© FAKESHEMP.NET
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Podcasts
    • Podcasts
    • Good Movie Monday
    • WTF was that?
  • MEDIA
    • Videos >
      • Photos
  • GLG
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • About

MAGGIE

12/7/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
2015 / Director. Henry Dobson.
Review by Shaun Crawford. 

They all do it eventually. Jumping off buildings and shooting people in the face gets old, the body can't keep up and like an elite sportsman moving into commentary so too do the action stars of the 80s move into serious drama.


So, then, the question on everyone's lips is, how does Schwarzenegger fare? Does he have the chops?

In MAGGIE he plays Wade Vogel, devoted family man and father to runaway teen, Maggie (Abigail Breslin). Trouble is, America has been decimated by an outbreak of a disease that slowly turns those infected into cannibalistic, brain-chomping zombies. After a two week search Maggie turns up in a hospital, infected with the virus and Wade brings her home to stay by he side as she slowly slips away.

Much like Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS, MAGGIE takes a huge subject (the end of civilisation, forchristsake) and personalises it by boiling it down to one family's struggle. The Vogels live a life of almost complete isolation and while they share the problems of the world, their problems are their burden to bare.

First time feature director Henry Hobson has crafted a dense, tabacco-stained and textured world, one on the edge of destruction that's barely clinging on to the humanity it has left - much like the Vogels. It's a stark film that starts with a sombre tone and only gets darker. Even the moments of levity, when they do come, are undermined by an overwhelming sense of impending doom and the increasingly macabre behavior of Maggie. Hobson, with his limited budget, has cleverly managed to conjour a world on the brink with the occasion shot of burning, arid farmlands and perpetually stormy, grey skies.

So, to answer the burning question, 'how does Arnie do'? The answer is 'surprisingly well'. His portrayal of Wade is one of genuine love and adoration for his daughter and of complete vulnerability. He's not perfect, however. Once or twice the material means he over-stretches his talents but it's good to see him succeed more than he fails. Hobson, wisely, never harks back to his action-star repertoire even when Arnold is brandishing a shotgun for self-defence. Wade is not a hero, he's scared and he's lost and Schwarzenegger has his mallet-sized hands all over it. There's no cheeky winks to the viewer, no quips. He has a genuine connection with the audience, and that is more that can be said for a lot of his contemporaries.

Breslin and Joely Richardson round out the supporting cast. Breslin turns on the charm for the infected Maggie, easily flitting between regular girl to terrified teenager knocking on the door of a horrendous death. Richardson has less room to move as the terrified step-mother doing what she can for Maggie through a constant fear and wariness of the condition - the Yin to Wade's fiercely protective Yang.

Maggie will get viewers in purely on curiosity factor alone but arguably its bulky leading man is more successful in drama than he was in comedy. 
The film's not perfect and you'll be left feeling robbed of a decent ending, which is a shame given the groundwork that came before it, but it's perhaps still worth a butchers to satisfy that inquisitive part of your noodle.


We'll have to wait and see what Arnie's next step will be but if Maggie is an indicator of potential then bring it on.

Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    OUR WRITERS
    GLENN COCHRANE
    JARRET GAHAN
    SHAUN CRAWFORD
    ALEX MAYNARD
    CHRIS THOMPSON​
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    September 2010
    April 2010

    RSS Feed

© 2018 FakeShemp.Net    All rights reserved.  FakeShemp.Net Illustrations by MJ Barros. 
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Podcasts
    • Podcasts
    • Good Movie Monday
    • WTF was that?
  • MEDIA
    • Videos >
      • Photos
  • GLG
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • About