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Were I a real movie reviewer, I’d start this out with a thorough retrospective of the zombie movie genre and also weave in an overview of the difficulties of importing artistic British movies. And yada yada yada. Well, movie reviewers are like that, especially in LA, where everybody knows the biz.
But I’m no Manohla Dargis. I’m just an ordinary guy who likes really brilliant filmmaking like that in 28 Days Later.
Okay, first the obligatory brief summary of the movie. Bike courier is hit by car. Bike courier is in coma. Bike courier wakes from coma. Bike courier finds nobody is around, anywhere, in the center of London. Bike courier travels London, finds many dead, others zombified, is almost eaten alive. Bike courier finds other survivors, falls in with them, travels north to Manchester to try and find civilization.
It’s not a bad plot, and, in its ultimate construction, works very well. Action moves on at an appropriate pace, with breaks being taken at the right moments and suspense and motion coming naturally. Nothing is rushed, and there are no deus ex machinas. The quality of the basic concept, and the strong script, pay off through the film.
The acting is also fine. Even the incidental characters are convincing — although it must be said that this may be a function of the British style of acting. Who, after all, hasn’t at sometime said, “Ahh, now that’s some fine classically-trained acting?” Yeah, so the perceived quality of the acting in this movie might just be a side effect of some built-in American sense of submission to the mother country.
The cinematography was good too, few really striking shots but every shot just so. The film had a strange look to it — at first I thought it was 8mm — which, reading up on the topic, I learn is a from using all digital. The result is close to Dr. Who vs. the Daleks and adds to the feel of urgency and disaster that permeates the film.
Now, I know you’re saying, “but Wade, you’ve gone 350 words and you haven’t even mentioned the zombies! Everybody just prattles on and on about the zombies!” Well, I didn’t talk about ‘em ’cause everyone else already did. What can I say, they’re great zombies! Not clumsy, oafish, moaning zombies, plaintively (and mellowly) calling out for brains, the infected in 28 Days Later are fervent, raspy, blood-covered and vicious. They seem to have some innate, reptile intelligence straight from the id. They scream eerily and breathe heavily and decidedly deserve death. And I feared their appearance at every moment.
No review of a horror movie can go without mentioning the blood and gore in it. And this was a bloody and gory movie, no missing it — but not so much as many of today’s pictures. At many points, the extent of the actual violence was left to the viewer’s imagination; at other times, the violence was heavily backlit or carried out at night, so that only the outline of bodies or certain highlighted areas were visible. Other fights used fast cuts to show the highlights. Only at the very end, when violence was necessary — both morally and to the plot — did we really see any extended explicit gore. The total effect was much better than any five disembowelments or dozen flayings.
The selective level of violence shown was a side effect, I believe, of the moviemakers’ good understanding of suspense. Strategic use of surprise gave us shocking scenes and also created the anticipation of disaster at many other key points — but surprise was never overused, so we never knew what was coming next. Art vs. sledgehammer.
So what is there left to say? This was a good movie. Go see it.

I wasn’t sure for, like, three days what I thought of this movie. Don’t get me wrong, I had a good time watching it. It made me laugh and stuff. Several times. Kinda hard even. Classic scenes and whatnot.
But I still couldn’t figure out what it was that this movie made me think. Part of the problem was that, for most of the movie, director Tom Shadyac (hey I learned that’s pronounced Shady-yak; living in a company town finally pays off, eh?) didn’t plan I would think anything. Mostly it was a fun, mindless comedy. A story about an everyman that pretty much everyone in the audience could sympathize with. And, to me, that’s what about 90% of films should be.
There were a few points where it turned preachy. At the end, when Bruce was talking with God about being Almighty, they went a little over on the schmaltz. But then it is a stupid comedy, so it’s important to not be too particular about these things. Somebody who went into a theater expecting classic work from Jim Carrey and Tom Shadyac would be, well, a critic. And this movie got panned for its shallowness and contrived plot. But who needs a flawless and deep stupid comedy? Where’s the fun in that?
The rest of the movie was all fun. A few sight gags, great one-liners, and some facial gymnastics by Jim Carrey. Just what you expect from a Carrey flick. But, still, it left something in the back of my head. And I didn’t realize it until I was half-awake two mornings later.
I was thinking about the movie, about writing this review, and realized I was seeing every scene in my head – but with Adam Sandler, not Jim Carrey. And there was no difference. None at all.
So how is it that the 40-some-year-old Carrey is interchangeable with the 30ish Sandler? How is it that this movie could’ve been made with either of them?
It’s perhaps the curse of the well-executed generic comedy that it can be lead by any one of several stars. Classically, it’s the character of the star that is projected throughout the movie and that makes the picture unique. And, well, Carrey added none of that here. It was all heartwarming feel, no rubber face and stretchy arms. And, when you get beyond that, Carrey is just every everyman.
The only question: can Sandler bring in a $100 million opening? Well, maybe that is Carrey’s unique print on Bruce Almighty.

Ain’t that the worst headline ever? Well, it’s late and I’m not feeling that original.
I have to admit I came to this film (2 Fast, 2 Furious) expecting the bare minimum of watchabilty. I’d thought the first one was ok but a bit slow, and I was afraid of more of the same. Plus, 2 was lacking Vin Diesel, who’d completely run away with the first movie.
Things didn’t start out auspiciously. Now, I live in LA, where every movie opens first, and everyone flocks to the new openings (conversely, not even the best films last more than a few weeks here). It’s like the movie market in general, but more so. And showing up for a hot movie on its opening weekend, you need to show early to get in line outside the theater. But when we got there 45 minutes before showtime the line looked like this:

Now that’s a bad sign. Can’t even open a teen-oriented movie with full lines for one weekend?
Left alone in line while my moviegoing companion got a Wetzel’s Pretzel, I started to write this post. Yep, without seeing the movie. See, I used to be a movie reviewer, and this is how all the pros do it. Works for covering hard news too!
I was making up all sorts of jokes to make on the name of the star, the heretofore idenitity-less Paul Walker. Paul Thomas? Paul Michael Gossealer? Yeah, stupid shit like that. But I figured a few crappy puns would be needed to flesh out a bleak review of a disastrous movie.
Five minutes before they let us in, a bunch of extreeeemely well-dressed asian kids started to show up, and, once we got in the theater, a whole stream of russians also dribbled in.
Can a stream dribble? Oh well. The point is, they were all about 19, they all cheered loudest for the Freddy vs. Jason trailer, and I could see all of them driving waaaay too fast in some rice rocket. So that’s the demo this thing is drawing, and boy did I feel out of place.
Now, I’d mentioned that I thought the first film had too much talking, too little racing? Well, good signs first off when pretty much all the opening scene was hot girls’ asses and some trash talking. And then there was a race straight off that showed you where 2 was coming from — a little less street cred, a little more budget and flash, a lot more fun and a lot more focus on driving fast.
And they followed this part of the show with a bunch of scenes that either involved driving recklessly, hot girls, the ridiculously hot Eva Mendes, trash talking, pranks, or a bit of gunplay. No talking. None at all. Plot? Sure, enough to make each scene fit in its own place. Not too much to get in the way.
Miss Vin Diesel? Not even slightly. With the opportunity to shine, Paul Walker proved that he’s a latter-day Keanu with smoother delivery and more boyish charm, and Tyrese was the perfect sidekick. The minimalist script was kicky and snappy and filled with laughs. The pacing was just right, never a slow moment but never losing you with too much at once either.
Oh, and the end was… well, Tyrese said it was Dukes of Hazzard, and Bo and Luke woulda been proud!