Review of Maggie (2015) by Darren G — 14 May 2015

It was okay. It had a slower pace than predicted. This film is getting a lot of buzz for being a dramatic feature for Schwarzenegger. While I do agree it is a great performance from the beloved action star, the film was a bit dull. It's a bad sign when you check to see how much of the movie is left. My problem with zombie films is the color, that dull grayish look that these type of films have to show a world that has gone to shit due to the zombie outbreak. That grey tint in these zombie films really bore me.

I'm not really a fan of zombie films because they are kind of redundant. They are usually survival films of the protagonist trying to fight for their lives. I have to credit the film for taking a personal look rather than a global look at the outbreak. Abigail Breslin does a fine job as the victim Maggie who is slowly becoming the infected, Schwarzenegger will fight to protect his daughter. The film does a great job of capturing the depressive emotion of slowly watching a loved one deteriorate. You'll constantly hope that the doctors will find a cure or if Maggie can overcome the sickness. The film does a great job of capturing emotion by focusing on the zombie outbreak on a smaller scale. Even though Schwarzenegger does a good job as an entry into a serious drama. I couldn't help but not think that this is the guy who played the Terminator, or was the hero in Predator, Total Recall, etc. Schwarzenegger is such an iconic actor that I often find it troubling to believe that he's portraying someone else, I guess it's the accent.

Lastly, I heard a lot of people comparing this to the brilliant video game "The Last of Us". This movie is not like the game, while it has a more personal emotional drive to the film. There are few similarities. The last of us should've been a movie, to me I consider that game to be one of the best things to come out of 2013. Truly the perfect example of a film-like video game.

However check this film out if you want to see a more personal story involving zombies and if you want to see Schwarzenegger in something different. Just expect a slow pace.