'Blu-ray or Bust'
MAGGIE (2015, PG-13, 93 minutes, GRINDSTONE ENTERTAINMENT/LIONSGATE)
It seems as though every time you turn around, there’s a damn zombie.
When “The Walking Dead” premiered almost six years ago, it was amidst a dry market. The last undead work of note had been ZOMBIELAND the prior year. And while there has never really been a shortage of zombified fare, everything else around that time, including the quickly decomposing RESIDENT EVIL flicks, kinda sucked. The success of that show sparked a resurgence in Hollywood’s love of the flesh-eating corpses—or, I should say, the B-movie market’s love of a quick buck. How else do you explain A LITTLE BIT ZOMBIE and ZOMBIES VS STRIPPERS?
With a rash of new productions comes everyone’s own take on the genre. From George Romero’s classic stiff legged zombies to Zack Snyder’s super-fast eaters of the living, everyone has their own ideas as to how to realistically as possible portray a rather implausible idea. It also seems as though, after the box office collapse which was WORLD WAR Z, Hollywood has learned that a mega-budget does not always equate box office gold.
Welcome to the world of eight-and-a-half million dollar, low-budget awesomeness.
With MAGGIE, writer John Scott III and director Henry Hobson, both first timers, deliver us a film that is excruciating in idea, detail, and execution—and is totally worth every long, heartbreaking take. The disease which afflicts humanity in this imagining is one that works slowly. The focus is more on the human journey to zombiehood than it is about people getting eaten, and makes for a moving experience. The surprise of this film is the emotion, the connections you see, feel, and come to rely on as the story unfolds. This is a story about the love of a father for his daughter, and, ultimately, the love she feels for him.
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as “Wade”, a farmer trying to protect his family from the plague decimating humanity. When his daughter Maggie (Abigail Breslin, who can’t seem to escape the horror genre—and we really are the better for it) contracts the “necroambulist” virus, Wade decides to keep her at home until the last moment. It seems that it can take six to eight weeks for a victim to finally turn, and at some point during this time, the victim is supposed to be taken to “quarantine”, where they die. It is Maggie’s struggle to retain her humanity, and Wade’s efforts to come to terms with the inevitable end, that drives this film.
It seems as though every time you turn around, there’s a damn zombie.
When “The Walking Dead” premiered almost six years ago, it was amidst a dry market. The last undead work of note had been ZOMBIELAND the prior year. And while there has never really been a shortage of zombified fare, everything else around that time, including the quickly decomposing RESIDENT EVIL flicks, kinda sucked. The success of that show sparked a resurgence in Hollywood’s love of the flesh-eating corpses—or, I should say, the B-movie market’s love of a quick buck. How else do you explain A LITTLE BIT ZOMBIE and ZOMBIES VS STRIPPERS?
With a rash of new productions comes everyone’s own take on the genre. From George Romero’s classic stiff legged zombies to Zack Snyder’s super-fast eaters of the living, everyone has their own ideas as to how to realistically as possible portray a rather implausible idea. It also seems as though, after the box office collapse which was WORLD WAR Z, Hollywood has learned that a mega-budget does not always equate box office gold.
Welcome to the world of eight-and-a-half million dollar, low-budget awesomeness.
With MAGGIE, writer John Scott III and director Henry Hobson, both first timers, deliver us a film that is excruciating in idea, detail, and execution—and is totally worth every long, heartbreaking take. The disease which afflicts humanity in this imagining is one that works slowly. The focus is more on the human journey to zombiehood than it is about people getting eaten, and makes for a moving experience. The surprise of this film is the emotion, the connections you see, feel, and come to rely on as the story unfolds. This is a story about the love of a father for his daughter, and, ultimately, the love she feels for him.
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as “Wade”, a farmer trying to protect his family from the plague decimating humanity. When his daughter Maggie (Abigail Breslin, who can’t seem to escape the horror genre—and we really are the better for it) contracts the “necroambulist” virus, Wade decides to keep her at home until the last moment. It seems that it can take six to eight weeks for a victim to finally turn, and at some point during this time, the victim is supposed to be taken to “quarantine”, where they die. It is Maggie’s struggle to retain her humanity, and Wade’s efforts to come to terms with the inevitable end, that drives this film.
And if you think that Ah-nold isn’t capable of carrying a dramatic film, oh, dear, are you in for an eye opener. I hate to spoil anything by telling you that he had a “dramatic coach” listed in the credits, but that coach is a freaking genius. The fact that Schwarzenegger is able to actually make you care about the connection he is slowly loosing with his dying daughter is not something you should take for granted.
The special features are few, but give you enough insight into the process of making this particular love story. As all of the effects were practical ones—no CGI here—you don’t get much in the "how did they do that" category. What’s important is WHY they did that…
Just go into this film knowing that every aspect of it is there to tell a story. It is pondering, it is emotional, and the careful eye of cinematographer Lukas Ettlin sets a tone that will stick with you long after the credits have rolled. Enjoy the subtle, caring performances before the next TERMINATOR film is released and makes you forget about…oh…wait…
Film Grade: A
Special Features: B-
Blu-ray Necessary: Abso-freakin’-lutely
No comments:
Post a Comment