The Crazies (2010) ***
I remember liking The Crazies (2010) when it was released in theaters. I still do; it's held up pretty well. Less of a remake of George A. Romero's 1973 film (my review here) than a straightforward thriller, this Crazies plays it mostly by the numbers with kind of stock characters and plenty of tropey horror/action movie moments (jump scares, predicable choices, familiar beats). And yet there are some scattered scenes throughout that caught me off guard and I can't help but admire the John Carpenteresque efficiency of the editing, pacing and presentation. I'm not a huge fan of the original film anyway (though I appreciate its loose experimental quality), so it's nice that this Crazies does its own thing (even if that thing is nothing special).
Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell make a good small town blue collar couple though the number of times the script calls for Olyphant's David to tell Mitchell's Judy to "wait here" is pretty frustrating. Not to mention a few far fetched interactions (lots of last minute saves) that border of ludicrous (but hey, movie logic). The cinematography is indicative of the era (which is to say it's fine but doesn't wow me) and some of the shaky cam shots are a bit much, but thankfully they only crop up infrequently.
The Crazies is a tad too long and only offers pretty basic commentary on military involvement during a pandemic—eschewing nuance in the same manner that Outbreak (1995) (my review here) does (only here there’s more gore). But it's never dull and it's competently made, solid entertainment.
Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell make a good small town blue collar couple though the number of times the script calls for Olyphant's David to tell Mitchell's Judy to "wait here" is pretty frustrating. Not to mention a few far fetched interactions (lots of last minute saves) that border of ludicrous (but hey, movie logic). The cinematography is indicative of the era (which is to say it's fine but doesn't wow me) and some of the shaky cam shots are a bit much, but thankfully they only crop up infrequently.
The Crazies is a tad too long and only offers pretty basic commentary on military involvement during a pandemic—eschewing nuance in the same manner that Outbreak (1995) (my review here) does (only here there’s more gore). But it's never dull and it's competently made, solid entertainment.
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