A Missed Opportunity

Rating: 5/10 (29 December 2007)

As a fan of science-fiction I really did expect to enjoy this, but found it to be a massive let-down instead. There are some good moments but they are unfortunately few and far between. Basically, a lot of the movies' premise does not check out. How, when you're the last survivor of a city, do you still have electricity (and to watch DVD's on - surely you're utilizing as little as possible)? How on earth do you still manage to obtain fresh water? Food in tins - in my experience - doesn't tend to last longer than 3 years but Will looks physically stronger than ever before. Will must really enjoy pumping gas as he's driving his Mustang and some massive SUV around the city for much of the film. Of all the practical vehicles he could have chosen, these must rank last. Point is, if these critical survival issues really were based around some inch of realism, he'd surely be much worse off than he was.
Will also wasn't very credible as this scientist attempting to discover the Zombie cure, while at the same time something of a highly-trained Navy Seal, excellent with his weapons and a master of self-defense. The two disciplines are surely at odds with each other.
The pace of the film was also terribly drawn-out, there are periods where little of interest happens. Really bizarre. The characters (the few that inhabit the film) are poorly developed and the entire film just comes off as something very superficial when it really could have been much better developed. For example, Will is mentally unstable at some point when he does his usual shopping trip and is surrounded by mannequins inside of the store, notices one that's new, and has an internal conundrum over how to introduce himself. This I can appreciate: he's been without any human company for 3 years and has seen a lot of tragic events unfold. His means of relating to human life is retarded due to a lack of development. He's a little 'toasted' psychologically. However, later in the film when he meets 2 other survivors he seems within a very short period of time to adjust to his new visitors. It's like going to a psychiatrist for one session and being cured of your mental illness: unrealistic. There were many other loose ends that just never got tied up.
A real disappointment for something that could have - with more depth and intelligent rationale - been the movie of the year.
Oh, and lastly, Will plays some Bob Marley to his briefly-featured female companion near the end and asks her if she's heard of 'Marley' before (as this music brings him mentally closer to his family). Bizarrely, she asks if he means 'Damian' (whom is actually Bob's son). WTF? Is there anyone on planet earth whom can understand English who's not heard of Uncle Bob? I sincerely doubt it. Sci-fi meets Bob Marley: a peculiarity untouched!