Director Breck Eisner remakes a 70s political horror film from George A. Romero in which a small country community is stricken by a toxine that drives people crazy, thus creating a zombie-ish apocalypse that the military has a hard time trying to contain.
The pluses: 1. The quality of the storyline and the fast pace at which it unfolds, it particular in the remarkably good middle section 2. The effective and thrilling horror scenes, which make the most of the various settings and elements of a typical Midwest environment (the barns, the garden fork, the harvester, the highway diner, etc.) 3. The nuance with which the infected ones (the "crazies" of the title) are depicted: not all of them are threatening as the toxine reacts differently from one person to another, and danger equally comes from the non-infected folks battling for their lives or from the military.
The minuses: 1. The derivative nature of the film as pretty all its motifs have always been seen numerous times on screen 2. A lack of character development: Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell form a loving couple, they don't seem to have any trouble whatsoever when the story opens, so the emotional impact of the film is lowered by the fact that they have no personal conflict to solve (apart from surviving the hell they're in, of course) 3. A few (forgiveable) clichés, cheap effects, and plot holes
Verdict: The Crazies isn't remarkable by its originality, yet it is a very enjoyable thriller that delivers almost all you could expect from a zombie flick.
The pluses: 1. The quality of the storyline and the fast pace at which it unfolds, it particular in the remarkably good middle section 2. The effective and thrilling horror scenes, which make the most of the various settings and elements of a typical Midwest environment (the barns, the garden fork, the harvester, the highway diner, etc.) 3. The nuance with which the infected ones (the "crazies" of the title) are depicted: not all of them are threatening as the toxine reacts differently from one person to another, and danger equally comes from the non-infected folks battling for their lives or from the military.
The minuses: 1. The derivative nature of the film as pretty all its motifs have always been seen numerous times on screen 2. A lack of character development: Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell form a loving couple, they don't seem to have any trouble whatsoever when the story opens, so the emotional impact of the film is lowered by the fact that they have no personal conflict to solve (apart from surviving the hell they're in, of course) 3. A few (forgiveable) clichés, cheap effects, and plot holes
Verdict: The Crazies isn't remarkable by its originality, yet it is a very enjoyable thriller that delivers almost all you could expect from a zombie flick.
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