The Crazies (2010): B

 Working in a vein similar to – if not quite as successful as – Zach Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead do-over, replete with intro use of a Johnny Cash song (here, a cover of “We’ll Meet Again”), Breck Eisner’s remake of George A. Romero’s 1973 The Crazies is a testament to the value of understated genre craftsmanship. In the type of small town U.S.A. John Mellencamp would adore, a local sheriff (Timothy Olyphant), his doctor wife (Radha Mitchell) and his deputy (Joe Anderson) attempt to deal with a fast-moving plague outbreak that’s turning their neighbors insane. As in Romero’s version, water polluted by a mishandled government bio-agent is the culprit, and the gas-masked military – which quickly shows up to contain (i.e. slaughter everyone in) the area – is as dangerous as the lunatic townsfolk. Though Eisner’s fleet-footed film never develops its characters beyond two-word descriptions, his cast’s rock-solid performances and his get-to-business approach are more than enough to compensate for the material’s inability to create strong empathetic connection to its main players. Similarly, the director may not contextualize his mayhem in contemporary hot-button fears and anxieties as Romero did, but his no-nonsense stewardship keeps the action consistently taut, moving swiftly from one cleverly conceived and executed set piece to another (highlights being a stop at a car wash and a resourceful knife-to-the-throat). From its society-in-flames scenario to its apocalyptic zombie-ish imagery, no new soil is tilled here. Yet The Crazies’ suspense is effective enough to eventually eclipse its familiarity, the film a tried-and-true B-movie content to simply do its job well.

Comments

[Charles]

This and Simon's review at Slant have me fairly stoked. Nice review.

You seen "Shutter Island" yet, Nick?

[Nick]

Thank, Charles.

No, I haven't seen Shutter Island yet. Eager to, but that one - as well as the new Polanski - has so far eluded me. They'll both happen, though.

[Charles]

Cool -- hope to see your thoughts on them somewhere.

[The Crazies ( 2010 )]

The Crazies is nothing greater than a movie about civilization long gone psychotic. It options government conspiracies, half-assed quilt-ups (it got here out proper after Watergate, remember that), abuses of energy, unthinkable horrors.

[Mark E]

Id argue the business of remakes these days cannot ever respectfully aspire to the relevance of any its said original(s).

Id rank this with the Hills Have Eyes remake in that its a great thriller/horror premise that, with the given generous hindsight, quite gets its job done.

No matter how tired i am of watching Olyphant play law enforcers, He leads the reasoning that this remake is very worth a genre fan's emprace.