SPOILERS FROM BEGINNING. A REVIEW FOR OTHER VIEWERS ONLY THOUGH I DO RECOMMEND THIS FILM FOR THOSE YOU HAVE NOT VIEWED. I LIKED IT!
Certainly not a perfect movie. But I think it pulls of an unlikely plot well with only four actors with speaking lines. Both leading actors are playing well against their normal type of role to the extent that they should have really swapped roles. But because they didn't makes their performances more impressive and they are very believable.
The plot does not quite make sense and even when revealed at the end I was still unsure whether the Jamie Bell character was telling the whole truth. It seems very unlikely that he escaped a military prison with a gun, or later aquired one, and was able to meet and contaminate and cause the death of his wife. Then escape being caught and make it to an isolated island inhabited by two people. It would possibly make more sense, and maybe this was actually the true scenario of the plot to guess yourself (????), that he had been placed there by the military to see the effect on people of the possibly engineered military weapon to see how effective it was. Hey! Maybe I should write a movie? The use of Cillian Murphy as a meek and emotionally damaged character works well as he eventually displays a stronger will. And conversely the Jamie Bell character as an aggressive and acting suppresively on the two other actors also work as he also starts to show increasing weakness and emotionally wrecked true personality. Thandie Newton is also excellent throughout. Some reviewers see the blocking of windows and doors with wooden boards as a plot hole. But it isn't really. He firstly blocks them with plastic bags etc to stop potential infected people breathing in to the house. The wooden blockage is to stop them physically getting in. Airborne spread viruses don't flow usually over miles infecting people. Viruses of this type are normally spread by direct contact between people either by exhaling the virus closely between people or body liquid contact between the infected and non infected individuals. So blocking windows and doors so the infected can't enter makes perfect sense. The plot problems for me is does the Bell character expect to stay safe there for a long time. Does he expect to kill them anyway by their contact with him if he is the spreader of the virus. Is the virus really spreading around the world? The CB message seems to indicate that. If their is a vaccine which is not quite clear why are they not vaccinated instead of killed, in Thandie Newtons case. If the virus is spreading through the world why would the army take the time to come and kill them anyway, though at the end they only need to kill one character.
All these plot issues for me, like other films I have enjoyed, increase the sense of mystery and suspense. The ending of the movie does not really answer what is happening to the rest of the world. This, and the fact I thought the characters were very good unlike other reviewers opinion, increased the what I at times felt the crushing anxiety. Many people may say they could see the last scenes coming from miles away. I am normally pretty good, or rather bad as it reduces the enjoyment of a film, of seeing an end 'twist' coming. I didn't. I literally jumped out my seat. For that alone it is a 7/10 film for me. And as I say I was engrossed by the anxiety and uncertainty throughout. Also you my want to take note of my possible explanation of the plot earlier in the review. I thought it was a good explanation. If I ever find out that was what was intended I will increase it to 10/10 to massage my large ego. Joke. Or was it...
Certainly not a perfect movie. But I think it pulls of an unlikely plot well with only four actors with speaking lines. Both leading actors are playing well against their normal type of role to the extent that they should have really swapped roles. But because they didn't makes their performances more impressive and they are very believable.
The plot does not quite make sense and even when revealed at the end I was still unsure whether the Jamie Bell character was telling the whole truth. It seems very unlikely that he escaped a military prison with a gun, or later aquired one, and was able to meet and contaminate and cause the death of his wife. Then escape being caught and make it to an isolated island inhabited by two people. It would possibly make more sense, and maybe this was actually the true scenario of the plot to guess yourself (????), that he had been placed there by the military to see the effect on people of the possibly engineered military weapon to see how effective it was. Hey! Maybe I should write a movie? The use of Cillian Murphy as a meek and emotionally damaged character works well as he eventually displays a stronger will. And conversely the Jamie Bell character as an aggressive and acting suppresively on the two other actors also work as he also starts to show increasing weakness and emotionally wrecked true personality. Thandie Newton is also excellent throughout. Some reviewers see the blocking of windows and doors with wooden boards as a plot hole. But it isn't really. He firstly blocks them with plastic bags etc to stop potential infected people breathing in to the house. The wooden blockage is to stop them physically getting in. Airborne spread viruses don't flow usually over miles infecting people. Viruses of this type are normally spread by direct contact between people either by exhaling the virus closely between people or body liquid contact between the infected and non infected individuals. So blocking windows and doors so the infected can't enter makes perfect sense. The plot problems for me is does the Bell character expect to stay safe there for a long time. Does he expect to kill them anyway by their contact with him if he is the spreader of the virus. Is the virus really spreading around the world? The CB message seems to indicate that. If their is a vaccine which is not quite clear why are they not vaccinated instead of killed, in Thandie Newtons case. If the virus is spreading through the world why would the army take the time to come and kill them anyway, though at the end they only need to kill one character.
All these plot issues for me, like other films I have enjoyed, increase the sense of mystery and suspense. The ending of the movie does not really answer what is happening to the rest of the world. This, and the fact I thought the characters were very good unlike other reviewers opinion, increased the what I at times felt the crushing anxiety. Many people may say they could see the last scenes coming from miles away. I am normally pretty good, or rather bad as it reduces the enjoyment of a film, of seeing an end 'twist' coming. I didn't. I literally jumped out my seat. For that alone it is a 7/10 film for me. And as I say I was engrossed by the anxiety and uncertainty throughout. Also you my want to take note of my possible explanation of the plot earlier in the review. I thought it was a good explanation. If I ever find out that was what was intended I will increase it to 10/10 to massage my large ego. Joke. Or was it...