Carriers

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I'm a huge fan of post-apocalypse movies, so CARRIERS was a given: a deadly airborne virus, a car full of survivors struggling to survive in a desperate and lonely world…yada yada yada, let's get moving with it. Unfortunately for me, Carriers turns out to be dead in the water. It's a soulless, pointless, plot less little exercise in human drama that offers nothing new and goes absolutely nowhere with it. It does start off mildly interesting, as our protagonists (four twentysomething friends) stumble across a father caring for his infected daughter. There are genuine moments of tension along the way with this sub-plot, and you watch wondering how things turn out. Sadly, this plot is jettisoned after a time, and the storyline develops no further. Instead, the film seems content to dwell on listless moments of inanity. The characters sit around drinking or knock golf balls through windows (Fight Club this ain't). They argue, have sex, and have a run-in with some completely generic guys-in-biohazard-suits who seem to show up in every film like this. It all ends in an overblown, mountain-out-of-a-molehill climax that seems to think it's powerfully shocking when, in fact, it's quite simply passé. It seems that American films have lately got stuck in a rut, casting their movies with obnoxious characters (I'm thinking of CHRONICLE) who spoil what have the potential to be otherwise good movies. Certainly, Chris Pine is one of the most unappealing leads I've seen in a while (he acts as pretty much the same type of one-dimensional hot-headed jerk that he played in STAR TREK) and the rest barely get a look in; Emily Van Camp, who might well be the best actor present, has about all of ten lines to contend with. Like I said, I love post-apocalypse movies…but this non-starter is nothing more than a test of patience.

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.

Warning, Spoilers ahead! Please don't read this if you haven't enjoyed the film yet. Several reviewers have said this is not a horror flick, but I have to disagree strongly. Leaving a good man and his sick daughter behind because she had to pee? Shooting a couple old ladies because they wouldn't give you their gas because they were just trying to survive too? Kicking your own infected girlfriend out on the side of the road to almost certain death? Mind, she became infected because of overwhelming compassion for a sick child. Then, if that is not enough, the younger brother character (Danny) must ultimately shoot his, admittedly repellent older brother character (Brian). And all of these terrible acts are committed by normally law- abiding people who would not dream of doing anything close unless their very lives depended on it? I imagined myself in the situation with my own little brother. How much horror do you people want? This film delivers a boatload if you can drum up a modicum of empathy. That said, it is certainly more of a thinking person's movie than your average slasher fan's.

Do not be mistaken, this is neither a horror, nor really a film. I firmly advise against watching this 82 minute failure; the only reason it merited a star was the presence of Chris Pine. Nothing happens. You wait patiently in the hope that there may be a flicker of a twist, a hint of surprise, a plot to emerge - but no. The characters take erratic turns of pace in their actions and yet don't have the time to develop - thanks to the thrifty editors and frankly ashamed writers - before returning to an idyllic and playful (bring on the teen rock montage) state. The only thing that could have made it worse would be adding the perishable token ethnic 'companion'. Their encounters with obstacles (be they human or physical) are brief, confusing and entirely pointless. Chris Pine fights to keep himself above the surface whilst being drowned by a misery of a lightweight cast. Lou Taylor Pucci couldn't be dryer if he spent the summer with Keanu Reaves combing the Navada desert. Watch 'The Road', watch '28 days Later', watch day time TV...anything but this; I implore you. Suffer the boredom, unlike you may be led to believe in the film, this film is no cure.

I was at the "World Premiere" tonight at the Fantasy Filmfest in Hamburg and I have to say Carriers was completely underwhelming. I liked the general premise but every step of the story is driven plot turns which feel more and more forced and only seemingly take place to get the story as far as the MacGuffin, in this case a secluded beach where the characters will be able to hide from disease and humans alike. On top of that the characters of the brothers become annoyingly cliché as each lives up to their sensitive-liberal-brain/makes-the-hard-decisions-conservative-brawn stereotypes. It's a pity because the film does make some hard and interesting decisions with the characters but the ideas simply aren't there to keep the tension and overall story steaming along. A very very average film which is well made and is still worth a view but ultimately disposable. Epilogue - why does there always have to be a scene in American apocalypse films where the characters inappropriately fondle an American flag to dramatic music? The scene was completely out of place in a film that plays it straight and realistic the whole way through.

In a world devastated by an outbreak, Brian (Chris Pine), his girlfriend Bobby (Piper Perabo), his brother Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci) and their friend Kate (Emily VanCamp) are heading to a beach where the brothers spent vacations in their childhood, and they expect to be a sanctuary. When their car breaks on the road in the desert, they negotiate with a man called Frank (Christopher Meloni) that run out of gas while driving his infected daughter Jodie (Kiernan Shipka) to the hospital and they travel together. Along the journey, Bobby tries to help Jodie but is contaminated by her blood; however, she does not disclose the truth to Brian and her friends. Further, they lose their humanity in their fight for survive. "Carriers" is another "deadly virus genre" movie that uses the same premise of dozens of films and maybe the greatest difference is that there are no zombies in the plot. The beginning of the dramatic and hopeless story is not well-developed and does not explain the origins of the outbreak. The plot is indeed about the lost of humanity by the survivors, and in this regard the film is bitter and gives absolutely no hope to the human race. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "Virus" ("Virus") Note: On 11 Dec 2020, I saw this film again. In times of COVID-19 pandemic, this film is scarier and darker. The origin of the pandemic is apparently in China based on the scene of the man died on the road through the desert. My note is seven.