Alright so I was a bit half and half when this movie came out. I was half thinking, "Oh great, another zombie movie" and I was half thinking "Maybe it'll be as good as Resident Evil, but it'd better be better than 28 Days Later was." Well when my friend said he wanted to go see the movie, and asked if I wanted to go, I said sure, and after watching the movie, and having left the theater, I felt like an idiot for my first thoughts because this movie had absolutely nothing to do with zombies. It turned out to be an awesome movie, that I really enjoyed, with one of those hot, kick-ass, woman lead roles, and it's got alot of gore, which I've never had a problem with, and it's got lots of action, and overall it's a wonderful movie. I know that the cover, and the epidemic theme seem to point this movie towards being like 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, but clear all of those thoughts from your head right now because this movie was twenty times better than 28 Days Later was, and I can't compare it to 28 Weeks Later because I hated the first and didn't watch the sequel. This has nothing to do with zombies, so clear that thought from your head as well.
The director of this movie was Neil Marshall, whom I'm not to familiar with in regards to movies, though he did do The Descent, which I've heard good things about before, and he does an excellent job in both respects of this movie because he also wrote it. It has to be one of the most original and awesome movies that I've ever seen. It's definitely different than any movie that I've ever seen, but my Dad says it's sort of like a movie called "Mad Max," which I've never seen. I'm not sure if that's spot on, but it's my Dad so I believe him. Anyway, this is definitely an awesome and original movie, that is done splendidly, and makes me think that Neil Marshall has one huge imagination, which isn't a bad thing in the slightest. It's done fantastically by a man who hasn't done a lot of movies, but definitely takes his time, and does an incredible job with what he makes. It's definitely an original, and awesome movie, as well as being incredibly intense.
The visuals in this movie are awesome! Everything in this movie is practically a visual masterpiece that is really fun to watch. One of the things that I liked about the visuals was how many different gadgets there were, even if the movie was set in a future where the look and overall technology has not advanced that much at all. I also liked the look of the wall that was created to keep everyone out, it's very neat to see. Also there is the entire country that is inside the wall itself. It's a rundown and decrepit old city, and it looks neat with everything all destroyed and overrun by vines. Then you get the country where Kane rules, and it's like castle times, it sounds strange, but bear with me, and it all looks awesome. THEN! There is the look of everyone themselves, the armor, or the hair, just everything is done perfectly! It's a movie that you have to see for yourself to really appreciate the visuals, which are incredible!
The storyline of this movie is one that is incredibly original, like I've said before. It's definitely a different story to a post apocalyptic event, and I normally don't like movies that are futuristic, occur in the future, or anything like that, but with this movie, you hardly notice that it's in the future, and it's actually a very great movie, and I say that to get all of those who share the same dislike for movies in the future like I do. The storyline is one that can be quite scattered, one of those movies that you really have to see to understand, but I will do my best to describe what it's about. A town in Scottland, called Glasgow, has been hit with a virus that is worse than The Black Plague, and there is no cure and no way to survive it, or so they thought. They closed off the entire country with a rather large wall, and kept everyone in, and everyone out by using methods that involve guns. However, soon it is found that there are survivors, and it is kept secret by the government, until the virus resurfaces again in London, and a team is sent in, with the knowledge that there are survivors, so that they can find a cure, and bring it back. Like I said, it's a bit scattered, but I think I did alright of getting the main part down. It's full of action, and it's got a great plot, and is overall an awesome movie, that keeps you on the edge of your seat for the whole movie.
Starring in the lead role of this movie is Rhona Mitra, and she plays Major Eden Sinclair. Eden Sinclair is a tough woman who can only be explained as die hard. When she was a girl she was rescued by some soldiers from her mother, when Glasgow was being closed down. At the time her eye had been shot out, and now as an adult she has a new robotic eye that also acts as a sort of camcorder. She works as a police officer and is the best of her team, and after a horribly frightful raid where one of her team members was killed, she is offered a job. That job is to lead a team into the shut down city of Glasgow, Scottland where she will get a cure for the Reaper virus. She takes the job because it's where her Mother lived, and where she was born. When she arrives, knowing of the survivors, she finds that they are going to be in for a lot more work than she once suspected. A gang lead by Sol captures her team as well as her, and sets about their torture, as well as meal preparations, and she escapes. Her main goal besides the cure is to gain access to Kane, a doctor working on the virus from within the gates so that he may find a cure. If anyone knows, it's him, and she must now find him. Rhona Mitra has been one of my favorite actors ever since I saw her in this, yes that's right, this was what I first saw her in, lol. She does brilliantly as a tough ass butt kicking officer of the law, and she really portrays the characters emotions and feelings very well, making for an incredibly convincing, as well as incredibly believable character. She was really a great casting choice for this role.
