Contaminated Man

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

If you like your films either direct-to-video or limited release,Anthony Hickox is a generally reliable guy.His previous two Dolph Lundgren films,Storm Catcher and Jill Rips,have been proof of this.But the one thing that bogged those two films down,his mysterious quiet audio dubbing,is just one of many things that bog this plodding hash.The mighty really have fallen in the case of Peter Weller.One time lead star of quite possibly the greatest film of all time,Robocop,he has now been reduced to playing a bumbling menace who spends the majority of the film jarringly carrying some model airplane around with him.William Hurt and Natasha McElhone,one time big screen actors,should also be noted in nauseatingly stereotypical,ineffective roles as the action hero and romantic interest respectively.Throw into this a tired,cliche ridden killer virus story (with the government corruption and everything)which relies too heavily on subtitles at the beginning and all you have to occupy your time is the beautiful photography of the snow capped hills.And you didn't mean to spend an hour and a half watching that.*

"The Contaminated Man" is an efficiently but also very routinely made thriller, unoriginal and unexceptional in the extreme, right down to the ruthless "national security" agents who value the secrecy of their projects more highly than human life itself. For what is essentially a chase film, there is not enough urgency in the story. Peter Weller is remarkably convincing in a role that requires him to look much older than he really is, but he fails to gain much audience sympathy - he may be captured or he may escape, but we don't care very much one way or the other. (**1/2)

Back away from the movie. Do not touch it with your bare hands. The director must have been away shooting another film. Edited by monkeys. Ug.

The movie starts right off with a flashback to earlier days when David R. Whitman (William Hurt), a biochemist, accidentally dispatches his family with a virus. Years later a guard at a chemical plant is dismissed and, in an attempt, to get his job back he accidentally causes a spill of the same virus.

Now the chase is on to catch the contaminated man. In the process we have questions. Was it the first incident and accident? And is this time an accident?

We watch the standard team of good guy hazmat team and bad guy NSA banterer as the contaminated man keeps getting away and causing havoc.

So, what is new about this film? NOTHING So, is there any socially redeeming value? NO Is the ending any message? NO

Some people like to watch the same formula over again to see the nuances of actors or scenes.

There ain't any nuances here.

Still, it could have been worse.

If you're in Australia you're probably seeing 'The Contaminated Man' appear on video store shelves right about now. Even though it has Peter Weller and William Hurt in it, you can tell from even the title itself that this is going to be an average film at best. And having watched it, I can say that this is an okay film, the snow-covered scenery being reminiscent of Screamers (Peter Weller's last film of note), but with the story being coherent and making sense unlike Screamers. If I was Roger Ebert I'd have to give this a thumbs down but it's worth watching if you've got a couple of hours to kill or if you've seen all of this month's new releases.