I watched this mini-series in two parts. I have to admit, the 1st part wasn't too bad. It had all the makings of a watchable movie - albeit one that you've already seen a few times. Think Outbreak mixed with just a hint of 28 Days Later. The setup was fine, the acting was fine, even the special effects were OK. The story developed with a bit of pace and at the end of 'act 1' I was wanting to know where it was going. Sadly, nowhere good.
It was like they ran out of steam. The entire 2nd half was just going through the motions so they could get it off their desks and move onto something better. There were long periods where nothing really happened. The pace fell away and the lab scenes (of which there were many) would've been laughable if they weren't so boring.
As for character development, you'd think with the future of humanity hanging in the balance they could've found some slightly more worthy candidates to work on the 'solution'. However the great thinkers that were assigned to the task of saving us from the deadly threat seemed like the kind of folks who'd need an instruction manual to tell them how to boil the kettle.
As it ground to its trite, predictable all-American ending where everyone comes away happy, things began to get desperate. The special effects dipped to sub-par, and were generally unnecessary anyway. We don't need to see a colour-coded representation of a virus spreading, a few dead things would've done the job. Of course then very stupid people wouldn't be able to see it retreating, and by this point, I suspect only stupid people were still paying attention.
In the end you weren't so much suspending disbelief for the sake of the story, you were taking disbelief, hanging it, drawing it and quartering it. And even then it was a stretch. Shame when the actual plot offered such potential. It's been a while since I've seen an Outbreak remake. The 'touch of 28 Days Later' I mentioned earlier would've put a nice spin on it, if they'd worked the angle. And with everyone paranoid about the terrorist threat, what better time to work that in as well?
Could've been at least average, but seriously fell short in the 2nd half. I'd give it a miss. Unless it's Sunday afternoon, it's raining and you're really, really bored.
It was like they ran out of steam. The entire 2nd half was just going through the motions so they could get it off their desks and move onto something better. There were long periods where nothing really happened. The pace fell away and the lab scenes (of which there were many) would've been laughable if they weren't so boring.
As for character development, you'd think with the future of humanity hanging in the balance they could've found some slightly more worthy candidates to work on the 'solution'. However the great thinkers that were assigned to the task of saving us from the deadly threat seemed like the kind of folks who'd need an instruction manual to tell them how to boil the kettle.
As it ground to its trite, predictable all-American ending where everyone comes away happy, things began to get desperate. The special effects dipped to sub-par, and were generally unnecessary anyway. We don't need to see a colour-coded representation of a virus spreading, a few dead things would've done the job. Of course then very stupid people wouldn't be able to see it retreating, and by this point, I suspect only stupid people were still paying attention.
In the end you weren't so much suspending disbelief for the sake of the story, you were taking disbelief, hanging it, drawing it and quartering it. And even then it was a stretch. Shame when the actual plot offered such potential. It's been a while since I've seen an Outbreak remake. The 'touch of 28 Days Later' I mentioned earlier would've put a nice spin on it, if they'd worked the angle. And with everyone paranoid about the terrorist threat, what better time to work that in as well?
Could've been at least average, but seriously fell short in the 2nd half. I'd give it a miss. Unless it's Sunday afternoon, it's raining and you're really, really bored.