Review: Mutants (2010)

[Mark R. Leeper]

                              MUTANTS
                (a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

     CAPSULE: This 2009 zombie film from France does
     everything it does well but little that is original.
     Fans of the zombie sub-genre will get very much what
     they are expecting whether that is what they really
     want or not.  Two lovers fight to survive in a world
     over-run but microbe-transformed zombies.  Most of
     the photography is shot though a blue-gray filter to
     give a downbeat sensibility and a great deal of
     not-quite-believable stage blood gets dripped,
     sloshed, spattered, and sneezed. David Morlet writes
     and directs this graphic horror tale with strong
     action sequences with immediacy.  Rating: high +1
     (-4 to +4) or 6/10

In the last two years the United States has been treated to a
Swedish vampire film, a Norwegian zombie Nazi film, a Canadian
zombie film, and now a French zombie film.  The Swedes are out in
the lead.  These films are in subgenres of horror in which the
United States has been the most prolific.  I believe all of them
have shown on the IFC cable station, which is doing a fine job
seeking out interesting international horror films.  Of these four
films I would say that the Swedish LET THE RIGHT ONE IN and the
Canadian PONTYPOOL show us interesting and different takes on the
old horror themes.  The Norwegian DEAD SNOW gives us little
different from what we have seen before and for the most part
echoes American approaches to the zombie film.  Still less is new
in MUTANTS.  Writer director David Morlet is able to create a good
action scene and packs the film with them, but the style of the
film is really better than the ideas.  One keeps seeing people
barricaded against the onslaught of ravaging mindless zombies.  We
have people bitten, but hoping against hope they have not been
infected, usually in vain.  These are staple situations going back
to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, though much is borrowed also from 28
DAYS LATER.

A runaway virus that, like rabies, turns people into mad animals
anxious to viciously bite other humans has infected France about
six months before the action of the film.  Now the infected seem to
outnumber the uninfected.  Sonia (played by H<UTF16-201A>l<UTF16-0160>ne de Fougerolles),
her lover Marco (Francis Renaud), and Perez (Marie-Sohna Conde)
drive a commandeered ambulance looking for a military camp aptly
called NOAH.  NOAH seems to be their hope for survival.  After
being on the road for a while and nearly being killed several times
what is left of the main party takes refuge in a large disquieting
empty building.  When the zombies become attracted to the presence
of humans than attack the building in force.  The action is fast--
often a little too fast to follow.  Characters are lost from the
story and added to the story.

That story is drenched in syrupy blood and punctuated with bullets
 from large firearms.  It is generally filmed in blue and gray tones
that effectively drain the life out of the people.  These are not
unfamiliar touches.  Sonia is the main focus for much of the film.
She is both hero and victim.  While she goes through the same
trials as most of the other characters she continues to survive.
She can be hurt, but seems unkillable and in that some of the
tension of the film is lost.  The issue is not will she survive
until near the end of the film.  It is will she be alive after the
end.  That takes some of the suspense out of the film.

Fans of zombie films may be a little sorry that so much of the film
is familiar.  This is a one viewing film.  But for that one viewing
is a polished work.  I rate MUTANTS a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale
or 6/10.  The title MUTANTS is probably a misnomer.  People
infected may be victims, but they are not mutants in the usual
sense.  People are affected by the virus itself and not its change
to their DNA which probably would not be the same from person to
person.

Film Credits: <http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1146320/>

What others are saying:
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10011790-mutants/>

					Mark R. Leeper
					mleeper at optonline.net
					Copyright 2010 Mark R. Leeper