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Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated The Cured (2017) in Movies

Jul 7, 2020 (Updated Oct 29, 2020)  
The Cured (2017)
The Cured (2017)
2017 | Horror
A Provocative And Fresh Concept; An Emotional Tale & Thrilling Social Commentary Drama
Contains spoilers, click to show
This movie was pretty great. Not to hype it up too much but this was exactly as advertised in being a "Fresh Take" on the zombie genre. The story is that 5 years after the zombie virus outbreak, there was a cure found that works on 75% of the population. Now that those who were once zombies are being released back into society there is a slew of problems brewing. I liked how this was a pretty smart and unique concept because it makes you think, what would happen in real life in this scenario. This is kind of a commentary on society as a whole and shows how we react to things. Some people are mad about these Cured because they are murderers who killed people while they were infected. Some people see the situation as they were sick and didn't have control of themselves. The military acts as there care-takers in a way sort of like a probation/parole thing where they are given jobs and have to check in. If they don't then they risk being incarcerated again. There start to be incident where Cured are attacked in public and discriminated against for having been infected. This leads to resentment for the rest of the public by the Cured and a sort of underground movement/terrorist group for the rights of the Cured. There really is a lot of thought put into this film and I think it warrants a second viewing to see how everything lines up but I thought it was really good. I give this movie a 8/10 and it gets my "Must See Seal of Approval."


  
The Killer Inside (Joe Stark #3)
The Killer Inside (Joe Stark #3)
Matthew Frank | 2021 | Crime, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Loved it - proper rollercoaster of a ride that I didn't want to get off!

At first, I didn't realise this was the third in the series starring Joe Stark as I have never read anything by Matthew Frank before but first the title and then the blurb enticed me and had I not read some other reviews first, I wouldn't have known. So, I can safely say that this can be read as a standalone because although I have probably missed a lot of backstory and character development, for me it didn't detract from my enjoyment one little bit.

I absolutely love the character of Joe Stark - yes, he is a bit of a clichรฉ being ex-military with a troubled history now working within the police but, for me, this made him an interesting and complex character. The supporting cast were equally well developed and I think Julian Sinclair was a great "baddie".

At first, you think the plot is going to be pretty simple and straightforward but as the book progresses, it becomes more complex; the police investigation plays this out really well with them struggling to put the pieces of the puzzle together with many of their leads ending in dead ends. The politics within the police also provide an interesting side story as does Joe's complicated life.

This is fast paced with plenty of twists and action. It is also a dark read with some scenes that some might find disturbing so if you are easily shocked, I would give this a miss but I would definitely recommend this to others who enjoy this genre and eagerly await the next instalment.

Thank you to Penguin Michael Joseph UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.
  
Avatar (2009)
Avatar (2009)
2009 | Action, Comedy, Mystery
"๐˜ˆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜จ๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ."
The story has been criticized up and down for being about as basic as can be, as well as being somewhat subtractive of the real life parallel this is generally aiming for - and I agree wholeheartedly. But let's be honest here, nobody goes into this for its merits as a piece of storytelling - which it isn't even necessarily bad at on the whole - it just rushes into and through everything too quickly (that goes double for a movie of this length). No, this is front-to-back pure, rich spectacle. Movies since have tried to emulate it but none have even come close to reaching the grandiose scope, immaculate attention to detail, and luxurious world-building. There's so much on the screen all at once you could almost get lost, as if you were right there in this massive, vibrant splashpad of late 2000s blockbuster merriment. And those last thirty minutes of rock-solid PG-13 fantasy violence just take the cake, holy *shit* they rule (remember when these used to end in half-hour long epic battle sequences where you could actually see and even care about what was going on?). Mechs fighting giant fantastical animals, soldiers getting pincushioned left and right with massive arrows, huge flying creatures shot-putting military aircrafts into the sides of cliffs... had a smile the size of Texas across my face the whole time - that's as good as those things get. Plus this is another entry into my Joel-David-Moore-is-underrated collection because he outacts the entire cast of A-listers here. As beautiful as the day it came out, but perhaps in a different way reflexively.