Playlist: The Crazies

 As we've seen, a zombie movie is a zombie movie only when it is actually a zombie movie. Couldn't be clearer. But what about this outbreak of pseudo-zombie movies, these zombified outbreak movies? Should we call them "plague" movies? "Virus" films? What about "epidemic," or even "outbreak"? They are definitely another specific, and prevalent, offshoot, along with zombie movies, of the apocalyptic umbrella (not to be confused with the Umbrella Corporation from the Resident Evil universe, though I suppose you could and still retain my point).

The Crazies is the latest entry in this subgenre, though it is actually a remake of a 1973 film by none other than George Romero (it was his follow-up to Night of the Living Dead if you discount, as he has, his 1971 romantic comedy, There's Always Vanilla). While there are some differences, the overall story is the same: idyllic small town deals with the aftermath of being exposed to a military biological weapon (revealed to be Rhabdoviridae, rabies, the en vogue movie virus. The infected become blood-thirsty killers, though not literally, and the army rolls in to cover-up their bad. Of course, there's a hero, someone in the town who is healthy and pissed off and, as is often the case, a cop.

Here we have my guy Timothy Olyphant basically playing his character in Justified, which is fine by me since I'm a fan and it supports my theory that actors should play their best character in everything (more on this in another post). Olyphant is the town sheriff and he tries to lead his pregnant wife and not-pregnant deputy out of town, past the military-guarded perimeter and through a maze of Crazies. Unfortunately, there aren't enough Crazies int he way. The movie doesn't have the splatter-faction of the best zombie movies or the psychological drama of the best quarantine/confinement films. It's essentially an escape movie and I don't think that quite lives up to its potential. There are some good scenes, but not enough, or rather, good scenes not crafted together well enough by director Breck Eisner. Yes, he's Michael "I Used to Run Disney" Eisner's son, and no, I don't believe nepotism exists in Hollywood.

So, I did enjoy this, but was hoping for a little more.*

*That's what she said.