Search the Cinema Head Cheese Archives!

May 24, 2013

Movie Review: State of Emergency (2011, Image)


...ya' know?? Being a devoted fan of the 'zombie' movie genre, as well-worn and beaten-to-'undeadth' as the genre is, this viewer cannot help but feel compelled to wade through every potential 'hit & miss' zombie flick out there, with hopes of catching those few and far between 'hits', among the sea of 'misses'...and I have to readily admit, at first glance of the DVD cover art for 2011's "State of Emergency", I had genuine hopes for a kick-ass horror film, considering the armed and haggard look at the supposed 'hero' on the cover...atop an overturned vehicle...aiming sharply at a ravagingly overwhelming barrage of the living dead, surrounding him. I mean, really...the guy LOOKED just like martial arts star Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, and anyone who has seen Don's movies, which were prevalent, over the past 30 some odd years, you know that there's no lack of kick-ass action in HIS films. Well...uh, no...regrettfully, after having partaken of the film, I can now say...uh no, it WASN'T Don, as the character on the cover...and although this guy would probably kick some serious butt in any other zombie flick...in THIS one, well...the flesh-eating horrors are so minimal, the hapless guy on the cover of the DVD, seems almost displaced in this flick. But then, I'm getting ahead of myself, ain't I??...

...Jim is at the horns of a dilemma. It seems that a nearby chemical plant has sustained a powerful earth-shattering explosion, with a spreading, mushroomed cloud cover of toxic deadliness, warranting a military-instilled, miles-wide quarantine. In an attempt to escape the quarantine, Jim loads up his car, gathers his fiancee, and takes off. Unfortunately, in the midst of escape, he drives his vehicle off the road, and crashes...his beloved intended, suffering severe injuries, as the result. Carrying his woman's broken and bloodied body to a nearby cluster of horses stables...where she finally expires...Jim tries to take in and accept the loss, at the same time, tries to assess & reconnoiter his situation...and wonders ever so suspiciously about the smattering of lone and dazed-looking people in the outside fields...just creepily standing out there...

...soon after finding convenient weaponry, Jim is abruptly and violently besieged by what appeared to be a fiery-eyed, pasty-faced, blood-crazed maniac...with an unearthly scream, no less...who seems mindlessly dead-determined to the attack. At first avoiding, then finally tussling with, and killing the attacker with a well-placed shot to the head, Jim is soon after contacted by survivors, who have heard the gunshots, and who have holed up in a warehouse, just adjacent to the stables. Making his way to the warehouse, Jim reluctantly joins forces with, and ultimately comes to lead a handful of unusually and acceptingly 'docile' unknowns...all having their own stories of how they came to be there, and how each is individually dealing with the clearly unstable situation, which they find themselves in...as a supposed 'fortifying legion' of blood-crazed crazies lay siege upon, and surround the warehouse...

...standard set-up, for any run-of-the-mill zombie movie, right?? However, in the case of THIS particular movie...uh, where are all the zombies, huh?? Where's the threat?? OK...OK...I stand corrected...NOT zombies, but more like crazed mutated infectees, not that far removed from the fast-sprinting 'infected', in the '28 Days...' films. And indeed, those 'infected' DO prove ravagingly formidable. But still, I counted...what, a bit more than maybe half a dozen 'muties', perhaps?? And the drama...oh, the drama that ensued herein...droning on and on and on. I eventually came to the conclusion that the writers and filmmakers here, were clearly fans of the critically acclaimed and viewer-embraced AMC series, "The Walking Dead", in the sense that they wanted to exhue and reflect a similarly focused sense of survival, drama...with the occasional, wayward jump scares and creeps...and placing more emphasis on character & dramatically driven dialog in their film. And there's nothing wrong with that...that is, when applied to an extensive, serialized, multi-episode production, like "The Walking Dead", where there's more time afforded, for such in-depth characterization and intrigue; however, when one has only an hour & a half or so, in order to depict the horrors and the drama, as found, and is associated with typical zombie movies...across the spectrum, the best and the worst of them...it seems much more expected and satisfying that the balance needs to be tipped more...not fully or exclusively, mind you... toward battling the relentless onslaught...covering all the seemingly countless holes, as the horror attempts to invade from all directions, as well as the assumed hopelessness, tension and uncomfortability of the zombie presence...and this viewer just didn't feel that, with this horror entry...

...as mentioned previous, Jim, as portrayed by up & coming actor Jay Hayden...again, looking like Don 'The Dragon' Wilson from a distance, but up close, more like a young Richard Gere...a character, most relatable...most adaptable...most likable, amongst this trapped crew, seems wholly misplaced in this film; if his survivalist character was in any other zombie film...up against an outright horde of the living dead...against greater odds...there's no doubt that he'd would most assuredly see himself respectably upheld, the outright rogue hero. Instead, we find him here...coupled with a bunch of laxital characters, who seem more wrapped up in their own problems, have outright accepted the horrific situation outside the confining warehouse, have become complacent, and with minimal survivalist intent, seem content with just riding things out, so to speak, instead of fighting. In fact, toward the end, it takes Jim's greater survivalist motivation, to get these complacent characters to fight for their lives, when things DO get out of control...always the one to jump in, and save their lives (...can you say, "...sheesh!! Do I have to do ALL the work??)...

...as much as this horror entry is slightly more than moderately dissatisfying, the ending is even more so...as if basically trying to apologize, and at the same time, telling us, the viewers, what we already know, or have adequately presumed. In the end, this viewer didn't feel so much like time wasted, in unsuspectingly partaking of this film; I felt more like shrugging my shoulders, raising an eyebrow, thinking not unlike a selfish little kid, who opened all his presents at Christmas, and still looking up to his parents, saying "...is that all there is??". And yes, I DID do that, when I was a kid (...I mean, really...didn't we all??)...but in the case of THIS dismal and dreary horror film...uh, I believe that I'd be justified...

..."State of Emergency", huh?? Eh, we're probably talking something more like "State of Relative, Slightly-More-Than-Urgent, Okee-Dokee", with THIS one.....

No comments:

Post a Comment