Visitors Review

samsara-5 (2012-05-26 13:40)

Awfully misguided concept!!

I was shocked to see this movie! How can a smart and intelligentdirector like Soderbergh can mess with this theme and get it all wrongin last few minute of the film? It is beyond my imagination how canbrilliant actors like Cotillard, Winslet, Paltraw, Law, Fishburne,Damon... didn't see the point that in the end the hell of the deadlydisease on human race is blamed on a bat!! Ecologically it is totallyfalse. Never in the history any bat has ever been creator or career ofany viral disease!!?? The infected disease have mostly been produced byspecies, we human being tempered with: cows, pigs, chickens... How cana bat, flying and living in it's natural surroundings can be a cause ofannihilation of the entire human race? It is real sad that Soderberghdecided to blame the nature in the end!!?? It's we who are to be blamedfor half the disease on this planet and it's too easy to blame someupside-down hanging freaky looking creature!! And hey, MarionCotillard, since La Vie en Rose -whats wrong with you? You've beenchoosing one after another bad roles and disappointing fans like me??

ArtificialLuddite (2012-05-25 18:38)

Warning: May Cause Drowsiness.

Remember when a science teacher named Eliot Moore attempted to survivea disturbing pandemic in Central Park? No? How about when virologistColonel Sam Daniels combined monkey antibodies in Cedar Creek? If not,then you are likely to forget Contagion, Steven Soderberg's germ-baseddisaster movie.In the opening scene, Gwyneth Paltrow unleashes a fast-acting lethalvirus on Western civilization, and before long, Laurence Fishburne ismaking important decisions as Matt Damon's dejected everyman protectshis daughter, and a uniformed Bryan Cranston makes concerned faces. Inbetween these frantic scenes, a puffy-eyed Marion Cotillard traces thehumble bat-pig origins of the deadly virus, while a host of otherfamous faces pass through, flogging sensational tales and intensegazes.Critics have referred to this as an "eclectic cast," and "an ensemblepiece," but most characters, like janitor John Hawkes or lab-assistantDemetri Martin, are pointless to the point of parody. The sheer numberof them makes for some fast-paced editing, and the plot thunders alongas a result – jumping from Hong Kong, San Francisco, and Tokyo – but atwhat cost? No actor successfully escapes from the one-dimensionalscript, although Damon comes close with his 'grieving husband,' as doesKate Winslet, who is underused.Despite this, Contagion still remains a relatively entertaining popcornmovie, and its realistic take on the disaster-film genre is a welcomechange from more recent and hammy ones: Roland Emmerich's 2012 and theSpierig brother's Daybreakers come to mind. With rising death tolls andno cure in sight, society rapidly deteriorates with riots and lootingin every major capital. It's fine. It's not "bloody terrifying," orsome "metathriller" or a "methodical exploration of the threat ofpandemics" that is "well worth your time." It's fine.

Greg (2012-05-24 08:44)