Sol, the leader of one group of survivors, is played by Craig Conway. Sol is the son of the Doctor that Sinclair is looking for, Kane. He of course hates his father because he never found out anything, and they were left to rot within this city for many years. Well naturally he lead a rebellion against Kain, and kicked him out. Now he runs what's left of Glasgow with what can only be called an iron fist. He prepares meals for all of his followers, made from real flesh and such, that's right he and his people are now cannibals. When Sinclair comes to him, he prepares her friend for his people, and they eat him, even saving a piece for her to eat. Well needless to say, that pisses her off a bit. Then, Sinclair escapes, killing Sol's girlfriend, as well as taking another prisoner, his sister. He now makes it his goal to kill Sinclair and gain his revenge. Craig Conway, whom I've never heard of or seen in anything besides this movie, does an excellent job as a bad guy, and he just is mean in this role. He brings all of Sol's twistedness and vileness out very well, making for an incredibly convincing and believable character. He was another great casting choice for this movie.
Kane, the ever persistant goal of this movie, is played by Malcolm McDowell, whom I've liked ever since I saw him as Dr. Loomis in Rob Zombie's Halloween. Kane was a doctor at the time that Glasgow was shut up and contained, and he continued to work as such inside the city trying to find a cure for the Reaper virus, and he constantly reported to the goverment so that they'd have updates, and he kept all this up until the power went out. Well when Sinclair finally finds Kane he is a King Arthurian sort of being now. He rules the rest of the survivors in a community much like that in the times of the gladiators. He's definitely a cold-hearted bastard, who cares nothing for other people but himself and his kingdom. He abuses his daughter when she is returned to him, and he sets Sinclair up against his executioner in a Gladiator-style fight. He's definitely not one of the good guys anymore. Malcolm McDowell, whom, like I've said, I've liked since his role as Dr. Loomis in Rob Zombie's Halloween, does an excellent job with this strange and seemingly cynically twisted character. He makes all of Kane's emotions and worries, and all his problems incredibly real when he steps into the character, and that makes for one very convincing and very believable character. He was yet another great casting choice for this movie.
Starring as the bad guy OUTSIDE of Glasgow is David O'Hara, whom I'm not familiar with at all, and his character's name is Michael Canaris. Canaris is the one who has known that there have been survivors within the quarentined city of Glasgow, Scottland, for three years, and he has kept it a secret for all three of those years. However, now that the virus has resurfaced in London, he reveals this information to the police lieutenant, and then to Major Eden Sinclair, who'll be running their little expedition for a cure. What they don't know is that Canaris isn't planning to keep this in good faith, and will be letting the entire city devour itself before implementing a strategy that will drown all of London, those that are infected, and those that are not infected. He is basically a man on a power trip, and nothing will get in his way. He is ruthless, and that's what makes everyone listen to him, one of those people that are just generally an asshole. David O'Hara does an excellent job in this movie, and is definitely good at playing a bad guy. He just LOOKS like a bad guy, and that helps him alot, what also helps alot is that he really brought the ruthless evilness of the character out very well, and made all of the things that this character was thinking and such come out to make the character all the more believable and convincing. He was yet ANOTHER great casting choice for this movie.
MyAnna Buring, whom I've never heard of before either, stars in this movie as Cally. Cally is Sol's sister, as well as Kane's daughter. Cally is found in Sol's dungeons/prison, by Eden Sinclair, and she is recued, but only because she is the only one that can lead Sinclair to Kane. She comes through witha TRAIN to take them to Kane, and that's where she meets her boyfriend and they head out towards Kane. The one thing this woman fears besides her brother, Sol, is her father, Kane, and he will have her killed, most likely, because she left him for her brother. However, soon her boyfriend is killed, and her father does not kill her, but rather, he tortures her. Soon she begins to fall in love with a member of Sinclair's team. She proves to be a very useful member of Sinclair's team, and not a hinderance at all. Even helping to rescue Sinclair from her father. MyAnna Buring does an excellent job in this role, and she really brings out this characters worries and troubles, as well as her emotions, and her toughness out very well, making the character all the more real. She delivers an awesome, convincing, believable, and realistic performance. She's DEFINITELY another great casting choice for this movie. There seems to be alot of those, too.
All in all, this is a really awesome movie, that was not at all what I expected it to be, but rather alot better than my expectations led me to believe. It's got tons of action, love, more action, and of course, gore. I've never minded gore in movies, and I've never understood why people care, well I do, but whatever. This movie is nothing like 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, or Resident Evil: Extinction, like you might think it to be because of the epidemic, but rather something entirely different, yet, in the case of Resident Evil, since I didn't like 28 Days Later or 28 Weeks Later, equally as awesome. It's now one of my favorite suspense/thriller movies, and overall one of my top favorite movies of all time. It's definitely a good movie worth a watch or sixty-seven!!!!!
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