This
movie sits on your chest and repeatedly slaps you in the face with
bleakness - not for any reason, just cause. We get right into it,
with nukes falling on NYC without much explanation, and a group of
inhabitants of an apartment block getting into the basement, where
the situation predictably deteriorates (almost comically fast, too).
The
setup is fine, though obviously it's been done before, and the sets
are nice, but all other elements are sub par. The characters all lack
much personality and depth, to the extent that I had difficulty
telling most of them apart. There were too many characters but not
enough characterisation. The majority of the film is just
gore/rape/violence porn though, and there's no meaning to it (neither
subtle nor blatant), so it's not an enjoyable thing to watch.
The
whole thing with the hazmat guys was totally pointless and did
nothing for the plot. I thought they were instigating some kind of
twist, or prepping for a Shyamalan style shock ending, but nope. They
turn up, their presence is neither explained or matters, then they
leave. At the end the lady emerges to find total destruction. They
could have at least ended with the city intact, or aliens everywhere,
or leaving a holodeck, or something.
The
lack of meaning beyond being a bummer for its own sake feels like a
waste of time. There's no letup or comedy or reason given to even
care for any of these people. The acting wasn't bad, exactly, but the
writing (and probably the direction) definitely needed improvement.
They could have made it a character driven film where we care, or
they could have had some crazy twists or action. They could have at
least had some deeper meaning to events. The best thing this film does is show you the effects of fallout radiation fairly realistically.
The Divide: 25.5