How entertaining? ★☆☆☆☆
Thought provoking? ★☆☆☆☆ 3 September 2012
This a movie review of [REC] GENESIS. |
“This is my day!” Clara
Throughout I wanted to forgive. The goodwill generated has been huge. But a wave of disappointment cannot abate. The third part in the previously wildly exciting Spanish zombie saga has gone so wrong. Expanding the universe of the previous claustrophobic horror-thrillers could have made the series must-watch for undead fans. [REC] and [REC]2 were point-of-view BLAIR WITCH/CLOVERFIELD-stylee, and handled so well: squirm inducing what-is-beyond-peripheral-vision fear. The record button abbreviation denoting the monikers were wholly appropriate. The pre-title credit (which lasts about 15-20 minutes) of [REC] GENESIS sticks to template, and then jettisons it for the standard third-person perspective. Why? It makes no sense. This fundamental flaw hobbles the whole production and hamstrings the experience, reducing it to a banal and prosaic zombie-fest.
Throughout I wanted to forgive. The goodwill generated has been huge. But a wave of disappointment cannot abate. The third part in the previously wildly exciting Spanish zombie saga has gone so wrong. Expanding the universe of the previous claustrophobic horror-thrillers could have made the series must-watch for undead fans. [REC] and [REC]2 were point-of-view BLAIR WITCH/CLOVERFIELD-stylee, and handled so well: squirm inducing what-is-beyond-peripheral-vision fear. The record button abbreviation denoting the monikers were wholly appropriate. The pre-title credit (which lasts about 15-20 minutes) of [REC] GENESIS sticks to template, and then jettisons it for the standard third-person perspective. Why? It makes no sense. This fundamental flaw hobbles the whole production and hamstrings the experience, reducing it to a banal and prosaic zombie-fest.
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[REC]2 commenced immediately following the conclusion of the initial ride. Instead of a local news crew, we now alternately were in the hands of a S.W.A.T. team and some teenagers. There is no natural connection between the sequel and the second sequel. We join a wedding party on a beautiful day. We are told a dog has bitten the uncle of the groom, Koldo. At the reception on a beautiful estate the uncle turns. It’s done with rare aplomb. We’ve been anticipating. He falls from a balcony onto a table and bites his wife. Then all of a sudden zombies start jumping through the windows and attacking the guests. WTF? Logic and storytelling then fly out of the window; I guess exactly where the undead entered.
Devoid of real energy and scares, director Paco Plaza and his team opt for trite convenience:
- As people try to flee they find a huge fire hose attached to a wall in an office (What’s it doing there? Decoration?); or
- The worn out cliché ventilation shaft that’s big enough for people; or
- A sword used to cut the cake (Can you guess if that will crop up later?).
The plot is not just about survival, its main thrust is the separated newly weds trying to find each other. Gone are the claustrophobia and the religious dread; in their place are tired set-pieces, cheap-looking zombies, and lame get-out clauses.
[REC]3 could have gone from news crew to S.W.A.T. to somewhere equally interesting and obviously flowing on, say, scientists or the Vatican trying to fathom out this apocalyptic menace. [REC]4 is rumoured to be in the works. Can it bring back to life this once vibrant horror franchise?