Cargo (2017)

Absolutely Fantastic

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Hey have you seen any zombie movie? Then you have seen this movie.

My score for "Cargo" was lowered by its semi-predictable story and Simone Landers' unremarkable performance. Fortunately, the film has enough pros to make it a solid thriller. PROS: 1. Martin Freeeman's terrific performance 2. The apocalyptic world built by the film. 3. The emotional depth seen in the film. 4. A smart scene in the end that involves "spaghetti." 5. The make-up. 6. A despicable character.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday MorningA devastating plague has spread out across the wild out backs of Australia. Andy (Martin Freeman) and Kay (Susie Porter) are struggling to survive with their infant daughter, but are forced to start moving when the threat surrounding them starts closing in, in the shape of hideously deformed zombies, mutated by the plague. After getting separated due to circumstances beyond their control, Andy is left to look after their baby, running into Thoomi (Simone Landers), a young aborigine child who will take him on a journey more terrifying than he could have imagined. Imagination and original ideas are things that the horror genre is usurping at an alarming rate. If you want some scares for your buck these days, odds are you'll be saddled with a stale, generic idea that has been explored many times before, and you'll just have to make do with some occasional jump scares to pass the time. Such is the case with Cargo, another Netflix original, and a joint collaboration between directors Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke. It is indeed a highly unoriginal and uninspired story, that tries to cover this with a creepy, unsettling atmosphere, but comes off six pence none the wiser. As the lead star, and certainly as the most recognizable face in it (which is saying something!) it falls on Freeman's shoulders to carry the film, but he has too much of a goofy, child-like face to really take seriously in such a role (or maybe it's hard to shake him as Tim from The Office!) It's not as if he had much of a film to save anyway, one with a promising concept that just fails to generate any genuine sense of tension or suspense. It's pace is a big issue, too, failing to create much of a coherent film and by the end it feels like it's dragging on much longer than it needs to. It all feels like a less elaborate take on Dead Calm, at least at the beginning, before descending into a stale, repetitive re-tread of every other zombie horror flick before it, one with only it's fairly unsettling, isolated atmosphere going for it, but failing to even make the most of that. **

This is a movie about a father doing his best to take care of his infant daughter under the worst possible circumstances. Yes, it takes place after a zombie apocalypse and you will see some of them, but that isn't the focus of the film. The film is about happens to the survivors of a catastrophe. As in life, some become violent, some protective, and some form communities with other survivors. There are spots where the film dragged and it clearly could have been cut to 90 minutes. Still, the story is engaging, the acting is enjoyable, and it is definitely worth watching.