Bridge of the Doomed

Right, well as I sat down to watch the 2022 action horror movie "Bridge of the Doomed", it was because it was a zombie movie that I hadn't already seen. Needless to say that with it being a zombie movie, then there was no doubt about me watching it, as I am a sucker for all things zombie.

Now, I have to say that I wasn't really harboring much of any high hopes for "Bridge of the Doomed", as the movie's cover/poster looked fairly dubious, and also the fact that the movie had Michael Paré and Robert LaSardo in the leading roles, weren't exactly highly functional bait to lure in the audience.

But still, I opted to give director Michael Su's movie a fair chance.

And I will say that "Bridge of the Doomed" was watchable. Sure, it was a very, very generic zombie movie, but there was something slightly enjoyable about the simplicity of the storyline and the lack of a greater motivation to drive the movie. Keep in mind that you're not in for a grand cinematic experience of zombie cinema when you sit down to watch "Bridge of the Doomed".

The acting performances in "Bridge of the Doomed" were as to be expected for a cast ensemble such as it was. Again, you're not in for a grand cinematic experience in that department either.

With "Bridge of the Doomed" being a zombie movie, then you essentially sit down to watch great special effects and gory make-up effects, right? Right! Well, while there is an abundance of zombies in the movie, the special effects are low budget; some of them so very low budget that they opted for that zombie make-up where they slap grey and green body paint and some latex prostethetics in the face, and forget all about coloring the areas around and near the ears and the neck down. It looks so stupid, and it just makes a zombie movie slip down on the ladder in terms of being enjoyable. Heck, I even saw a zombie where they had painted the back of the hands gray, but left the palm and up to halfway on the fingers without the paint. So yeah, the zombie make-up in "Bridge of the Doomed" is bad, but at least they tried.

If you enjoy zombie movies, especially the low budget ones, then you will probably find some kind of enjoyment in watching "Bridge of the Doomed". But if you prefer a zombie movie with a proper budget, proper practical and CGI effects, proper storyline, etc. Then "Bridge of the Doomed" is not the best of choices.

My rating of "Bridge of the Doomed" lands on a generous four out of ten stars, based mostly on the amount of action and number of zombies in the movie.

Overall, I found the story very disorganized. A good film needs a flow and this film doesn't flow. The characters were mostly one-dimensional; however, there were two that stood out.

First and foremost, I watched this movie because my dear friend Kimberly Lynn Cole was in it. She always brightens the screen with her magnetic beauty and she really stands out in this flick playing the wife of a very bad man.

Secondly, I love Robert LaSardo! He's great in everything he does. He brought a sense of realism in a film that seemed anything but.

It's for these two reasons that I give the film 6/10.

The movie tries really, really hard. I give it an A for effort. Unfortunately it just never really comes together. It's hit an interesting concept. A squad of soldiers must hold a bridge during a zombie outbreak. The zombies aren't their only problem. There's also a demonic creature that lives under the bridge that also proves to be a lethal. The movie delivers plenty of action. There are numerous battles between the soldiers and the zombies. There's also a film is also suitably gory. The acting is mediocre to bad, but I can get past that in a movie like this. Ultimately the movie lacks focus. There are several confrontations between the soldiers and a refugee camp in the woods nearby that never really go anywhere. Then there's the beast under the bridge. It's a completely unnecessary addition that never fully develops either.

Overall the movie is a decent watch for zombie fans. We've seen a lot better but we've seen much, much worse.

I never bother with writing reviews, but I went into these while I was still watching the movie hoping it would indeed turn out it's a film which takes itself less and less seriously as it goes on, which would make it a solid flick. It's sort of like an inverse Ed Wood dilemma: if the filmmakers made this for fun, it would probably become a cult film over time.

Unfortunately, it's actually the extreme opposite: all the ten-star reviews are obviously written by a same person, which is evident based on the writing style. So not only are they cursing the film world with another worthless piece of zombie apocalypse trash, but they want us to believe it is good.

Well, this film doesn't satisfy even the basic minimum. I hate I had to waste time writing this.

Su doesn't wait until the opening credits are over before launching his first zombie attack, and they're consistently red in tooth and claw throughout. This is a B movie, sure, but Bridge of the Doomed fits neatly into the world of Max Brooks and World War Z, updating World War II scenarios to the zombie apocalypse. And this IS a creature feature, because there's something way worse than zombies under that bridge, and it's a proper old-school monster like the one in Michael Mann's The Keep. While this Mahal Empire production doesn't have the expensive studio sheen of ventures like the Dawn of the Dead remake, it's a busy, energetic combat movie that doesn't put many booted feet wrong. And yes, although his character is largely off-screen, Paré comes in swinging with LaSardo for the climax, barrelling in like he's Burt Lancaster and leaving this critic one satisfied customer.