Frightful Reality

Looking to feed off our fears realized in recent years with H1N1 andBird Flu director Steven Soderbergh assembled an A-List cast for hisnew film entry, Contagion.In this frightening and all-too-real depiction of a deadly disease thathas international mortality rate, Contagion shows us that a deadlyoutbreak could be far worse than any terrorist attack or war due to thepolitical and budgetary red tape that would stand in the war of doctorsattempting to find a cure.Contagion starts on "Day 2". Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) is returningfrom a trip to Asia and is returning through Chicago and Minnesotaalready showing signs of a new disease. Soderbergh works the camerashowing everything that Beth comes in contact with – the peanuts at abar, her phone, poker ships at a casino – to heighten our awareness ofhow powerless we would be to contain a fast spreading virus.Upon her return to her husband Mitch (Matt Damon) and young child, Bethcontinues on her downward spiral and soon seizures and is brought tothe hospital where she dies soon after. Doctors are baffled, but whenMitch's young son dies and an autopsy is performed on Beth, the CDC(Centre for Disease Control) in Atlanta, Georgia immediately beginsoperations under the instruction of Dr. Ellis Cheever (LaurenceFishburne).Dr. Ellis Cheever hires Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) as his legs onthe ground and we watch as the CDC along with doctors and scientistsaround the world work independently in an attempt to find a cure to adisease that may have infected as many as 1 in 12.Not since Outbreak in 1995 has there been a film to play on the fearsof a reality of an unknown virus infecting a mass populace. Therealization of the potential actuality of such events hit audienceslike a sledgehammer to the body. And anyone that thinks Contagion couldnever unfold in our developed world where a search for a cure wouldovertake any political or corporate profiteering, you would have tolook no further than HBO's And The Band Played On back in 1993 to seehow personal glory stood in the way of progress in the diagnosis of theAIDS virus in the early 1980's.With a supporting cast that includes everyone from John Hawkes to BryanCranston to Marion Cottilard, there are enough characters in Contagionfor everyone to find someone to which they would relate. Whether it bethe over protective father (Damon) that won't let his daughter out ofthe house or the janitor father (Hawkes) that wants nothing more thanto protect his child and believes that the CDC is his only hope, thereis someone of personal relation to any audience member and Contagiondoes everything including initiating its viewers to ask themselves"What would I do?" Steven Soderbergh does little to provoke confidencein the CDC or pharmaceutical institutions. Nor does he spare the worldpopulace of unspeakable crimes that include looting and murder forsupplies and suspected serums containing antibodies.With so many plot lines being thrown at the audience, it is expectedthat some would work better than others while still others will fallflat in both personal involvement or plot development. Jude Law'scharacter, Alan, is a blogger that attempts to use his internetfollowers to raise awareness of a government cover-up. He goes fromcrusader to profiteer and has the biggest transformation of any offilm's characters. Marion Cottilard plays Dr. Orantes who getskidnapped for an exchange of vials of the new cure. Although bothstories take up a large part of the film, neither really drive the plotforward – in particular the Cottilard storyline – and could probablyhave been left on the cutting room floor and replaced with morebackroom research and boardroom table conversations on dealing with theobstacles deterring the development of a cure.Contagion is a good film, and maybe more interestingly, an importantone. It will do nothing to open our eyes or change the events thatwould occur in the event of an outbreak, but it does show how helplessour independent thinking and process acknowledgement would interfere ifsuch a disease ever became our nightmare. It ends 135 days after it allbegan (which is the one element that just didn't feel believable amidstall impediments) and Soderbergh takes us full circle back to Day 1. Itis a 135 day journey into our darkest fears and our worst terrors.www.killerreviews.com

david-sarkies (2012-05-23 20:00)

Best left on the shelf of the video store

I actually found this movie to be quite boring with no real plot to itand the only reason that I went and saw it was because my brotherwanted to see it. In fact, I really wanted to fall asleep during thisfilm it was that boring, but that is beside the point. What surprisedme was that this film has so many big name actors in it I am wonderinghow it is actually going to make any money back and what the actuallypurpose of the film was, simply because I did not find it entertaining,and I guess that is what we all want out of a film.This is a disaster movie, but it is not one involving huge aliens orfancy special effects, but rather a silent and invisible killer thatall of the sudden begins to rip through the population and theauthorities must race against time to find a cure. It uses specialeffects where necessary, but in the end it is a film about a deadlydisease and has the potential to destroy us as a race. Well, that it isbit over the top because the writers do try to be scientificallyaccurate when discussing the disease, but while interesting, it turnsout to be a lesson in micro-biology (something which I generally don'tlike paying money to have).Look, not everybody is going to be killed by a new disease, and this ismade clear in this film, but it is also interesting how this silentkiller is able to bring society to the brink of collapse. It is alsointeresting to see just how delicately balance the order in our societyis. I note that there are a lot of anti-government videos out of theinternet that argue that the police force is the arm of the state thatkeeps us enslaved to the state, but these people do not seem to realisethat if we were to take the police out of the picture then there wouldbe chaos. In this film this happens, because people fear death and thecontagion is a silent killer, which means that if the police aren'tdead, they simply do not have the numbers to maintain order in theworld, and this society collapses.I guess in the end this is a 'what if' movie. The writers are obviouslytrying to speculate what would happen is a deadly contagious diseaseswere to really break out over the world, and would we be able to fightit before it destroyed us and our society. I think this film doesspeculate about it quite well, but despite that, it is still a boringmovie and I am unlikely to watch it again.

