Contagion uses the palette of intertwining and interweaving stories like Babel and Crash against the backdrop of a viral epidemic and boy do they have some wonderful talent among some of those story lines - Gwyneth Paltrow. Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Lawrence Fishburne and many more in smaller roles. This isn't a bio-thriller or whatever you'd call Outbreak but a more "realistic" view of how such an epidemic might go.
However, the movie is a bit disappointing because after the gripping opening scenes, the story becomes ho-hum and moves in an inconsistent pace, practically screeching to a halt at the end. The movie cannot keep the focus and intensity up since we never get to know any of the characters and just have brief glimpses into their lives. Some of those intertwining stories are probably unnecessary and detract from the major themes.
However, the worst part is that apart from the opening scenes, it can never quite give us a visualization of an epidemic. There are many many facets to an epidemic that's explored through the storylets, from the people in the CDC to the average husband, father etc but it always has to resort to simplistic table talks to tell us the status of the epidemic. We never get a iconic image of an epidemic in the movie, lots and lots of talk and people doing things but not the feeling of being in a middle of an epidemic.
Hong Kong and China are given the claustrophobic and borderline dirty impression, images of sick Chinese perhaps meant to be perhaps impactful - all the while being standard fare. Back in the states, the images lock into medical drama visuals and it's the same ho-hum we see on TV everyday. We get lots of the TV Fishburne and heaps of the low budget movie inconsistent blabber that tries to imply everything without really meaning anything. All the while the virus never manages to feel more than a big nuisance rather than a global disaster.
I suppose intertwining story based on viral epidemic is a brave and interesting experiment for a movie; it's just that the story sidelines the epidemic for human drama and the movie itself is never able to provide a strong enough visceral canvas and background of the raging viral epidemic to really drive the human drama home. Despite showing promise at the beginning of the movie, it slowly drifts into forgettable territory.
However, the movie is a bit disappointing because after the gripping opening scenes, the story becomes ho-hum and moves in an inconsistent pace, practically screeching to a halt at the end. The movie cannot keep the focus and intensity up since we never get to know any of the characters and just have brief glimpses into their lives. Some of those intertwining stories are probably unnecessary and detract from the major themes.
However, the worst part is that apart from the opening scenes, it can never quite give us a visualization of an epidemic. There are many many facets to an epidemic that's explored through the storylets, from the people in the CDC to the average husband, father etc but it always has to resort to simplistic table talks to tell us the status of the epidemic. We never get a iconic image of an epidemic in the movie, lots and lots of talk and people doing things but not the feeling of being in a middle of an epidemic.
Hong Kong and China are given the claustrophobic and borderline dirty impression, images of sick Chinese perhaps meant to be perhaps impactful - all the while being standard fare. Back in the states, the images lock into medical drama visuals and it's the same ho-hum we see on TV everyday. We get lots of the TV Fishburne and heaps of the low budget movie inconsistent blabber that tries to imply everything without really meaning anything. All the while the virus never manages to feel more than a big nuisance rather than a global disaster.
I suppose intertwining story based on viral epidemic is a brave and interesting experiment for a movie; it's just that the story sidelines the epidemic for human drama and the movie itself is never able to provide a strong enough visceral canvas and background of the raging viral epidemic to really drive the human drama home. Despite showing promise at the beginning of the movie, it slowly drifts into forgettable territory.