Let me say first that I've never heard of and have no knowledge of the source material for this movie, so this review will be based on it's merits as a standalone film, I'm one of these people who doesn't think that you should have to read a book or have any prior knowledge of the source material to understand characters motivations and actions in a movie, movies are their own entity and therefore should be judged so. Now that that's out of the way, onto my thoughts on this Japanese zombie flick.
So it's another zombie movie and it's one of the better ones that I've seen. I like zombie movies that actually show us the apocalypse happening with the zombies taking over, and this film does that, it doesn't show news footage or a montage or anything, it shows our main protagonist on the ground experiencing society fall around him as the zombies overrun the city, and it's really good to watch, probably my favorite part of the entire movie.
The production values are also very good, the practical zombie effects are well done as are the cgi effects. If you're a fan of gory deaths and watching zombies heads explode then this is the movie for you. It's not a cheap looking movie at all, you can tell that some real money has gone into making this.
The story is nothing special, pretty straight forward with standard horror tropes and nothing new for anyone who is familiar with the zombie genre, it does introduce a very intriguing plot line involving an infected schoolgirl, but for some reason the plot line is put on the back burner and never really expanded on or revisited for the rest of the film, I'm guessing they're saving it for the sequels if they get made.
I only have one real complaint about this movie, and it's kind of a big one so I'm going to write lots about it. I found the main protagonist to be very unlikable. I found him to have no redeeming qualities at all. He's a bit of a down on his luck nerd, which is fine, you can be dorky or a lovable loser like Shaun in Shaun of the Dead, but this movie is just over 2 hours long and it isn't until 14 minutes before the end that our main protagonist actually does something heroic, once Shaun realized what was happening around him he became the hero and started whacking zombies on his way to save the woman that he loved, he was a normal guy who showed he was selfless and heroic. For the first hour and forty six minutes of this movie our main protagonist hides from danger, cowers in corners, cries, lets other people die due to his inaction, lets other people kill zombies attacking him because he is incapable of doing it and just generally does stupid things, the only zombie that he kills in that first hour and forty six minutes is one that he kills unintentionally. He has zero charisma for a protagonist, and for me even his big hero set piece at the end of the film wasn't enough to redeem his cowardly and stupid actions of the first 104 minutes. During this time he does imagine himself being the hero, he imagines himself getting his gun and shooting a zombie, which makes it even more infuriating when he snaps out of his daydream so he can jump back into his inaction.
As a viewer I'm confused if I'm supposed to root for someone who is a coward just because they dream of being the hero? I mean his cowardice gets innocent people killed, how am I supposed to like him? Maybe you will but I didn't.
Even though I didn't like the main protagonist I still enjoyed the world that the movie introduced us to and would probably watch a sequel if one was ever made just to find out more about the schoolgirl who appears to have some kind of special power.
I give it 6 cans of cat food out of 10.
So it's another zombie movie and it's one of the better ones that I've seen. I like zombie movies that actually show us the apocalypse happening with the zombies taking over, and this film does that, it doesn't show news footage or a montage or anything, it shows our main protagonist on the ground experiencing society fall around him as the zombies overrun the city, and it's really good to watch, probably my favorite part of the entire movie.
The production values are also very good, the practical zombie effects are well done as are the cgi effects. If you're a fan of gory deaths and watching zombies heads explode then this is the movie for you. It's not a cheap looking movie at all, you can tell that some real money has gone into making this.
The story is nothing special, pretty straight forward with standard horror tropes and nothing new for anyone who is familiar with the zombie genre, it does introduce a very intriguing plot line involving an infected schoolgirl, but for some reason the plot line is put on the back burner and never really expanded on or revisited for the rest of the film, I'm guessing they're saving it for the sequels if they get made.
I only have one real complaint about this movie, and it's kind of a big one so I'm going to write lots about it. I found the main protagonist to be very unlikable. I found him to have no redeeming qualities at all. He's a bit of a down on his luck nerd, which is fine, you can be dorky or a lovable loser like Shaun in Shaun of the Dead, but this movie is just over 2 hours long and it isn't until 14 minutes before the end that our main protagonist actually does something heroic, once Shaun realized what was happening around him he became the hero and started whacking zombies on his way to save the woman that he loved, he was a normal guy who showed he was selfless and heroic. For the first hour and forty six minutes of this movie our main protagonist hides from danger, cowers in corners, cries, lets other people die due to his inaction, lets other people kill zombies attacking him because he is incapable of doing it and just generally does stupid things, the only zombie that he kills in that first hour and forty six minutes is one that he kills unintentionally. He has zero charisma for a protagonist, and for me even his big hero set piece at the end of the film wasn't enough to redeem his cowardly and stupid actions of the first 104 minutes. During this time he does imagine himself being the hero, he imagines himself getting his gun and shooting a zombie, which makes it even more infuriating when he snaps out of his daydream so he can jump back into his inaction.
As a viewer I'm confused if I'm supposed to root for someone who is a coward just because they dream of being the hero? I mean his cowardice gets innocent people killed, how am I supposed to like him? Maybe you will but I didn't.
Even though I didn't like the main protagonist I still enjoyed the world that the movie introduced us to and would probably watch a sequel if one was ever made just to find out more about the schoolgirl who appears to have some kind of special power.
I give it 6 cans of cat food out of 10.