The Dead 2: India

The Dead 2: India

Directed by Howard and Jon Ford

Plot- 3.5/5

Camera- 5/5

Acting- 4/5

Make-up/Gore- 4.5/5

Special Effects/Sound- 4.5/5

Overall Score- 4.3/5

General Summary:

     Nicholas, an American electrical engineer, is working on a wind turbine when he receives a concerning phone call from his girlfriend, an Indian local named Ishani. He learns that she is pregnant and is also stuck in the midst of sudden chaos in Mumbai. Nicholas understands that he must be by her side as soon as possible and shortly after driving his car he runs over someone and the victim remains alive even with a large amount of blood loss, causing Nicholas to retreat on foot. After walking across a large amount of desert he arrives at a seemingly deserted village, only to be surrounded by zombies and miraculously get trapped in a paragliding building. Nicholas has no escape option except to paraglide off the roof. He flies long enough for the movie to transition from day to night and eventually crash lands in a tree causing a horde of zombies to gather around him. Nicholas is knocked out from the crash but wakes up when zombies touch his dangling feet; he barely escapes when he gets down and ends up rescuing an orphan named Javed who somehow happens to be in the area as well. When the two reach safety, it is revealed that Javed is a guide who can help Nicholas get to Mumbai quickly. They take a car from a nearby house that was owned by another tour guide, wreck it at a military checkpoint, and continue on a motorbike. There is a scene showing Ishani’s bitten mother and her father, a priest, explains how the end is near. Nicholas and Javed stop for food, but get their bike stolen as a result. They have to walk on and eventually a helicopter lands and picks up Javed—there is no more room for Nicholas. Luckily his motorcycle from earlier is found and it takes him the rest of the way to Mumbai. Nicholas arrives at Ishani’s house just after her father is bitten and the father realizes how much Nicholas and Ishani are in love, allowing the couple to flee together. They escape to a military camp, the camp is bombed, and the movie cuts out with the couple trapped in the building with unknown fates.

Review:

Plot- Ultimately, The Dead 2: India, is an effective plot. It is driven by the desire for one character to seek out his/her true love while society is crumbling. The plot is executed well enough for viewers to be drawn in the entire 98 minutes but it is still an overused plot nowadays. The director made sure to include a scene where a zombie unexpectedly jumps out every once in a while to keep the audience excited, but otherwise Howard and Jon Ford (director) utilized zombies awkwardly. For a majority of the film Nicholas and Javed are traveling across open desert, so the slow moving zombies posed next to no threat. Only in houses, and other close quarters, do zombies have more of an advantage. So in a way viewers become aware that they can relax during scenes in the desert—too predictable. Speaking of location, I believe India is brilliantly used for the zombie apocalypse. We get a mixture of city, desert, villages, and a temple, all of which are populated with plenty of native looking Indians. However, the main character happens to be a white American which is completely unnecessary. It almost seems like the Fords want to send the message that Americans can accomplish anything, and maybe even that whites are a superior race. Another flaw I find confusing is that people seem to randomly appear. For example, Javed unexpectedly appears when Nicholas crashes in the middle of the desert, and Nicholas happens to hit a zombie with his car in the open desert.

Camera:

I wouldn’t have put the camera work in its own category unless it surprised me. It did. I don’t know how to describe it properly but all the camera angles and lighting seem to be perfect, putting the viewer in the moment. Several times the camera transitions to first person which turned out to be unique. The camera shakes a lot which is a little off putting but it’s alright. I realize that Ford wants to display intensity.

Acting:

Every living character seems to lack emotion throughout the movie. During intense moments, each person seems slightly less concerned with the situation than one would expect. Their scripts are great, but also acted out in a lifeless manner. I found myself looking beyond these flaws though because it is all carried out smoothly. Physically, the acting is natural and realistic. As far as zombies go, they walk slowly but are very aggressive in close quarters. Nothing to complain about there.

Make-up/gore:

I’ll start with zombies, since they typically require the most physical work done to them. Each zombie has wide, staring eyes with an usual amount of white showing. Blood running from both zombies and survivors looks realistic and not overdone. Bite wounds, or any wound, has depth and appear very disgusting. We see characters get bit and shot many times, all of which are gruesome and detailed. Occasionally there would be excessive blood spray but it just made the scene more graphic and not fake. Clothes were simply normal--nothing to say except that they were dirty and ripped when necessary.

Special Effects/Sound:

The Dead 2: India is a fairly simple movie when it comes to special effects. There is a scene where Nicholas and Javed’s car roll down a small cliff, a simple stunt, but it’s effective given the situation. Scenes including the transport helicopters seem as realistic as possible, and the bombing of the military camp at the end of the movie has great effects. Gunfire looks and sounds realistic. In fact, all the audio is engaging and not cheap. Including the other categories reviewed above, nothing about the movie seems budget honestly.

Critical Review Elements:

The zombies themselves most resemble the zombies George A. Romero included in his early films—slow moving and eliminated by destroying the brain. But unlike a majority of Romero’s films, the characters in The Dead 2: India chose to keep moving rather than hole up in a single place. The characters in movies such as Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead also see the need to keep moving in order to survive. In my opinion, The Dead 2: India adds nothing new to the zombie canon. It has a common love story and nothing is unique about the zombies. The setting is interesting, but should not be a reason by itself to watch the movie.

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2917336/

Movie viewed on Xfinity: https://tv.xfinity.com/entity/8970258464883625112