TheVanguard

The Vanguard (2008)

The world has been over run by zombies with a few pockets being controlled by a powerful corporation or the resistance. It is here we are introduced to the “hero” of the movie, a loner who lives in a balsa wood “fortress” that somehow keeps the zombies out (sorry I know this is a low budget flick, but it is so flimsy looking). The loner ends up with a brainwashed company mercenary who has started to remember his past, a resistance fighter, and a solider. They wander around the woods a bit trying to get somewhere, fight zombies, and other company mercenaries. Along the way they find out that the loaners blood is the cure to the zombie plague. There is actually more to the plot, but trust me it doesn’t matter.

What can I say about the Vanguard? Well first off I really hated it. The movie is your typical end of the world, zombies everywhere efforts that independent filmmakers keep churning out. Really guys this stopped being interesting and innovative several years ago, so why do I keep seeing them? This one in particular suffers from an overly complicated story filled with subplots. Lets start with the fact that the loaner’s mother created the plague, this mysterious stranger he was supposed to waiting for, and how about a dash of anti-racism tossed in for good measure (the company brainwashing mercenaries). The thing is with all of these storylines this movie is still what all the other bad low budget zombie flicks are, people walking endlessly from one place to another. This is nothing but one big walk thru the woods. Really I was bored to tears.

The special effects are mostly piss poor CGI. Oh and this movie commits one of the most unforgivably trendy independent “crimes”, CGI blood on the camera lens. This has never been and will never be cool. As a viewer I’ve only ever seen that effect in bad movies, so a good place to stop being a bad filmmaker is to not do this. Really can someone explain how this started? Are they teaching this in film school now? But I digress. Speaking of trendy and annoying this movie is chocked full of shaky camera work every time there is an action sequence. I suppose I should thank them for hiding the terrible CGI and awful fight choreography with camera work that had me grabbing for the Dramamine. Wait what am I saying? How about making something that you don’t have to hide from the audience.

So any is there any doubt which way this review is headed? Don’t waste your time or money buying (God forbid) or renting The Vanguard. While it isn’t the worst movie I’ve ever forced myself to sit thru it is on that list.

½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer