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MAGGIE
**** von *****
Ein Vater-Tochter Drama mit dem Hintergrund einer Zombieepidemie, ruhig, kammerspielartig, fast meditativ,
Arnold einfach der Hammer und Abigail Breslin zum Niederknien. Und mal nicht Zombies als hirnlose Killer, sondern als verzweifelte Opfer einer schrecklichen Krankheit, mal eine andere Herangehensweise. Es gibt keine Action, es gibt keinen Splatter, es ist ein low budget-Film, der mir aber sicher länger und nachhaltiger in Erinnerung bleiben wird als TWD. Interessantes 20 min Interview mit Arnie auf der BR.
Einige imho zutreffende Kritiken von Amazon:
I feel that a lot of people are judging Maggie too harshly as perhaps they were expecting a movie where Arnold goes around killing zombies and throwing around one-liners. Anyone who thought that this might be a Resident Evil/Predator combo will be disappointed. Maggie is actually a dark and quiet character study about disease and death, and is a pro-euthanasia statement.
When she's bitten by a zombie during a "necro-ambulist virus" outbreak Maggie is taken home to her gloomy Midwest farm as is cared for by her protective dad (Arnold, doing some of the best acting of his career) as her health gradually degrades. No matter what happens, he stays by her side. And that, kiddies, it the movie. It doesn't sound like much but if there is one thing that Maggie has to spare it is ATMOSPHERE. There is not one shot in this movie that doesn't exert gloom or abandon while simultaneously reflecting the warmth of a loving father/daughter relationship.
Abigail Breslin is phenomenal in the lead role and I will eat my hat if she is not nominated for an Oscar come awards season. You will not come out of this movie in a cheerful mood, but don't let that put you off. Perhaps summer is not the right season for it (the movie is a PERFECT October release) though it is a nice counterbalance to the most recent Terminator debacle.
Maybe there's too many sunset shots, maybe it's a bit too slow-paced, but there's no denying the effect that Maggie will have on you.
++++++++++
Don't you just hate it when things are built up to be something special and turn out to be terriable or just very average. Every movie that comes out theses days is bigged up in someway or another with a stupid, false press tag line trying to convince everyone it's brilliant. Fair enough I suppose, but I remember when only the really good films got this sort of treatment. That would have been in the 90's when loads of films were cutting edge and using certain special effects for the for the first time and legendary actors/directors were peaking in one way or another. Terminator 2 and Unforgiven come to mind.
I don't really take much notice of reviews in magazines or the press tag lines because I do love most films, good or bad, and if I'm a fan of the movie star I will enjoy the film but will still be honest as to if it's good or not. I love movies which is why I like watching them and writing about them. To be honest there is only handfull of films I despise. Only God Forgives, Mad Max Fury Road, Mean Streets, ET, Ghostbusters and Enemy.
Maggie is the best film film I have seen this year so far. It really is Arnold Schwarzenegger in different light. Now, being a massive fan of Arnie, even I will admit he is not the bast actor but his presence, personally and charm always shine through which has allowed him to do what he does and become the icon he is. In Maggie he is a proper actor and pulls it off as if he had been doing it all his career. It's amazing to see and for some reason comes as no surprise because he is so good in this role. It really suits him at his age. His acting in Maggie is subtle and understated and very convincing. The last movie at the cinema I saw before this was Terminator Genisys which I really enjoyed (see my view). It's amazing to see Arnie going from Hollywood blockbusting action to Maggie, a slow burning drama with a twist.
Maggie sees Arnie playing father to a daughter ( her name is not "Chenny") who us slowly turning into a Zombie as are others in the town. It's not a horror film but has some very creepy scenes that are very effective. It's also has a certain sadness running through it and one particually funny scene around the dinner table, amongst all the darkness of the rest of the film. The end scene is dealt with brillianly as you will see if you watch the film. It's very rewarding and very tense as Maggie creeps down the stairs with the camera on her bare feet.
What I really love about this film is how understated it is, treating the Zombie theme as a terminal illness with a father coming to terms with the situation and deciding how to deal with it. If it had been about a real illness then it would not be original and would end up being a soppy load of tosh. There loads of lovery shots in the film and the pace is not rushed, but moves slowly building to a very satisfying conclusion. Even though knew Maggie was a very different turn for Arnie I could not help thinking of John Matrix chopping logs or Dutch holding burning torch bellowing his battle cry for the Predator. If you watch Maggie you may see my reference points.
I really can't say enough good things about Maggie and it does actually live up to what the advanced reviews have been saying. It's brilliant and I urge everyone to see it because the film lives up to it's reputation and how it's made and especially how Arnie has now turned yet another corner in his varied career. Arnie has shrugged off his usual image and shown us something very special the same way Stallone did with the excellent Cop Land.
+++++++++++++
Who would have thought that, what fundamentally is, a Zombie movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, could turn out to not just one of the years best movies, but also, a serious contender of being in my all time top 25.
And thank heavens it was made at this time in his career, and not twenty years ago, as you could well imagine. If it were made in 1995, no doubt it would have been one of the biggest releases of the years, and would have catered for the popcorn friendly, pyrotechnic loving audiences who prefer Michael Bay and one liners to subtlety.
This has to be Arnold's finest performance in a movie where he hasn't played a cyborg, and without being disrespectful to the actor, it's because he has very little to say I the film, and relies on facial expressions, and the bond he has with his on screen daughter.