Fentoo (2012-05-22 13:07)

Mishmash

I can't think of any redeeming aspect in this movie to justify it'sticket money. All the movie is so pale and shallow, without even a hintof suspense building up. Millions of people are dead? Whatever. Thecure is found? Whatever, everyone knew it would happen, move along. Thebrave scientist tests the vaccine on herself? Whatever, just another 30seconds in the movie until we move on to another pointless scene.Furthermore, parts of the movie are not even related, I'm not even surewhy these scenes were shown to me. For example, what role exactly doesMatt Damon's character play in the movie? Why should I care about histeenage daughter's romance? And for crying out loud, why that seems asimportant as the discovery of the cure itself?!What can I say, youtube is full of better directed videos done by 14year-olds. My humble advice is to watch Andromeda Strain (1971)instead, at least that one has a "soul".

Karen Cabiltes (2012-05-22 04:49)

Disappointing

Quite disappointing but I gave it a 7.2!Too many top caliber actors, too many characters. Singling out isunfair because no one ever really stand out. I was expecting of athriller. What came out was the opposite of that. I even got lost intrying to understand the plot of the movie. Steven Soderbergh is knownfor his Ocean's... movies. But Contagion lacks something that made theOcean's movies succeed. I watched this on big screen with my dear office friends. Aside fromthat, a friend of mine also recommended this. But if you would beasking me, just wait for a DVD copy. :)

MYeah_Gorlomi (2012-05-20 23:51)

Made with the best intentions, but I was expecting a lot more from it.

Steven Soderbergh is a very versatile director who is constantlychallenging himself with new projects. This time, he takes a stab at a28 Days Later style thriller with Contagion. If only he had done asgood a job as Danny Boyle. Stephen Mirrione's film editing is honestlythe best aspect of the film, and a lot better than it deserved. Hetries his hardest to make sense of the uneven and confusing script, andmake the most of the talented cast. Jude Law and Jennifer Ehle standout amongst the all star ensemble, but Soderbergh's direction feelsmisguided at times, and despite an intriguing first 70 minutes, thingstake a turn for the boring and undercooked in the film's third act.Someone should have also told Soderbergh to cool it with the sound mix,and stop overplaying Cliff Martinez, whose ear grating electronicmusical score constantly threatened to shake the knickknacks off myshelves.** out of ****

Sam Wanjere (2012-05-20 16:03)

Contagion (2011)

A rare example of a heavyweight cast pulling off a movie instead ofclashing egos. Refreshing. Quite a cast of heavies in one place,Gwyneth Paltrow (cameo), Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, BryanCranston, Jude Law, Kate Winslet.Coming from the relatively less developed world, it was a humblingreminder that humans without law and order in society are essentiallythe same the world over. The chaos that follows military curfews inaffected towns (e.g. Minneapolis) leads to supply shortages and lootingto get the increasingly fewer goods.While still a movie, I cannot help admire the thoroughness the USgovernment goes about identifying events from Ground Zero to eventualmass production of the vaccine. The movie avoids a CSI-like graphicscreen demonstration of infections and suchlike and sticks tofast-paced drama of a thriller nature.A seemingly random affair kick starts the eventual epidemic that kills26 million worldwide. Tying that into a story takes quite some telling.A worthy watch.

richardmurray2 (2012-05-19 10:58)

