhaps an appreciation for subtlety that is lacking in the torture porn arena.
Still, its worth a single viewing and a bag of popcorn.
Now, I have a respect for George Romero, and god knows I love a good zombie flick, but the sad truth is that the same damn plot devices aren't going to do it for me anymore. I realize that if a large portion of a population becomes biologically enraged or rendered undead and psychopathic, you'll expect the trademark "Lets get the hell outta here" and "We're surrounded we have to fight" and all that rot. Yes, there are going to be human beings that may not be infected but are already predisposed to go haywire at the promise of certain horrible death. Yes, there are bound to be zealous militants and ethical power points abound.
The reason this film passes as fresh in my mind comes down to the casting; I believe that Timothy Olyphant is one of todays most underutilized leading men as he projects humility and competence especially when charged with enforcing the law. Perhaps he's in danger of being type-casted as "the Sheriff with a heart of gold" (as in the short lived HBO series Deadwood), but its a role he plays well and we would are better off for it. In "The Crazies" he is the badge carrier of a typical close knit small mid west town; Ogden Marsh IA. Oh, and his name is David Dutten.
Relatively unknown Radha Mitchell plays his wife, Judy Dutten, the town physician. These are the only two characters we should even care about, because every other character is stock. Victims of a government mishap; a plane carrying a virus meant to destabilize populations crash lands nearby and If your familiar with these scenarios, its easy to envision what happens next. Slowly at first, then more rapidly, the unsuspecting townspeople are infected with the biological weapon and turn on each other in random and sometimes overly playful acts of violence.
The government is good at ruining everything, and here it manages to ruin the film. At times when it seems the suspense is building nicely and the implication of an apocalypse settles in, we are bombarded with loud, tension shattering montages of the military stomping around and barking orders as they attempt to contain the virus. The way they treat civilians you wonder why they even bother at all and don't just bomb the whole region like they (spoiler alert) end up doing anyways. We never get to hate them as much as we'd like, because there is no clear villainous figure acting as their voice. I would have rather have spent more time trapped in close quarters with our two leads and allowed them to develop further reasons for me to care about their survival. Olyphant and Mitchell seem to have a chemistry, but the movie is too busy propelling them into danger, and robbing us of much needed dialogue.
In the end, "The Crazies" is better fare than much of what passes for horror these days, but falls short as a shining example of its genre. It restrains itself where it shouldn't, and goes a too far with certain elements that should have taken a back seat, if not only to strengthen the kind of dread inherent in a film like this. Breck Eisner is a director still coming into his own, and this film doesn't say anything definitive about his promise beyond technical ability and perhaps an appreciation for subtlety that is lacking in the torture porn arena.
Still, its worth a single viewing and a bag of popcorn.