Review of Zombiepura, The Local Army Zombie Film That is Now in Cinemas

Zombies have always been a fascinating subject, but it wasn’t until recent years that they have really become full-blown conversation subjects, with movies like World War Z and Train to Busan paving the way forward, and games like Last of Us picking up the pieces.

And perhaps it’s only fitting that Singapore’s own entry into the Zombie genre should tie in with the army concept, seeing how popular Jack Neo’s Ah Boys to Men movie franchise has performed in Singapore and the local regions.

Indeed, Zombiepura, a local film that’s now in cinemas, seems to possess all the necessary ingredients for a box office success. But does it actually live up to its hype?

Let’s find out.

Synopsis

The premise of the movie certainly appears interesting.

“When a mysterious virus breaks out in an isolated army camp, a lazy reservist soldier and his tough commander must work together to survive, and learn what it means to be real soldiers.”

A ‘Sergeant Ong & Lobang King tryna fight against Zombies’ kind of setup? Cool beans.

Plus, the trailer looks pretty darn interesting too.

And I’m not saying that just because of the ‘chio bu’.

Not really anyway.

So… is it worth a watch?

Before I embark on my user-oriented review (because I actually caught it over the weekend alongside prettygirl99), let me just throw out a few user reviews on IMDb before I’m accused of being biased or just downright disgraceful.

Generally speaking, the movie’s rated pretty well (especially for a local movie), with an 8.1 median score. User reviews are also largely positive in nature.

Although to be fair, there were quite a few less than complimentary ones too.

But then even Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have their haters, so really that’s not a fair space to get jumpstarted on.

Which leads us to my own personal review, which is totally not biased at all.

Probably.

The ZH movie couch, where it’s all about the movie and none of the popcorn 

For the benefit of readers, I shall break the movie down into three main components:

• Acting (because watching a movie without proper acting sequences is like eating chicken rice without the rice)
• Plot (because a movie without plot is like a life without One Direction: no fun at all)
• Enjoyment (I’m pretty sure you forked out that 10 bucks to enjoy a movie, not train your willpower to get through it)

Which leads us to our first component.

Acting

If you’ve seen the cast line-up, you would probably recognise local veterans Benjamin Heng and Alaric Tay, who have both been prominent in the local scene for the last few years.

Heng, for one, takes part in local productions, as well as army-created videos for online TV (yes, he’s the guy you saw on your way to the MO).

On the other hand, Tay is perhaps best known for his quirky, larger than life comedic characters on popular news-parody TV show The Noose.

Meanwhile, newcomer Joey Pink Lai rounds up the main cast, with her role as a feisty ‘chio bu’ who’s more often than not the damsel in distress, save for two particularly heroic bits at the end which I shall not spoil for you.

So how was their acting, you ask. In answer…

Thumbs up.

Despite displaying less than exemplary acting skills on the small screen myself, I tend to nitpick on other actors, probably because I’m so attuned to Lee Jong Suk’s flawless acting skills.

And yet, even with my bone-picking tendencies, I couldn’t find fault with their acting on-screen. Heng was convincing as a siao-on commander who doesn’t seem to give a **** about anyone but himself; Tay put in a stellar performance as a quiet, unassuming smart geek who just wanted to get out of there; Lai might’ve been cringe-worthy in certain scenes, but I accredit that to the scene itself, and not her acting skills. If she could get me to feel invested in her character, she’s definitely not lacking in the acting department.

Even the zombies were pretty energized, though I did (unintentionally) spot some discrepancies. But on the whole, it was a job pretty well done.

Acting: 8/10

Plot

As described above, the plot revolves around a lazy reservist soldier and his garang commander, who must band together to survive against a horde of brain-hungry zombie (soldiers). And while the initial premise seems interesting…

The actual one was, as my great-grandmother liked to preach, slightly off the nook. 

In fact, I fully understood why some reviewers advised to “turn off your brain while watching it”, and I’ll have you know that save for work, I don’t usually turn on my brain. As such, it speaks volumes about how ludicrous the set-up is, that I noticed the sheer audacity (and not really in a good way) of the movie even in my half-asleep state.

But hey, not saying that the change of events is bad or anything. Rather it just feels a tad bit too convenient for my liking.

Plot: 3/10

Enjoyment

My imaginary friend in the closet once said: “It’s actually really easy to tell whether you enjoyed the movie. If you came out of the theatre smiling, you enjoyed it. If you came out scowling… well, you know the drill.”

And just for your information…

I came out with a neutral expression. 

I mean sure, I laughed at a few parts (like the whole SOC part because it’s so darn ludicrous and because I actually had to go through that shit), and I did feel invested in the movie at times, but more often than not I’m wondering why I’m sitting through this farce when I could’ve been watching Halloween, the opportunity cost I sacrificed for this movie outing.

Although to be fair, two things did stand out:

The cinematography and the soundtrack.

Indeed, I found myself gushing at the cinematography at times, and the soundtrack really hit home. If there were to be a reason to go for the movie, those would have been the first aspects I put forth.

Now if only the plot and events were centred just as well…

It would’ve been a jolly good movie.

Enjoyment: 5/10

So… should you still catch it?

For this one, I would have to say that it’s a really varied kind of thing. As you saw above, quite a few users gave the movie a reasonably good rating, while on the other side of the spectrum some were like ‘meh’.

Unfortunately, I belong more to the latter camp, but hey if there’s any solace, prettygirl99, who went with me, thought that it was good. So really, it’s a 50-50 kind of thing. Which leads to my end verdict:

Catch it only if you’re looking for really ludicrous humour that more often than not, elicits a weak laugh than a jolly good one.

Oh, and turn off your brain too. Like really turn it off.

And you’ll probably enjoy it more.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and find some SAF insect repellant.

Cos it might just be my saving grace one day. 😉