The right film at the right time

"Contagion" is a film which everybody should go and see. Its soberdocumentary style, multiple perspectives that effectively communicatethe scale of the human tragedy, and above all its tacit analysis ofglobal health problems means that this is a film which both educatesand entertains.If you are looking for light entertainment or zombie gorefests,contagion will not satisfy. Likewise, if your first reaction on 9/11was to start dreaming up conspiracies even as emergency workers andcivilians were risking their lives to help their fellow citizens,"Contagion" will infuriate you, and rightly so. "Contagion" avoids theeasy and popular "Captain Tripps"-style conspiracy theories - like realviruses, MEV-1 is the result of chance ("the wrong bat met the wrongpig") combined with the rapid movement of people across nationalborders in a globalised age."Contagion" also highlights one of the main problems of the InformationAge - information, true or false, travels far faster than publicauthorities can regulate or control it, and the chaos resulting fromthe light-speed flow of misinformation and hysteria is more terrifyingthan the disease itself. The Jude Law character was probably tooflattering compared to his real-world inspirations. Fear-mongers andopportunists breed in the blogosphere like the eponymous contagion in aculture, and people raised in eras of information scarcity have nomeans to protect themselves from deception by sorting good informationfrom bad. As the children who died after their parents refused tovaccinate them in the early 2000s would attest, misinformation can havefatal consequences. Unfortunately, few fear-mongers are ever chargedwith manslaughter for their crimes, but if this isn't analogous tostarting a stampede in a packed theatre by shouting "fire", what is?Lastly, the film masterfully juxtaposed how disaster brings out boththe best and worst in people - scenes of volunteers helping the sick,distributing donated goods, posting malicious lies and committing armedrobberies reflected similar scenes which occur whenever disasterstrikes. The film forces each of us to think how we would act, how wewould expect others to act, and why. It should also force us to ask ourgovernments how prepared they are to respond to disaster, whether theyhave the material means and constitutional powers to react to safeguardour way of life in a state of emergency, and if not, why not.People mention the lack of drama and characterisation, but I think theyhave missed the point - it wasn't a standard blockbuster, and shouldn'thave attempted to be. Also, people claiming it had an environmentalistor Michael Moore-esque message? Seriously? Overall, it was the rightstory at the right time, and most importantly told the right way.

dtucker86 (2012-05-18 22:10)

Terrifying

This movie is one of the most chilling doomsday thrillers you couldpossibly imagine. I rank it right up there with Outbreak, The Day Afterand Fail Safe. What is most scary is that it is entirely plausible. In1918 there really was a worldwide epidemic that killed millions. Itkilled 1% of the population of the entire world. In less then a year,it took more lives then in all the years of World War I. They mentionthis in the movie as a matter of fact. The scenes in the film showingdeserted cities, airports, people fighting to the death over food andmedicine and above all the scenes with the dead being buried in massgraves will always stay in my mind. Matt Damon as always does a greatjob as the grieving husband and father, I am eagerly awaiting the nextBourne movie. The one beef I had is the fact that they give ElliottGould such a small part, he is one of my favorite actors and in myhumble opinion one of the most unappreciated great actors of our time.One other thing I wanted to point out is that the terrible epidemic of1918 was the result of a simple flu bug that went genetically berserk.According to experts it could easily, VERY easily happen again!

Pongo000 (2012-05-16 13:04)

A lugubrious mess

Steven Soderbergh's plodding, insipid direction and a host ofcharacters you really can't sympathize this makes this movie one of theworst I've seen. Worst of all, the trailers are absolutely misleading:No one could have watched these and not expected a mix of "28 DaysLater" with maybe a bit of "Resident Evil" thrown in. Instead, we'reoffered a classic case of bait and switch.Soderbergh hasn't come out with a decent movie since "Traffic". Whatwas he thinking here? Trademark Soderbergh directing abounds in thisone: Long lingering shots that are confusing or that the viewer reallydoesn't care about (door locks anyone?). An incredibly interminablecasino sequence where we get to watch a character played by GwynethPaltrow gamble. For long minutes. I mean, really? Soderbergh has thisuncanny ability (shared with Woody Allen) to attract top stars to hisfilms. Unlike Allen, Soderbergh's movies (save for the aforementioned"Traffic" and possibly "sex, lies, and videotape" are all fluff pieces,here and gone faster than you can say "It's not just lysine. It'scitric. It's gluconate." What in the world was Matt Damon thinking whenhe took on this script? I forgave him for "The Informant!". But geez,since when do patients get bad news about the passing of a loved one infront of the patient registration desk? Damon is practically devoid ofemotion throughout the movie, which I attribute not to Damon's actingability (he's actually a brilliant actor in the right setting), but toSoderbergh's brain-dead directing. His character is simply one that'sdifficult to care about, as are most of the other characters.I could go on an on about good actors wasted in a bad film: KateWinslet handing a sick person her blanket off her own death bed (yeah,we get it: She's a person that thinks about others, but that's whyshe's a doctor)...Paltrow, so excellent in so many movies, reduced toan adulteress that has zero character development, yet we're expectedto actually care for her...Laurence Fishburn, whose character isincredibly egocentric, looking out only for himself and those aroundhim until Soderbergh figures out he should be imbued with a shred ofcompassion to tidy things up at the end. What in the world were you allthinking?For the love of God, your loved ones, your friends, and most of allyourself: Skip this one. I am still kicking myself over changing mymind at the last minute to see this instead of "The Thing". What in theworld was I thinking?

