Sunday, June 20, 2010

Movie Review: The Crazies (2010)

The Crazies is a remake of the 1973 George Romero classic of the same name. Unfortunately, like so many modern remakes, it has very big shoes to fill and it was birthed with tiny baby feet. While not an absolutely terrible movie by a long shot, the 2010 model of The Crazies just feels lackluster, boring and predictable. Also like so many of the modern remakes, it's a slicker, shinier variation of a film that's better off a little grittier and dirtier.

In this version, the residents of the tiny town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa are besieged by an unseen and unknown catalyst that's turning normal, everyday Joes and Janes into bloodthirsty maniacs. The military quickly comes in to try and maintain control and only serves to make matters worse.

The Crazies stars Timothy Olyphant and Silent Hill's Radha Mitchell and they work well as a husband and wife team. Also putting in a nice performance is Joe Anderson as Deputy Clank. Good acting aside, the film suffers from way too many cliches and last second heroics. There's never any sense of real tension and there's only one death that sorta catches you by surprise. The film does have some nice choreography and visuals but that doesn't save this film from just being ho-hum.

Needless to say, I wasn't crazy about the 2010 remake of The Crazies. It gets ** out of *****.