Virus

Virus: A doomsday virus has been released into the world. It decimates life on the planet save for an Antarctic outpost and a scant few other isolated groups. This band of survivors must find ways to survive and face challenges such as the number of men compared to only a few women for the task of repopulating, infected people seeking refuge and willing to force their way to get it, and automatic defense systems that may finish off what is left of the human race.

This movie, also known as “Day of Resurrection,” is adapted from a Japanese novel, but it is not a Japanese-specific production. It does have a Japanese director, and the hero is of that nationality. Much of the cast, however, is American, and it takes place primarily in English speaking countries and an international outpost where English is the language used.

Much of the cast is quite good. The likes of Robert Vaughn, Glenn Ford, Edward James Olmos, and several other potentially familiar names appear. And for the most part these people sell their roles nicely. I buy their characters, their motivations, and their reactions. If there’s anything the movie gets right it’s actors.

The concept, while not exactly original (but what is? Everything’s been done in some form already) has been and could be good material for drama, suspense, and action. The problems come in the execution of the story. Evidently there is an uncut version that is nearly an hour longer than the one I saw so perhaps some of the points I will cover are handled better in the additional material. Then again, part of my problem with the movie is that it feels too long and drawn out already.

The plot follows events as it affects different parts of the world particularly the U.S, the Antarctic outpost, and other areas that don't qet quite as much attention. There is initially no clear hero and no conflict of focus other than general survival of the human species.

Being unconventional can be a good thing, but there is a reason most stories establish and follow specific protagonists/antagonists and conflicts. It works. It helps the reader or viewer have someone or something to relate to. It gives the story focus and direction. The scope of Virus is too large. Just when it makes the audience think we’ve been introduced to the principle characters we find out they are actually minor roles. We swap to other people and a new issue to be overcome.

What it amounts to is that Virus clearly wants to be epic but just can't pull it off. An ever changing focus could work with the right writer and director guiding it along, but Virus is not good enough to make that happen. This is its primary downfall. With a quicker pace and tighter focus this might have been a more successful endeavor.

The focus seems largely on demonizing the world’s superpowers. The U.S. is pretty much responsible for the destruction of mankind along with Russia helping to a smaller degree. The writer seems to think that America haphazardly created biological and nuclear weapons without much in the way of safeguards to prevent situations like what's in the movie. Not that all Americans are played out to be evil. The problems come primarily from a few greedily ambitious men in power and one guy that loses his mind in the midst of a crisis.

All in all it’s not a terrible effort I just think it suffers from being too broad. Perhaps a frame story with individual tales in it would have been a better format for something like this.

MORALITY:

The subjects of sexuality and rape are explored but nothing of either is shown.

There are a few violent scenes though most of it is tame.

The strong language is infrequent and mild.

SPIRITUALITY:

There seems to be no room for religious beliefs anywhere here. When the problem of the lack of women arises leaders force a situation of sharing them like unpaid prostitutes. Even though some of them are married and want no part of other men, their moral stances are cast aside.

While the movie does play this up to be a stressful situation for those directly involved it seems to want to try to make a moral claim that maybe those single guys do have a right to have the opportunity to lie with a woman even if she's not interested. (Here again the conflicts don't get the attention they need to be as engaging as they could be).

FINAL THOUGHTS:

While I wonder if the uncut version would add more development to the plot, I didn't like it enough to want to sit through an additional hour of it. Maybe it works as a novel, but as a film it's forgettable.

#Virus