Movie Review: Maggie

Attributes: Movie Reviews

Director: Henry Hobson
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin and Joely Richardson

What is the first thing that pops up in your head when I tell you that "MAGGIE" is a Zombie Apocalyptic Flick? That too with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it.
Guns blazing, tearing through hoards of zombies, with punch lines after each head shot! Fortunately for me (Unfortunately for some) Maggie is a glorious change from the clichéd blood and brain eating activities typical of zombie cinema!

There are always some things that are mandatory constants for any zombie movie - An infectious plague breaks out that tends to turn living creatures into brain dead cannibals but, nothing to complain though for, the 'constant' ends when, Wade (Arnold) is given the news that his daughter Maggie (Abigail) is bitten and infected with the same virus and is given into his temporary care until the virus takes over. What follows is a beautiful, dramatic story of love, compassion and even fear between the father and daughter.

One of the foremost highlights is that the director has never tried to spice things up with zombies unnecessarily piling over from all the sides. There are a minimal number of violent scenes but, it simply focuses on the story of a father witnessing his daughter slowly transforming into something inhuman with ups and downs with their own significant others, keeping the emotions in check.

When it comes to the acting, that is where the cast brings the story to life.
Arnold as weary 'farm' dad is extremely graceful.  His so 'un-Arnold' like performance resonates the most and tends to be one of his BEST works so far! 
Abigail as Maggie matches Arnold at every step. Finding herself dying or more importantly loosing control of her mind and body is depicted with ease. Even when the transformation is right at her face, she works her way about just right.

I agree Maggi is not perfect, it gets slow from time to time, with many instances left unexplained, but the core i.e. a poignant father-daughter relationship remains intact till the very end. For the niche, MAGGIE would definitely be worth your time but, for the movie goers who like 'masala' in their cinema, Maggie would be slow and drab for which I give it 2.5 Shors! Cheers.

Tags: Maggie, Maggie Movie Review, English Movie Review, Hollywood Movie Review