Review of Chernobyl Diaries (2012) by Missourimedic — 26 May 2012

In order to fairly review this movie, I really have to look at the first and second half almost as completely different movies. The first half was pretty good. It was fairly well-done, and the tension slowly builds.

I've always had a minor fascination with Chernobyl, and the movie did a good job of reproducing the look and feel of the place (well, early in the movie that is). Unfortunately, the second half of the movie is so ridiculously over-the-top, drawn-out, implausible, and repetitious, that I left the movie hating this movie (even though 45 minutes in to it I'd liked it).

I don't want to give any ay spoilers, but I think that if they'd made a movie about wild dogs (ala Cujo) or a dangerous gang of hoodlums (something akin to "The Strangers" perhaps) living in Chernobyl, they'd have had a winner.

.. but by instead going the horror route, they ruined a great setup.