Carriers

I just left the screening of "Carriers". It was the opening Movie on this years Fantasy Film Fest. At least here in Munich. Well, my first reaction to this film was something like "Wow... this where long 90 Minutes". Most of the other crowd thought the same and their comments where quite similar to mine. Meaning: Good, but a bit slow.

This Movie needs a little tightening to speed it up a little bit. It does a lot of things right! The characters are worked out properly, the camera-work is top notch and the acting is very good. But sometimes there are scenes, that last too long. You know where the Directors want to go, you know how the scene will play out in the end, but it still goes on and on and on... So again: a little trimming would do the film good!

Well, and then there is this whole "Wrong Marketing"-Thing. At least here in Germany they try to sell this movie as a Horror-Movie. That's just wrong. Sure, there are the classic Horror-Elements, but overall "Carriers" is a strong, heavy Drama. There is virtually NO Action and even less gore in it. Instead there are long dialogs, dramatic events and more dialogs. That's fine with me, but it makes the movie hard to find it's audience. The GoreHounds will be disappointed by the lack of blood and guts and the Drama-Fans will be pushed away by the apocalyptic Elements...

So. Once again: "Carriers" has great potential but is a little bit to slow and to heavy on the drama to pass as a great movie.

Second this is NOT a zombie film. So don't be fooled by the idiotic marketing of this fine little gem. What this is, is a deliberately paced drama about a group of survivors in a world plagued with a virus that's pretty much killed everyone and the hard decisions they have to make on their way. It could be a companion piece to The Road almost, a sort of prequel set a few years before.

While it is "slow" it only clocks in about 84 minutes which is far too short in my opinion and I wanted more really. Something tells me that the film was originally much longer but cut down by the producers to please the teens who all seem to hate it anyway.

Good film, crap marketing.

But still very good. Chris Pine (you might have seen him in a little movie called "Star Trek" by J.J. Abrams) & Piper Perabo star in a very low key Horror movie, that doesn't even try to make you believe it has any big action scenes in it. It's more about the characters and how they react to certain situations.

Quite a few people were appalled by the fact, that there is not that much happening in the movie, but I liked it, because it was slow moving, because it took it's sweet time. Another criticism is that the movie is predictable. Again it's not so much about where it's going, but how it gets there (the "road" so to speak, even literally in this case).

The movie revolves around the fate of 4 unpleasant millennials mid-way through an apocalypse caused by a gruesome virus. They've instituted rules that are meant to keep them from getting infected. Some of these seem rational, like "disinfect stuff touched by decaying people."

Too bad they didn't include rules like "let's avoid acting like the cast of Jackass." I don't want to spoil their clever pranks, so I'll compare them to the geniuses who tried to drive blindfolded using only the GPS, like Sandra Bullock in Birdbox.

There are predictable lessons about karma, a few mild jump scares, and plenty of times to take bathroom breaks.

It's no zombie flick. Unlike most virus flicks, 'Carrier' focuses on the emotional and psychological aspect of the survivors especially their struggle when they have to leave one of their own behind (or even commit the act of taking their life) in order to ensure their own survival and the despair of the soon-to-be-deceased after they have been abandoned on their own to die a slow painful death. Yes, there are a few jump sequences and a few clichéd 'horror' scenes where the infected scare and chase the survivors. In my opinion, most of these sequences weren't even necessary. Yet, the writing is mostly good and the atmosphere is well-created (even though nothing outstanding). The cinematography too is adequate. The two female leads lacked character development. Even so, Piper Perabo manages to somewhat rise above, especially in her final sequences and Emily VanCamp fails to impress. Chris Pine is quite irritating while Lou Taylor Pucci carries the movie. Christopher Meloni does a brilliant job in a supporting role. 'Carriers' is quite a change from the traditional zombie flick and even though it doesn't match up to 'The Road', it's a decent effort.