Either the plot-writer is an idiot - or thinks that everyone else is.

Rating: 5/10 (3 June 2007)

Conventional wisdom suggests that the key to happiness is to expect nothing. As such I wasn't too devastated because I expected that the makers of this movie/story - just like every single other movie in the zombie-genre - would treat viewers like they are morons.
And so it happens yet again.
A teen and a preteen manage to sneak out of a zone that is secured by the US military. Just stop and think about it for a minute. Imagine that the vast majority of London's population had turned into zombies (for chrissakes zombies!!) and the US military (any military for that matter) was guarding against re-infection of the zone....let's just say that a couple of dumb kids wouldn't be able to "sneak" out in broad daylight.
Let's then examine why. These two moronic children run into what is conceivably a zombie-populated zone alone, for the sole purpose of grabbing a photo of their dead mom. In a soap-opera that might be "cute" - but for people in the real world that is utterly unbelievable. And what makes it worse - these two punk kids are portrayed as the "heroes" in this movie - even though they are the sole reason for thousands of horrible deaths that follow in the wake of their excursion.
Then there is the matter of leaving the recovering mother unattended in a dark remote room utterly alone!! In spite of the fact that the chief military disease-vector specialist suspects that she is "special" somehow.
On top of this we find the utterly ineffectual measures taken against another outbreak. There are tons and tons and tons of heavily armed soldiers manning even heavy machineguns, snipers and whatnot - a setup specifically designed to manage another outbreak.
Why must the horror always be unleashed and perpetuated by something that appears to stupid and unbelievable? The movie makes a strong attempt to make us like and empathize with the people - and you can't help yourself wondering if the world isn't better off with them turned into a tasty zombie-snack...
Returning to my initial thoughts on expectation management - too many horror movies are like that and within the confines of these self-imposed limitations to storytelling (using idiocy to create the premise of the movie) it wasn't at all bad. Some good acting and effects - albeit with the ever-present hand-held camera-work that only serves to accomplish one thing: annoy and give you a headache.
Cheers :-)