It appears 2016 was the year for first-person action movies, with both zombie thriller Pandemic and Hardcore Henry bringing a whole new perspective to the genre. Video game movie adaptations are notoriously tricky to pull off and often result in movies that either stray too far from the source material (Super Mario Bros) or stay faithful but are just generally dull (Assassin’s Creed).
Doom from 2005 is notable for being an early star vehicle for Dwayne Johnson - though he later confessed it was a stinker. The movie failed to recapture the visceral intensity of the video game, but it did have one noteworthy sequence. Towards the finale, there’s an extended scene from the POV of Karl Urban’s soldier character as he mows down dozens of creatures with a machine gun and a chainsaw. Even viewers who hated the movie had to admit this one scene alone was kind of cool.
Until 2016 movies shot entirely from a character’s POV were relatively rare - until two came along at once. Hardcore Henry was arguably the more ambitious and followed a mute protagonist as he punched and shot his way through an army of killers to rescue his wife. The film co-starred Sharlto Copley (District 9) as the main character’s mysterious guardian angel. The film featured relentless action and a paper-thin story, but while it could be exhilarating, the first-person perspective could make it dizzying too. Pandemic, on the other hand, was more of a genre hybrid.
The film is set in Los Angeles and follows a doctor played by Rachel Nichols (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) searching the devastated city for a loved one. Pandemic is set in the aftermath of a zombie virus sweeping the globe, and the film takes place from the perspective - quite literally - of a team sweeping the city for survivors. While Pandemic is an action movie, it mixes in lots of horror too. It features some chaotic action sequences and while the story is pretty generic, it has a great cast, including Mekhi Phifer and Alfie Allen (Game Of Thrones).
Unlike Hardcore Henry, the perspective switches between characters, so its never just from Nichols’ POV. Like a lot of zombie outbreak movies, the tone is relatively downbeat and gloomy, so it lacks the fun of Hardcore Henry. Pandemic is an interesting curiosity, but outside of the first-person camera work, there’s not much about the movie that’s unique. It didn’t get a big release either, and there haven’t been many first-person movies since its release, suggesting the thread didn’t take hold.
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