While a lot of fans are raging online about the many liberties the writers have taken with the original storyline, and lists of the differences with the novel are appearing here and there, I believe that the movie can still be seen as a great stand-alone product.
Not being a fan of zombie-movies (mostly because of the abundant use of fake blood and the superficial storylines and character developments), and hearing a bunch of negative reviews from both bloggers and journalists, I went in being more than a tad skeptical.
I was soon surprised to see that the movie opened with a very calm and realistic introduction, introducing both to the characters as well as to the viewers, the slow-arising - but quickly escalating - shock and panic that is symptomatic to such a large-scale "virus"-outbreak.
The lack of gore, typical of zombie-movies, is made up for by the excruciatingly intense scenes that wonderfully depict the panic of the individual and the masses. I loved the personal and psychological aspects that were stressed in this movie and I appreciated a main character who, despite actually surviving several life-threatening situations, did so without any Jack-Bauer-esque superpowers or deus-ex-machina reliances. While many object to the altered speed at which these zombies move about, I find a raging and rapidly approaching undead far scarier than a slow, daft one.
The story was good, the visuals were gorgeous (especially the Jerusalem setting), and the action pace as well as the acting itself was perhaps far better than in any preceding zombie-movie.
With movies like this, I might become a fan of the zombie genre after all.
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