Maggie (2015)

Maggie (2015)

4/10

Starring

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Abigail Breslin

Directed by

Maggie is a movie that decided to be different from the rest of the zombie post-apocalyptic films by adding some—well, a lot—of drama into the mix. The problem is, it ended up being so boring that I was amazed I stayed awake through it. I kept expecting more, but more never came. Other than the great acting duo of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin, there’s nothing else in Maggie for the audience. The film is about a father who’s ready to believe his daughter can beat the zombie virus taking over her body.

Schwarzenegger delivered a strong performance in this movie, one worth commending him for, but the movie lacks fun and excitement to make it a blockbuster. As an independent film with a $4.5 million budget, I guess the makers were hoping their star cast, including The Terminator himself, would bring in the cash. Unfortunately, this movie was a box office flop.
Arnold is having a hard time breaking back into the mainstream after his hiatus as governor of California. His recent movies have been churning out flops, which isn’t a good way to pave the path toward Terminator Genisys (2015).

Schwarzenegger may not be as bankable as he used to be, and dying his hair and making him look younger, may not be what we need. This is his second horror-themed flick, the first being End of Days (1999), which wasn’t great by critical reviews, even though I liked it, but it was profitable nonetheless, costing over $80 million and bringing in over $200 million.

Plot: Maggie Vogel (Abigail Breslin) is lost and has been bitten by a zombie, infecting her with the Necroambulist virus. She’s quickly turning into a flesh-eating being. Her father, Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger), finds her in a quarantine hospital and is told by doctors she only has about a week before the virus fully takes over.

Wade takes her home to care for her, though his intentions aren’t clear. He watches as Maggie gradually changes, while people around him urge him to take her to quarantine or end her suffering himself.

What we get to watch is how Maggie deals with her situation and how her family reacts to it.

I wanted this movie to be great, but it’s not. Everything about Maggie drags except the acting, and I really hope this won’t have an impact on the performance of Terminator Genisys at the box office.