very good movie in general, not just horror

Rating: 8/10 (11 May 2007)

I don't remember the first movie as much as i should (will check it out again in a bit), i just remember not liking it as much as everyone else seemed to. I really wanted to love it though, because it was the first "zombie" movie in a long time (yes, i know its not traditional lumbering zombies, but it did blaze a path for more zombie movies over the past few years). One thing i do remember is the atmosphere and the frenetic, shaky cam style of action. Those are definitely back in the sequel, but with that being said, I won't compare these two very much.
I don't know where to start... maybe I'll start with the bad. There is a particular scene that is really cool to see, but seems a tad too goofy for the serious tone of the rest of the film. There are also some big coincidences, and stupid actions (mostly by the kids) that crop up here and there. The shaky cam style is getting pretty old also, but it is effective in showing how crazy and intense things get. A tacked on last scene that is totally unneeded caps off the worst of the movie in my opinion.
Bring on the positives: Although just briefly mentioned, the way the city is being rebuilt and controlled shows more intelligence than your average horror movie. There are parallels that can easily be drawn to current events (as with almost every zombie movie... kinda funny that to the non-fan, "zombie movie" makes something sound stupid, when in truth they are usually very intelligent). The characters are deep enough to care about. There is a decent amount of emotional tension, and some decisions and actions that are taken are given room to show both points of view and how not everything is "good guy, bad guy". The action is intense and the pace is great. The is some very striking visual imagery in the movie also... some of the shots they show really are remarkable.
I don't have much bad to say about this movie, and i don't want to say too much of the good stuff either because i don't want to ruin anything. As stated earlier, there are problems, but they do not weigh the movie down that much. I would like to see people that don't like horror movies or zombie movies, to give this one a chance