Maggie - Film Review

Ok so I'm having a bit of an Arnold Schwarzenegger film week. As a kid he was hilarious and now I'm a supposedly responsible adult, I still do. The man is my undisputed action hero. He's been a Greek god, a cybernetic organism four times (soon to be five), army major turned alien beater, police officer badass turned pre-school teacher, a swords and sandals dice and slicer named Conan, more recently a jail breaker and not to forget the iconic and utterly terrible Batman villain, Mr Freeze. Arnie's latest film Maggie however isn't quite the typical explosion, one liner extravaganza we're used to. Very different in fact.

Maggie is set in a post-apocalyptic world where people are being infected by virus which slowly turns them into zombies. Maggie (Abigail Breslin) unfortunately is one of these people to have been bitten so is quarantined by the local hospital. Doctors explain to her father Wade (Schwarzenegger) that he is able to take his daughter home until the virus progresses to the point that she has to be placed into quarantine with the rest of the infected population. With her condition worsening by the day and the mounting pressure from the authorities and his own family, Wade has the impossible choice of sending his sick daughter away to live with the rest of the infected in the unknown mysterious quarantine facility or ending her life at home by his hands. 

Having premiered at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, Maggie has an intriguing fusion of a zombie horror blended with heartfelt father and daughter drama that has fantastic performances from all of the cast, in particular from Schwarzenegger. His over the top awesome antics have been substituted for a more delicate, heartwarming, caring and more importantly, a realistic father figure. In terms of an acting performance, this is Arnie's best. There are no "Arnoldisms" to be found. There's an incredible depth to his character, a father who is desperate to preserve his daughter's last moments of her human life. Perfectly subtle and relatable. I'm astounded at how good he was in this film. This performance is well assisted from Abigail Breslin who gives a excellent mature performance as Maggie, showing her emotions without going melodramatic and sticks to the realistic tone of the film. Towards the second act of the film it becomes Breslin's film, presenting her slow transformation from teenager into a zombie and it has plenty of emotional weight behind it, not just from her family but her loyal group of friends too. I loved the grounded sense of desperation that the characters have to endure without shoving the dramatic moments down your throat like a Nicholas Sparks adapted novel.

As strong as the performances are, the story doesn't have the qualities to reach the film to a higher level. It is a very slow burner especially for a 90 minute film which won't be for everybody and nothing notable in the story happens when certain avenues of the storyline could have been exploited further to enhance the film. To put it bluntly, the plot is pretty dull and the pace of the film plods along. I personally don't mind slow pacing if there's enough intriguing heart pounding drama to get invested in but Maggie sadly just hasn't got anything to pack a punch behind the ideas that the film tries to explore.

Maggie is a solid debut from director Henry Hobson. His unique take on a zombie film is worth the watch just for the sublime performances. Its painfully slow melancholic pacing might be an off putter but the emotional father-daughter relationship between Schwarzenegger and Breslin is magnificent. It's Arnie as you've never seen him before.

7/10 

UK Release Date - Friday 24th July