The Crazies: Inhumane, Unempathetic, Disposable

What makes a good story? The Hero's Journey is often cited as the ultimate study of the blueprint for one. The story starts with what is known and comfortable to the hero. Then, a trans-formative situation occurs which presents a challenge. The hero then faces the growing challenge until the darkest hour is at hand. He must be reborn/transformed and overcome the challenge to finally restore the world to its rightful place. This archetype is powerful enough to be found at the heart of many successful films.


Now, "The Crazies" may not be the Hero's Journey exercised to its fullest, but it has plenty of it. The hero lives in an idyllic town where the grass is really green, the sky is really blue, and the whole town comes out to cheer the high school baseball team. But, something happens and the town is transformed into hell on Earth. The hero must overcome and save his pregnant wife and, at least in an effort to, deliver his family back to a normal life which had been so totally destroyed.


Everything that happens is horrible. Humanity unravels in a span of 48 hours and it becomes a fight for survival that seems all too distant to the hero. He is trapped and there seems to be little way out. We watch as the struggle plays out over 90 minutes and we see many terrible things. I found myself watching, and... well, that's what I was doing... Just watching. I cringed at the shocking visuals on screen and jumped at the scares, but that's all. I didn't care. I was just reacting. I thought about the elements of the story that would fit into the Hero's Journey... the destruction of what was "right" before, the struggle, the darkest hour, the ultimate destruction of the roadblock to the hero's escape. The pieces were there, but something key was missing.


And, the problem with "The Crazies" seems to be the same piece missing from many films... humanity. There was nothing in the film that was worth caring about beyond what the script may have told you to. They tried for the first 5 minutes but, after that, you just had to remember that they seemed nice enough in that first few minutes. For the other 85+ minutes, all I saw was: Good looking sheriff. Good looking wife. She's sort-of pregnant when it's convenient to the story. They're both smart... She's a doctor after-all, and he puts all the pieces together instantly. So, I guess we're supposed to give a shit based on a checklist, and a half-hearted stab at character building in the intro? If you don't even care enough about the main characters to dread their deaths, what's the point? This film was full of unsympathetic, poorly fleshed out caricatures... a town full of them. I won't care because I'm told to; I need to be compelled to. Cut the bullshit Hollywood and tell me a story I actually care about. In comparison, "The Road" was also a terribly bleak, and scary, film, but I was compelled to fear for the characters' loss of life and their humanity.


Ultimately, "The Crazies" is a shell of a story with a distinct lack of the humanity it takes to make it compelling. If you want to see mannequins running for their lives for 90 minutes, knock yourself out.


Synopsis: A small Midwest town is devastated by a biological weapon accidentally released into the water supply. The sheriff, and several others, struggle to survive as town-members fall victim to a virus that turns them into enraged killers; while the military moves to contain the incident with a heavy hand. This film is a remake of George Romero's "The Crazies," which was originally released in 1973.