This next review is about a film that shows us what could happen in the world's population caught a cold all at the same time and how the government would cope. It's an interesting subject that is based more in the realm of reality than any zombie apocalypse. Check out my review for Steven Soderbergh's paranoid hygiene thriller drama thingy after the jump. 
I have a fascination with all films apocalyptic, hence the name of the website, these can range from Zombies, Nuclear destruction, social and economic break down or films about viruses. You can click onto any of the free film channels on sky and find at least two films a day that deal with some sort of viral outbreak, it seems to be the staple of made for TV disaster filcks. Sure some are good and some are down right awful but they still fascinate me.
For anyone who has read or even seen Stephen King's The Stand will no doubt know that the first half of the TV adaptation is the strongest part because it deals with a world wide plague and shows not only the way in which it is dealt with by not just the government and the CDC but also by the people who it affects, and it's pretty realistic. The same goes for the 2007 mini series Pandemic that starred Tiffany Amber Thiessen which also dealt with a plague and how the CDC dealt with that out break. Steven Soderbergh's CONTAGION joins the long list of well researched films that focus on the outbreak of a dangerous virus and again highlights how the CDC deals with not just the virus it's self but also the media and the events that follow after the initial releasing of information to the public.
The basic premise of the film is; a virus spreads across the world and it's up to Laurence Fishburn and his group of highly trained doctors to work out how to stop it as Matt Damon tries to keep people from touching him and his daughter. Pretty much the entire plot of this film. That's not to say it's a bad thing because what kind of plot can you make out of that? You could add zombies and then it would be a completely different film or you add world wide destruction and call it 2012, although Roland Emmerich might have something to say, so yeah you just go with that and see where it gets you.
Apart from the over used plot, the film does have a lot going for it. The performances are outstanding. Laurence Fishburn does his best performance since he played Bumpy Johnson in Hoodlum and he is more than ably supported by Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Bryan Cranston and Matt Damon. Gwyneth Paltrow is in it for all of 10 minutes. But the cast work really well with the jargon heavy script by Scott Z. Burns which is incredibly well researched, even if the virus is caused by bat and pig relations (not really but it does have something to do with both Animals). Another thing makes this stand out from the usual Made for TV virus thriller is it's production, although I have seen moor civil unrest and destruction in episodes of Sliders. The film looks brilliant and credit where credit's due to Mr. Soderbergh, he has a great eye for detail in this film as everything looks Glossy one minute and depressing the next. I’m not a fan of his by any stretch of the imagination but I have to give props for this film.
My main problems with the film lie in it's time frame, it takes place over 133 days and within those 133 days there is only a little bit of rioting, a little bit of destruction, hell only one shop was set on fire throughout the entire film, there is a small amount of civil unrest which should be much larger and as a piece of fictional cinema, why do they have to save the day at the last minute, why couldn't they have not found an antidote, I'm not spoiling this for people because right from the get go you damn well that the healthy will prevail and save humanity, hell Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith saved the world from an alien invasion force a million times more advanced than us so why won't Hollywood give us a god damned realistic ending for once. If you want to see a film which doesn't end with an 'everything's going to be alright' ending, I suggest you check out Testament from 1983, Miracle Mile from 1988 and The Mist from 2007. I just wish they had more civil unrest but I guess this is more a look at the virus from the perspective of the Centre For Disease Control and not from the perspective of the every man on the street.
Overall Contagion is an interesting film which is a little too close to reality at times and does come off as Paranoid propaganda but it's still a very interesting subject matter even if it is just a glorified TV movie. If you're looking for a thriller then this not for you, if you're looking for a fast paced race against time action film, this is not for you but if you want a film that really makes you think, with a well researched script and excellent performances and you don't mind a lengthy pace, then you could do worse than Contagion. It's worth a watch, just don't go expecting anything you haven't already seen about a thousand times before, only this time more shiny.
Contagion starts to becomes a battle between what it is and what it could have been. It satisfies just enough to warrant its existence while frustrating one with its potential. Nice review.
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