Realistic disaster flick? Check.
A smartly written script? Check.
Many, many award-winning actors? Check.
Directed by one of my favorites? Check.
I don’t know why this movie wasn’t a box-office breadwinner. I received double redbox codes and finally picked this one up. It’s a race against time to track an unknown disease and find a cure before the human race is totally obliterated. The journey is intense, a little scary, but the conclusion is a bit unresolved, almost feeling forced.
In the real world, there will undoubtedly be outbreaks. There will be disastrous pandemics. There will be blood. But how we react and identify the culprit, as the human race, will determine the fate of future generations.
Contagion focuses on an all-star ensemble, appearing at different locales across the globe, and their differing reactions to the common cold (or what they assume is an every-day ailment). It believably spans from Asia, to Minnesota, Chicago and Atlanta. The quickness of the outbreak boggles my mind.
The intro scene was especially scary, featuring all the public areas that are used in every-day life that might carry some sort of easily transferred contamination. Some horror movies show too much and effects are cheesy (See The Terror Experiment). Contagion explains the story, without venturing into the cheese factor, which is much scarier (less is ALWAYS more, even if there isn’t much action onscreen).
Laurence Fishburne — just as he was in CSI — was amazing. Jude Law, as the psuedo antagonist, was brilliant. Gwyneth Paltrow was annoying… as always. And any time I see someone in a puffy, air-tight hazmat suit, I always want to give them a bear hug. Just to see if the suit will settle like a fluffy pillow, or all its seals will break.
Since it wasn’t viewed as a successful film, I highly encourage others to pick it up ASAP. Totally an underappreciatted movie, smartly written with TONS of stars, so why didn’t it succeed? Maybe the world isn’t prepared to discuss a killer virus hiding within plain sight.
All I know is, everytime I hear someone sneeze, I’ll wonder if this is the beginning of the end.
Strength: A violent death to Gwyneth Paltrow. Best Performance of her career!
Weakness: Matt Damon is the solution. Not just in this movie, but in real life!
WTF Moment: In times like these, a Facebook post = an appointment with the US Supreme Court.
Notable Quotes:
“Blogging is not writing, it’s graffitti with punctuation.”
“We just need to make sure that nobody knows… until everybody knows.”
“They’ll start listing side-effects like credits at the end of the movie.”
Review: 4/5