I’m pretty surprised that Contagion actually earned rather positive reviews from many.

On the other hand, it was such a boring experience for me. The movie is not what we actually call action-packed. In fact, it is very slow-paced, not exactly the kind of heart-thumping, nerve-wrecking, dramatic kind of movie that i would have expected considering Contagion is about the outbreak of epidemic (i think the correct term should be pandemic instead) worldwide and the effects on ordinary people as they struggle to stay alive – you know panic, confusion, hysteria and all those stuffs.
 

The star-studded production didn’t do the magic. There are just too many leading characters, too many tales to tell and too little time. Spells weak character development to me.

Gwyneth Paltrow appeared only in the first quarter of the movie; she was the one whom contracted the disease in the first place and few scenes into the movie she collapsed with severe seizures and died – erm i apologize for the spoiler. Matt Damon plays the husband who coincidentally is immune to the disease but struggles to keep her daughter safe (his son also died from the disease). I expected a more grieve-stricken and compelling character for someone who had lost his wife and son and is perhaps on the brink of losing his daughter but instead the character failed to make an impact.
 

Marion Cotillard plays an epidemiologist traveled to Hong Kong to find out where the sickness originated then got kidnapped to exchange for vaccines. Again, no impact; we only get a sketchy version of the character. What i waste, i love Cottilard.
 

While this could have been a poignant movie, it did nothing but droned on monotonously with too much focus on the leading cast instead of emphasizing on the reaction of the citizen at risk.

All the while the government is trying to keep the citizen under control and come out with the vaccine, people begin to panic, they thrash the supermarket, they rob the shops, and they become paranoid. But instead of building up on the fear and distress, we see Kate Winslet’s scene after scene of dull but endless plight to quarantine the infected areas.
 

Also occupying too much unnecessary screen time is Jude Law. Remind me of never buying tickets to any movie with Jude Law in it… besides Sherlock Holmes that is. He was atrocious and extremely annoying in the movie that kind of makes me want to stand up and leave the cineplex.