Maggie

Maggie_360P

source: Maggie

This isn't an action packed, gory, jump out of your seat zombie movie. In fact, it didn't even have to be a zombie movie to tell its story. The powers that be are overwhelmed with the crisis of zombie transformation, leaving the infected to the care of their unprepared families, who must eventually choose between agonizing and morally reprehensible alternatives: take an action that goes against every moral instinct, or allow the default choice, which would happen out of sight, but is far crueler. And then there is the gradual decay of infection - an insidious creeping malignancy that leaves one devoid of self knowledge and compassion and, at last, a mindless predator. The race is to hold onto that last trace of humanity before all else is lost.

A dismal attempt to make a zombie art film. Not zombie-horror, rather zombie-drama, which, The Walking Dead aside, I'm not really sure could ever work, even with a good script, which Maggie most certainly lacks. This somber downer takes itself way too seriously. There is literally not a single laugh, giggle, or even a smile throughout. To make sure we know that this is a serious art film it's shot in bleak, muted colors and syrupy violins play mournfully on the soundtrack. With its gloomy, bland earnestness, Maggie comes across less like a zombie flick and more like a really bad disease-of-the-week TV movie, a disastrous approach which completely sucks all the fun out of the genre.

This is *not* your typical zombie movie. If you go into it wanting to watch Arnold go all Terminator in the sequel to World War Z, you are going to be terribly disappointed. But if you are in the mood to appreciate a movie about love and about loss, this really is good stuff. This movie was well acted and well directed; kudos to all. It's a shame the IMDb score isn't better; I almost passed on this movie because of it. I wonder whether it would have a better rating if the marketing had been more up front about this movie not being a thrill ride.

Fresh little genre bender that plods along sweetly with a premise that could so easily have been heavy handed and sickly. Schwarzenegger surprises with a restrained but tender performance as a man who has to make some hard choices. It deftly judges the sweetness and darkness of its plot with a excellent sense of atmosphere in a world giving up hope for itself.

Zombies are my loves, true Achilles' heel, regardless of technical quality, I love them, here we have an emotional bias towards zombies, Arnold a cute little gentleman, good father, strong and determined, the rebellious little zombie suffered, what if the world if it ends up in zombies, the movie was very realistic, in a pleasant pastel tone, almost somber, more melancholy... Passionate...

Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a farmer whose crops are dying because of the necroambulist virus (never called zombie virus) which has also infected his daughter Maggie (Abigail Breslin) who slowly gets progressively worse. There are quarantine centers for people who get to the final stages and Wade fights to keep his daughter from going there. I am sorry to say, but that is the whole story in a nutshell. Impossible to plot spoiler. The zombie effects are minimal. The film is more about living with someone with a contagious terminal disease, although I am not sure why they felt the need to fabricate one. The people don't know how to quarantine very well and the government is lackadaisical in enforcing protocol. Overall the film was boring. They tease us with walking dead, but don't deliver on the action.

For a tired genre this is a must see, the story of a man who's daughter is infected with zombie virus and his refusal to leave her is gripping arnold schwarzenegger is superb as the father and shows his acting skills in this film with abigail breslin as the daughter, this film at minimum deserves a Oscar nomination. The script screenplay and soundtrack alone keep you watching not wanting to miss a second, zombies is a tired genre with so many these days remaking same stuff over and over its nice that this film takes a different approach and puts you in the position of how it would feel if it ever happened. Its 95 minutes of a emotional masterpiece how a farther never gives up on his daughter.

To put it simply: This movie had to be made. Both Arnold and Abigail are doing a superb performance. The movie just feels real, like it's really happening. I've heard many criticism about the movie being slow, but it has to be slow to give time to those fine details that only come through the fine print. And they do come through. I'm still stunned - something that not many movies managed to achieve. And this movie definitely deserves some serious awards, terrible shame that it didn't get in front of the mainstream audience. It is a unique addition to the zombie genre, making it believable and realistic. Powerful and horroristic. Not jump scare way. The brutal realistic way. If you have liked The Road, you don't want to miss this one and vice versa. It is a true gem in Arnold's career. Sad twist that this movie wasn't successful in the box office.