Review of Outbreak (1995) by Hannah H — 15 Nov 2009

Fascinating plot, because it's something that seems so science-fictional but it could actually happen, which is a thought that seems to drive the main thrill in the story. But besides being fascinating, this movie did not have much else.

Despite having an all-star cast with HUGE names like Dustin Hoffman, Morgan Freeman, Donald Sutherland, Kevin Spacey, etc., the acting for whatever reason did not seem up to par, at least not like you would expect it to.

Perhaps it was the writing that was Outbreak's achilles heel, because most of Dustin Hoffman's dialogue sounded extremely written and cheesy. All of the characters were your basic stock characters: the misunderstood hero, the bad military general who only has destruction on his mind, the superior who has to listen to HIS unethical superior but figures out what's right in the end.

.. I could go on and on. Only one provided any spark of personality, and that was Kevin Spacey's sarcastic character. It really isn't a terrible movie at all, there's just something about it that really rubs me the wrong way.

And for a 3 hour runtime, I had hoped for a little more then just tons and tons of helicopter footage.