Review of Chernobyl Diaries (2012) by Melissa E — 14 Nov 2012

As we all know, nuclear radiation creates monsters and superheroes apparently...Also, everyone hates young Americans. While the latter is true, there was a disappointing lack of elaboration on the "beings".

Other than the fact that there would be no movie without them, the only info I gleaned was that they were irradiated and....angry about it I guess?? It could have been a more taut thriller, it could have had a plot line, and it had ample opportunity to do something but fell short.

But for a low budget genre movie, it's not bad. I can appreciate minimalism in film, and sometimes simplicity is genius. Here, it just didn't pan out. Moving in and out of POV periodically was interesting, but deciding against it was a good idea.

The acting was passable, though not at all challenging when you must act scared, scream, and run down a dark, dank hallway for most of the movie. I would categorize this movie as a slasher without the gore.

..which kind of takes the fun out of it. I think Yuri, the tour guide, who was in the movie for only a few minutes, gave the movie the only depth it had. I wanted to see more of him, and learn more about his character.

He conveyed well the reverence and regret that accompanies such a tragedy. I couldn't care less about the rest. I always thought that even just a SMALL bit of character development goes a long way in slashers, so I was disappointed that Yuri went out the way he did.

I wouldn't watch this movie again, but I will say it was a nice try, with some great urban exploration footage of Pripyat and surrounding areas. Overall, I would rather watch The Descent, as an "exploration-gone-awry" film.