His Wade is a world weary person in this, and he looks like he has the world on his shoulders. After all,his daughter is perishing in front of him, causing his nuclear family to fall apart, and all the while, him knowing that he will have to do the most unthinkable act that anyone could possibly do, kill your own offspring.
The punishment in his face is almost unbearable at times, and when he is reassuring his daughter, she is ultimately giving him reassurance back, so in turn, their bond is becoming stronger and stronger, the weaker Maggie becomes due to her 'illness'.
Having a daughter of a certain age may have made me baits to the film, but there were times when I had great empathy for Wade, especially when Dr. Kaplan gives him advice on certain methods.
You ask yourself, would you let her turn, so your not killing your 'daughter', but let her go through a great ordeal of pain and suffering to get there? Or would you do the deed before, knowing full well that your daughter is fully copus mentus when it happens?
Schwarzenegger and Breslin have a wonderful chemistry together, you could almost believe that they are father and daughter, every ounce of Maggies pain is shared in Wades eyes, and due to the slow burning nature of the film, it's all the more agonising for the viewer.
The first chance you get to see this film, don't hesitate, it's nothing like you would think it would be, and I never thought I'd say this.................
..........but Schwarzenegger is a revelation.
Destined for greatness.
++++++++++
Der Begriff Zombie ist meiner Ansicht nach nur Mittel zum Zweck
Der Regisseur selbst bezeichnet diesen Film zwar auch als "Zombiedrama", aber für mich
ist es eher eine düstere, nachdenkenswerte Fikion, Man ersetze den (ich sag mal)
Zombievirus nur durch mutierten Ebola-, Lassa-, Marburgvirus (und wie sie noch alle
heißen). Was wäre wenn einer dieser Viren plötzlich zB. airborn und 100% tödlich eine weltweite
Pandemie auslösen würde. Erst letztes Jahr wütete das "normale" Ebola wieder als Epedemie
in Afrika, 50% der Betroffenen wurden dahingerafft und die Wissenschaft stand da wie Otto ohne Uhr.
Tja, was wäre wenn in einem solchen endgültigem Szenario (wie im Film) dann die Obrigkeit
(die vermutlich die Ersten sind, die davon erfahren und sich in isolierten Arealen in Sicherheit
gebracht haben) als "humane" Lösung nur noch Massentötungslager (im Film Quanrantäne genannt) anbieten ?
Würden alle weiterhin so obrigkeitshörig bleiben und die staatlich verordnete Sterbehilfe (?)
hinnehmen, einfach so mal als Infizierter oder Angehöriger "tschüss" sagen? Oder würden
viele vielleicht lieber doch, im Wissen der Endgültigkeit, mit ihren Freunden, Familien und
Lieben bis zum bitteren Ende zusammenbleiben wollen?
Der Film bekommt volle 5 Sterne (empfehlenswert) da er unter den oben beschrieben Aspekten schon
doch zum Nachdenken anregt und eindrucksvoll eine Fiktion präsentiert, die garnicht mal so
weit hergeholt ist (wer weiß schon was Mutter Natur demnächst noch so alles auf der Pfanne hat ?)
Außerdem ist es als Arniefan schön zu sehen, wie aus "Herkules in NY" und dem prädestinierten
Haudrauf im Alter doch noch ein richtiger ;-) Schauspieler geworden ist.
Ja, dass klappt viel besser als erwartet. Arnie ist älter und reifer geworden. Und warum soll man sich nicht nochmals wandeln können, hat sich der Schwarzenegger vielleicht gedacht. Erst Action-Ikone, zeitweise Ausrutscher in Komödien, dann Politiker, dannach wieder Hau-drauf-Held. Und in Maggie - ein bedrückend bemitleidenswerter Vater, der sich in einer ausweglosen Situation befindet. Das Terrain ist für SChwarzenegger neu, aber er spielt die Rolle, dass ich mir keinen besseren Darsteller dafür vorstellen könnte. Die hochbegabte Nachwuchsschauspielerin Abigail Breslin und Schwarzenegger funktionieren als Vater/Tochter-Beziehung grandios.
Zum Film: Maggie ist ein sehr tragisches, tief berührendes Familiendrama. Das es sich bei der Infektion von Maggie um eine Zombie-ähnliche Virenerkrankung handelt, spielt nicht die tragende Rolle. Kann der Vater seinem über alles geliebtem Kind Sterbehilfe leisten oder wie würde man selbst entscheiden - darum geht es in der Sache.
Der Film ist nicht so leicht zu konsumieren. Ein Melodrama mit tollen Darstellern, Regie, Bild, Kamera - und einem sehr guten Score. Bildgewaltig, und nicht gewalttätig. Extrem ruhig aufbauend, extrem spannend, und mit Null Krabumm oder sonstigem Action- Zausel. Ich finde das aber prima. Marvel X-Men oder was sonst noch auf die Kinoleinwand kreucht, ist so auswechselbar - und Langeweile Pur.
Arnold-Acton-Fans sollten einen großen Bogen um den Film machen, dass ist bestimmt kein Film, den sie mit Terminator-Arnie sehen wollen.
Der Film wird sicher kein Liebling der grossen Massen werden. Und niemals so viel Votings-Points einfahren,wiei der Terminator. Ich finde den Film zig mal besser, und der Schwarzenegger hat bei mir ein Stein im Brett, weil er sich mal sowas traut.
+++++++++++++++++++
Moo7re, Dalton und Brosnan sind doch auf Augenhöhe.
