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Overall Rating : 2/10
Directed By : Matthew Hope
Karen Admiraal
Jack Bailey (The Sickhouse)
Ray Bullock Jr.
Emma Choy
Supplied By : Anchor Bay Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : September. 24, 2008
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| PLOT The year is 2015. The last known oil fields have been lost to global war. Overpopulation and famine have plunged our planet into chaos. But deep in the wilderness, one desperate survivor now finds himself hunted by corporate kill squads, sought by the Resistance, and pursued by hordes of rage-crazed zombies. In a world ruled by murder, madness and cannibalistic carnage, will humanity’s last hope be measured in bloodshed? |
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| THE REVIEW In THE VANGUARD, we follow Max, a man whom, in the year 2015, is living in the wilderness. It is post apocalyptic times and the world is rid of oil, and for the most part, human life. At one time, their was but very few of the human race left, some of them Scientists whom survived in an isolated area known as one". To get rid of those last survivors, the Scientists developed a special drug to wipe them out. Instead the drug spawns a new breed of human called "Biosyns", (which simply are your average super stenghed Zombies). Max all alone in the wilderness, basically lives his everyday life fighting off the undead just to survive as he is, what he believes to be the last survivor on earth. But what he doesn't know is that there is something special about him and he would find this out when a special task force of soldiers are assigned to bring him down. It seems as though Max's mother was one of the main scientist whom implemented the disease that created the Biosyns. And as such, wanting her soon to survivor the onslaught, his blood was laced with an antibody to cure the disease. Aware of such antibody, the crew sent to hunt Max down are after it and suspect to kill him for his blood. One one of them, a man named Jamaal learns that Max is both mute and deaf, he has a change of heart, and the two band together. Now allies, they head south to where a Resistance is rumored to be camped. Wow, this really must be my own, "I beg to differ week" here at The Hook, because almost every movie i've reviewed this week has been raved about, yet I seem to strongly disagree with everyone. Director Matthew Hope's THE VANGUARD, is yet another film that has been praised, just about everywhere I look online. This film has been called "refreshing', "one of the best Zombie films to come along in a long time", but I just don't agree.....I don't know, maybe I need glasses or laser eye surgery, because these people are able to see things that I obviously can't This review is likely to be a short one, because honestly, I can't come up with much to say about it. THE VANGUARD, in the simplest of terms is basically OMEGA MAN/ I AM LEGEND and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD in a blender. The main character Max, believes that he is the sole survivor of the human race, but he is joined by a flesh hungry breed of "zombies" in which he must fight off on a daily basis. Aside from the first couple of minutes in which Max destroys a few Zombies and leaves them in a bloody heap, the rest of the film is quite dry of the much raved out gore, and is frankly, dull and boring. If you have read my reviews for any consecutive amount of time, then you'd likely notice, that I have no problem admitting when a film is fun, and the fact that I had fun with a said film. When I put this DVD I really wanted to like this one, I really did, but as much as I tried to find something to like about THE VANGUARD, but I just couldn't As for the plot, the plot is slow and uneventful, and to me it was more like a challenge just to keep a straight focus on what was going on. To close, THE VANGUARD is another low budget effort that is armed with the assumption that it's clever. It tries hard to be clever and innovative, but like the majority, it goes out of it's way to be smart, meanwhile the plot ends up in shambles and ends up going nowhere, |
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| GORE
METER 4/10 Hailed as being gory, in my opinion it's not as gory as some that I have seen. There is an impalement, a few bloody beatings with various weapons, and some gunshot wounds. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 4.5/10 The score is actually pretty good - especially the main theme, that's like a mixture of jungle an Asian themes. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM As I said, I really wanted to like THE VANGUARD, but for me it never really took off, instead it stayed on a slow and draining pace that was rather exhaustive. But it does seem that some have liked this, so obviously that goes to show you just how people's interests on different, this is definitely a "hate it or love it type of film. So with that said, don't take my word for it, chances are thar you just might like it better than I did. |
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