Contagion

Expectations:
While most virus movies turn people into monsters or zombies, Contagion dared to be different. This difference was the main reason that the film interested me. Another reason was that the trailer told very little about the plot. I love it when trailers leave you hanging... a lot. Even with these two positives, I sort of expected Contagion to be subpar. Virus movies tend to be really good or REALLY bad. The trailer did very little but flash big Hollywood faces one after another, which kind of made me think that this movie may just try to hook audiences with its actors and ignore the importance of plot all together. Let's face it, movies with many big names usually suck. That's just how it is.

Plot:
Overall, the plot differed greatly from previous virus movies that I have seen. The coolest thing early on was how you sort of followed the virus, watching how people touched something, then sneezed on this person, who shook someone's hand. It really made me feel like this could seriously happen tomorrow. The story was very very real and lacked the usual predictable plot lines. Everyone in the movie reacted to the situation just like I probably would have. There was no random action scene here or awkward love scene there. There were a lot of different plot lines, but they never made it a point for everyone to meet up coincidentally or anything like that. In my personal opinion, if movies like this freak you out, don't go watch it!

Characters:
As I said, I was a bit worried about the fact that so many stars were in the film, but this really never bothered me while I was watching. There were even more familiar faces that completed the cast, but I didn't find them out of place either. Laurence Fishburne and Matt Damon had the largest roles, in my opinion, but the focus was really distributed well among the stars to make each of their roles important. Jude Law kind of gets on my nerves. Just thought I would throw that out there.

Best Character: Dr. Ellis Cheever, played by Laurence Fishburne, was probably my favorite character, but it was very hard to choose. Fishburne played a bit sensitive, compared to his usual tough-man self. I thought he did a great job and was very relatable if you put yourself in his shoes.

Worst Character: Dr. Leonora Orantes, played by Marion Cotillard, was completely irrelevant to the entire film. Her goal was to figure out where the virus originated, which you would think might be useful. But there is a twist in her plot that was really the only weakness in the entire film, which is a bit disappointing considering how awesome her voice is.

Conclusion:
Contagion certainly wasn't my favorite film of 2011, but it was one of the biggest surprises of the year, for me at least. The cast gelled well because they didn't interact very much, and the plot was very unique, which is a rarity these days. If you take Marion Cotillard out of the movie, it nears perfection as far as plot lines go. Because it really falls under no category, I have waited until now to tell you that the ending kind of sucks. My reaction was not really "that makes no sense" or "why did I just waste my time on this movie." Instead, it was "surely they could have figured out a better way to tell me this." I hope that explanation makes sense. With that being said, I assure you that the movie is worth your watch, regardless of the ending. I give Contagion 3.1 out of 5 stars and remind you to go wash your hands.... NOW!!!