Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

2012: Zombie Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie Review

Walk around and fight, walk around and fight...

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 7, 2012

Very fast, very dangerous.

2012 Zombie Apocalypse is a mishmash of all things Zombie movie. It doesn't improve on the genre one bit, or even bring any new ideas to the table. The basics of the plot are something along the lines of 28 Days Later meets the Dawn of the Dead remake meets I Am Legend, where an infection has spread and turned people into zombies, and a small band of survivors -- led by Ving Rhames -- wants only to reach a mythical safe haven where humans still live normal lives and the dead are but a memory. It's hard to go wrong with something like this, because who doesn't like a little survival doom and gloom and every now and then to brighten the day and daydream about no more bills, no more school, and free reign to blast some ugly undead flesh eaters? This is the ultimate escapist genre, and should make for grand adventure, but like all other sorts, this genre is apt to spit out to some real stinkers. While 2012 Zombie Apocalypse is pretty bad, it's not scraping the bottom of the barrel, even if its plot is basically as follows: survivors walk around, battle some zombies, walk around, battle some zombies, walk around some more, and battle some more zombies. It's still entertaining at the most basic Zombie genre level, even if there's no real reason to watch except to check it off a list or kill ninety minutes of one's life.

The gang's all here!

One June 3 (presumably of 2012), the first human infection of the VM2 virus was reported. By June 9, 83% of Europe's population was infected. Six days later, the contamination had spread to Japan. On June 23, it appeared in Iowa, and had spread across the entire continental United States in only two days. The next day, the remnants of the U.S. military destroyed all transportation centers, and on June 27, electromagnetic pulse -- or EMP -- blasts deliberately destroyed the nation's electronic infrastructure. Now, the nation finds itself at the mercy of the undead, with small bands of survivors the last, best hope for mankind. A group of the living -- led by Henry (Ving Rhames) and the sword-wielding Cassie (Lesley-Ann Brandt) -- saves Ramona (Taryn Manning) and Billy (Eddie Steeples) from a zombie attack. They band together and travel towards Catalina Island, a purported human safe-haven where Cassie hopes to reunite with her husband and the others hope to once again lead normal lives.

2012 Zombie Apocalypse plays things rather straight and with no imagination, from its plot to its special effects. The film lacks a true sense of authenticity, which is a real killer for a movie with a premise built entirely around surviving in a world where every step, every breath, is a life-or-death proposition. This is where a larger budget works in the favor of a movie like this, in the creation of a more dangerous and believable life-after-death landscape. 2012 Zombie Apocalypse more or less places a random body on the ground, litters the area with some trash, inserts CGI smoke into the background, places artificial CGI cracks on windshields and windows, and calls it a post-apocalyptic landscape. It's just not convincing, and when the movie is slow enough to allow audiences time to fixate on these shortcomings, as it often is, the final product tends to only diminish in value. The gore is patently phony as well, but there's at least a little more blood and guts than is normally to be seen in the typical SyFy venture. Unfortunately, the reduced realism only adds to the movie's problems, and even its "money" shots fall short of the mark, such as when a character superficially slices open the neck of a zombie, and the entire body falls off. Who knew a simple slash could decapitate?

Most people will watch 2012 Zombie Apocalypse simply because it features zombies and because it stars Ving Rhames. No, Rhames doesn't reprise his character from the aforementioned Dawn of the Dead, which is a shame because his character here is nowhere near as interesting. It's difficult to imagine a human hulk like Rhames playing such a flat character, but he does here. Rhames is only one part of the "walk and fight" parade of characters, though he does get the zombie kill of the week at film's end. Still, he phones in the performance, which is about all he can do considering the script gives him nothing to work with and nothing to do other than to show off his bulk in a sleeveless shirt while beating zombies senseless with a sledgehammer. At least there's something to be said for beating zombies senseless with a sledgehammer. Sadly, the other characters are interchangeably generic as well, and the film's few attempts at "tender moments" are for naught because there's not a single character in the movie that engages with the audience enough to care whether they make it to Catalina Island or if they become a zombie hoard's next Happy Meal.

2012: Zombie Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

2012 Zombie Apocalypse features a passable-to-above-average 1080p, 1.78:1-framed Blu-ray transfer. This image yields adequate clarity and stability, which gives way to nice, but not exceptional, detailing on clothes, faces, and various surfaces around the film's many exterior locales. Colors favor a slightly washed out and worn-down appearance, as if a moderately heavy filter has been placed over the lens. The palette never produces anything even remotely vibrant, but basic shades are suitably represented. Some of the darkest scenes tend towards crush, but many shadowy corners appear nicely balanced and natural. The image does have some trouble with light, intermittent banding, but it's not enough to ruin the transfer. All told, this one's pretty basic, and The Asylum has done a decent job of bringing it to Blu-ray.

2012: Zombie Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unfortunately, 2012 Zombie Apocalypse doesn't contain a lossless audio option. All that's included is a proficient but generally underwhelming Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. This one does feature steady and center-based dialogue, which is regrettably the primary element to be a heard throughout the movie. For what should be an Action/Adventure/Horror film, it's certainly lacking in more involved elements. Ambience is rather limited, and mostly limited to a few instances of moaning zombies at that. There's nothing like distant screams or popping gunfire, which might have helped a great deal in creating a more authentic and terrifying atmosphere. Spacing is fair in those scenes where zombies attempt to overwhelm the screen and, by extension, the listening area. Gunshots ring out with nice power, both the blasts of a shotgun early in the movie and the thumping punches of a heavy machine gun near the end. A screeching air horn is loud but lacks that true-to-life ear-piercing clarity it needs to be sonically effective in its scene. This is mostly a passable soundtrack that gets its job done admirably enough, but it won't leave any kind of lasting impression on either novice or seasoned audiophiles. A Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is also included, though for whatever reason it's listed under the "Special Features" tab of the menu screen.

2012: Zombie Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

2012 Zombie Apocalypse contains two brief film-related extras. Unfortunately, the screener disc is glitchy; the featurette suffers through extreme stalling and stuttering, and the "Gag Reel" supplement is completely inaccessible.

• Making of Featurette (1080p, 4:33).
• Gag Reel.
• Trailers: Additional Asylum titles.

2012: Zombie Apocalypse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

2012 Zombie Apocalypse isn't the best Zombie movie ever made, as if there was any doubt about that going in. It's one of those movie that "is what it is," and savvy audiences will know going in to expect a bare-minimum plot, zero characterization, poor special effects, and a repetitive cadence. No surprises here. Oh well, it's all good, though. 2012 Zombie Apocalypse is still sorta fun in a bad movie kind of way; it won't zoom to the top of the genre heap, but fans of these sorts of movie won't go wrong in giving it a try. The Asylum's Blu-ray release of 2012 Zombie Apocalypse does feature pretty good video, a decent lossy soundtrack, and a couple of extras. Worth a rental for Zombie fans, and maybe even a purchase for genre completists.