Maggie (2015)

Directed by: Henry Hobson
Country: USA

Movie Review: When the world becomes a dreadful stage populated by zombies, the ones who are not contaminated try, by all means, to follow the basic security procedures that allow them to protect themselves and their families. The only one who seems not to be conscious about the risks involved in the matter is Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a small-town farmer who defies everyone and everything to liberate his infected daughter, Maggie (Abigail Breslin), from the hospital’s quarantine and bring her home, despite the discernible reluctance of his apprehensive wife. Maggie, a spoiled teenager whose arm is increasingly putrefying, compulsively cries after realizing her horrible condition, and yet in the next scene, she unconcernedly laughs in the company of her bullheaded father, perhaps in a frivolous attempt to alleviate a mood that was never gripping. A multiplicity of dull situations is thrown at us, causing my impatience to grow exponentially as the time passes. I couldn’t help chuckle sarcastically when the family doctor rebukes Maggie for having chopped her finger off, underlining that her repulsive arm is to be kept in spite of the spreading wound. The dialogue is as rotten as Maggie’s arm, and the monotone voice of the ex-Governor Schwarzenegger, a stiff actor, dramatically speaking, contributed to the general discouragement. Lukas Ettlin’s unexceptional cinematography, in addition to David Wingo’s half-tense half-sentimental score, weren’t the fundamental keys required, since the script itself revealed a feebleness that relegates this post-apocalyptic zombie flick to the list of undesirables. “Maggie” was sloppy instead of thrilling, and feckless instead of captivating. It feels like a joke, impossible to be taken seriously.