davidx2718 (2012-05-15 20:06)

Thriller with more science than personality

'Contagion' is a fascinating, clinical look at how a virus getslaunched into the human race and how humans around the world react.  Weget a close-up look at scientists, scumbags, looters, corporate bottomfeeders, conspiracy theorists, teenagers, the military, ... evenChinese villagers, and how they cope when the world around them startsto disintegrate. It seems that during emergencies the heroes swing intoaction and the worms come out of the woodwork. Some humans are worsethan the virus. 'Contagion' works the way a good documentary does.There are no bloody- eyed, zombified virus carriers launching theirinfected selves at terrified innocents. The danger and adrenaline comeswith a quiet cough, or when one person sips from a glass and someoneelse picks it up. This movie gives you a behind the scenes look at thedisease control command centres and will have you wondering to the lastminute -- if you're interested in that kind of thing -- who was patientzero and how did this virus get started? My wife was not impressed withthis movie. She tends to like character-driven or blockbusterentertainment. I felt bad that I picked this movie and she had to sitthrough it, but I sure enjoyed it.

Dave Voyles (2012-05-14 01:43)

Where is the second half of the movie?

I went into this movie with high expectations. I was pleased for nearlythe entire film, as it is very thorough and in depth. The characteracting is spot on, and each provide believable performances. There are two major issue with this film, however. 1) They try to putentirely too many plot threads into the film. Despite them beingrelatively easy to follow, it does lead into the second issue....2) THERE IS NO ENDING! The film abruptly ends! It basically closes noneof the threads which it opens, and answers none of the questions itposes. The entire audience sat there for 2 minutes after the film,expecting to see the rest of the movie spliced back in.It really is as though they ran out of steam half way through writingthis film and completely gave up. As an actor, I'm honestly quitesurprised that none of them read the script and asked "where's therest?"Skip it. You'll only be disappointed.

thesar-2 (2012-05-13 14:20)

