Twenty years ago, the prospect of an Arnold Schwarzenegger zombie movie would have followed a very predictable route: Undead moaning, big explosion, Teutonic one-liner, repeat until out of budget or time. But that’s what makes the trailer for Schwarzenegger’s new film, Maggie, which stars the actor as a father caring for his daughter (Abigail Breslin) as she slowly succumbs to a zombie-like infection, remarkably refreshing. It’s a slow-paced, pleasantly understated affair, showing Breslin in various stages of milky-eyed undead decay and Schwarzenegger moving up and down on the spectrum of sadly bearded despair. While the presence of SWAT troopers bursting into Schwarzenegger’s home to drag Breslin into quarantine does suggest the potential bait-and-switch of a big action climax, the movie seems much more concerned with the burdens of parental responsibility than it does the burdens of shooting a bunch of dudes with a minigun. Plus, it promises the first time in movie history that Arnold Schwarzenegger might shoot someone in the head without at least one dude in the audience yelling “WHOO!” in response.
Join the discussion...