Contagion

I recently saw Contagion and before the movie started, I noticed a guy in the row in front of me was wearing a medical mask. I don't know if he was sick, scared of germs, or maybe just getting into the mood and dressing up like people do for Star Wars or Harry Potter movies. After watching Contagion, I would have to describe it with the following words: gripping, frightening, disturbing, depressing, and thought provoking. This movie is about a new strain of virus that originates in China and spreads around the world causing a global outbreak.

This movie made me think about the far reaching affects of bio terrorism or some new disease if it were to were to spread around the world. With world travel as common as it is today, the world has become a smaller place and a pandemic could be a very likely scenario. The horrible disease featured in this movie did not scare me nearly as much as the social break down which was caused by rampant death and fear. Riots, looting, and life as we know it stopping was the scariest aspect of this movie for me.

I felt the ending was somewhat abrupt. I both like and dislike this movie because it left you asking many questions. I still am not sure what the message was or if it was some form of propaganda. I think people can read several messages into it, but the important thing is that Contagion got me thinking.

I was really shocked when I learned how many negative reviews there were for this movie. I have to disagree with all the picky and unhappy critics. I haven't been so caught up in a movie for a long time. I give Contagion 7.9 stars.