Killer Blog

Steven Soderbergh, one of my all-time favorite directors, makes aRipley-Reunion, of sorts. All three main players (Jude Law, Matt Damonand Gwyneth Paltrow) in The Talented Mr. Ripley return for Contagion.But, it's not like they share much screen time together.Of course, that's not the point of this virus-movie. It's more of anadult, realistic update of Outbreak. And don't get me wrong, I did likeOutbreak, but this seemed more real.Okay, here's the problem: I never felt like 2+ (or much more; I mighthave missed the final count) million people died. This is because theentire movie about a killer flu-like virus spreading like wildfire isin the doctors/CDC's POV and an idiot internet-blogger (Jude Law) thatreally p*ssed me off.I'm gonna go off on a tangent here. This blogger of "truth" reminded mea lot of the animal activists in the opening of 28 Days Later. Oh, theythink they're doing the right thing and they're both giving into andspreading fear & conspiracy theories. But, in reality, they're sowrapped up with spreading their version of the "truth" they never stopto think about what they're doing. Or who they're harming.Yeah, you might be asking yourself: Isn't Steve Reeves blogging at thisvery minute. Ah, you would be correct. But I am not trying to spread"facts" around, teach people government is not only evil but trying tokill us and I'm certainly not a believer in other "popular" conspiracytheories. I am giving my opinion. Take it or leave it.I digress…this was a good movie, well acted, well shot. It's scary tothink that this obviously could happen and in the few and small shotsof looting and uncivilized behavior, it might be even worse.I don't normally say this, but this movie was far too short. It was 106minutes and I would've invested another 40 or so minutes if they gavemore grand scale examples of cities ravaged. Director Soderbergh seemedto have wanted to make a smaller movie, more toned down. Sadly, indoing so, he took a lot of the terror away. Think about a Godzillamovie where he's always in the background – and only for 10% of themovie – and the camera focuses on the military and ah-hem, animalactivists discussing on how to solve the problem. Sure, you'd hear alot of talk about the city being destroyed, but it wouldn't mean asmuch unless we saw it.That all said…it's still recommended. The opening letters on the screen(no spoiler) impressed me and put a smile on my face. Those two wordsmade me remember how much I enjoy the craft that is Soderbergh.Further, the finale is nice to see, and though it was kind ofirrelevant by that point, it was still a pleasant final shot.

marc-895 (2012-05-12 10:16)

Open your mind - this might change it.

There are several reasons I don't like Damon, Paltrow, Law and Winslet.They're rich, good looking and powerful (hey, I didn't say they weregood reasons) but this film is not one of them.In this rare cinematic event, Steven Soderbergh, directs this ensembleof wonderful talent in a gripping and quite disturbingly realisticapocalyptic vision penned with believable precision by Scott Z. Burns(Bourne Ultimatum, The Informant! Both also featuring Damon; TheInformant directed by Soderbergh).Without giving anything away, the movie alone is pretty of the genre.Soderbergh does away with expensive SFX and brings the characters intoa sharp focus against a gritty and frightening possibility placingthese usually beautiful people into "ordinary Joe" dressed down lookwith everyday failures.Yet it never feels contrived. Damon in particular shuffles through eachscene as a dishevelled dad with unwashed hair and unkempt facial hair;never quite knowing what the hell is going on. Law and Winslett providebrilliant support as equally flawed, but entirely believable characterswho are moved by rather than move the story, or worse, are just therefor as eye candy.While not a movie for the feint of heart, the hard science in Contagionexposes some interesting questions for us all. The archetypalDamon/Paltrow/Law and Winslet fans are likely to be disappointed (forthe wrong reasons) but true movie lovers are in for a nightmarish treat- but the nightmares will come after the credits are a distant memory.

scotty_goldie (2012-05-12 07:27)

What a way to celebrate Christmas Eve ! Don't get fooled by the title.

Utterly disappointed. This star-studded cast promised so much butdelivered so very little. The dialogs were so flat and it was as thoughread off a teleprompter. The movie came across like a documentary and Ithought the filming was terrible. Besides Matt Damon, I thought therest of the acting crew did a bad job. Kate Winslet's made-up Americanaccent was absolutely transparent and I personally found it quiteannoying. There were moments where I thought something interesting wasgoing to unfold but I was repeatedly met with dismay. They failed tomagnify the symptoms of the disease . Just a little flu and seizure wasdefinitely not enough to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. I wasgoing to surrender half way through the movie if it wasn't for my dadwatching it with me on Christmas Eve. Nothing else to say really atthis point other than don't watch it unless of course , you're lookingto doze off.

quinnox-1 (2012-05-11 11:49)

A decent but sleepy and slow paced thriller

Contagion has several things going for it. Like a fine ensemble castwhich includes Matt Damon and Laurence Fishburne, and Eliott Gould. Itappears to have an interesting story, about a worldwide plague and therace to find a cure before it becomes a true Armageddon.Unfortunately though, the movie is not all its cracked up to be. A veryslow pace and sleepy filming style saps a lot of the energy andexcitement from the films premise. Matt Damon is completely wasted in aminor nondescript role. Eliott Gould brings life to the movie playing abrilliant scientist who defies the government in order to continue hisresearch, but later on his story line is dropped and he is absent fromthe rest of the film, which was a shame because I wished the movie hadkept a focus on his character throughout.The ending was drawn out tediously which also left a negativeimpression. This movie did show a realistic and interesting scenario ofwhat might happen in a real global epidemic with lots of small details,but that doesn't make it very entertaining. It's not a terrible film,but just adequate.

maruneer007 (2012-05-10 19:31)

incredibly realistic!! beauliful cast!!

What makes this film extremely good is the cast and the realisticsituation that it portrays.The cast, all the female leads are Oscarwinners and the male leads have been Oscar nominees, so this is a solidrock proof that the acting would be an amazing element contributingtowards the film, and it does in some ways gets your mind attached tothe movie.You do sometimes really feel that you are being absorbed intothis crazy world of pandemics,trying to avoid any contact withothers,trying to survive.(i did become paranoid a few hours after ileft the cinema hall!!) This film really deserves a salute for notbehaving like the other stupid zombie movies and clearly portraying theactual possibilities that may occur when a disease like this strikesplanet earth!!!

Art lauth (2012-05-09 20:35)

Very middle of the point of views involved in the movie

Taking elements and musical themes from movies like 28 days later, mixthem with reality horrors film shooting add a dash of CSI combines tomake for a very realistic and plausible world we might have to live inone day, the underlying sense of dread comes on slowly and until thevery last minute keeps you from hoping to much.the story stays on a much overlooked human perspective, recently thebook of Eli w/denzel and other post apocalyptic movies have told theafter the fact.Like "The Road" it catches (pun intended) events during the happeningand the difficult road (again intended) that lies ahead for the humanrace.

del91 (2012-05-09 08:21)

Very good but were it longer, it would've been a classic

Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion" is possibly the most realistic "virusoutbreak" movie ever made. That's not to say it is the greatest, but itcould've been. Compared to other films in the genre, say "I Am Legend","28 Days Later" and its sequel, and Wolfgang Petersen's "Outbreak","Contagion" is the most downbeat, grim and most importantly, chillingof them all.Soderbergh rounds up an all-star cast - Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard,Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet and Gwyneth Paltrow - asdifferent characters intertwined with the pandemic - a storytellingmethod similar to Soderbergh's own "Traffic". It's just as gripping andeffective here, as Scott Z. Burns' script leaves little room fordramatics and more on the effects of the pandemic, directly andindirectly.While the actors do a credible job, notably Law, Winslet, Fishburne andDamon, some of their characters are underwritten. Had Burns wrote moredialogue, or Soderbergh kept more juicy dramatic scenes in, it would'vebeen a classic. There were some really great scenes and reallyinteresting questions posed - ethics of personal problems againstresponsibility, fear being more dangerous than the actual pandemicitself, questioning and accusing the government for taking financialadvantage of the situation - yet these themes are scraped upon withoutgoing deeper. At least the atmosphere of the film is grim and chillingenough to be highly engaging.On technical points, Cliff Martinez scores an excellent, tension-filledlow-key electronic score that hits all the right notes at the rightmoments; Soderbergh (as Peter Andrews) frames the scenery perfectly(nice to see a movie in a long time that is all steady-cam and notshaky-cam) and gives some scenes an ominous feel about it. The editingis fluid and keeps the film moving coherently although the film isrelatively slow-paced.In short, as a thriller it is effectively creepy and disturbing andwill no doubt leave some people paranoid for some time. But it could'vebeen so much better. At least Soderbergh had the great idea of makingthis virus movie as realistic and close-to-home as possible, offeringup a different and unique movie of its kind. Although if there was anextended cut needed for a movie, this one is it.We're often told that some of the viral diseases like SARS and H1N1 aredeadly and will kill us, but in truth the media's exaggeration of thedanger scares people, and this causes fear. Too much fear is far moredangerous than any virus in the world because fear causes people topanic and thus do irrational things. I think this is the film's mainpoint and for that it succeeds strongly.Overall rating: 78/100