Rated
R (Violence, Some Bloody Images and Pervasive Language)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 26 Minutes
Cast-
Jesse
McCartney-Chris
Jonathan
Sadowski-Paul
Devin
Kelley-Amanda
Olivia
Taylor Dudley-Natalie
Nathan
Phillips-Michael
Ingrid
Bolsø Berdal-Zoe
Dimitri
Diatchenko-Uri
Directed
by Bradley Parker
 |
| Chernobyl, the perfect place for your next vacation! |
On
April 26, 1986, a fire broke out at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant located
outside the city of Prypiat, Ukraine after a series of power surges and
explosions, causing the graphite neutron moderator in reactor number four to
ignite due to air exposure. A neutron moderator is a medium that reduces the
speed of fast neutrons and turns them into thermal neutrons, which allows for a
sustainable nuclear chain reaction involving Uranium-235. The fire from
Chernobyl sent a plume of highly radioactive smoke fallout into the atmosphere,
covering a large geographical area that included Prypiat and the western Soviet
Union with approximately 60% of this fallout landing in Belarus. Prypiat was
not immediately evacuated as the citizens went about their business, completely
oblivious to what had happened but after a few hours, people began to feel ill.
The evacuation formally began on the morning of April 27 where citizens were
told to bring only what was necessary as the original plan was to let them
return after three days but the relocation eventually became permanent. The personal
belongings left behind by Prypiat’s approximately 50,000 inhabitants are still
there even after twenty-six years since the disaster and it has been estimated
that it will take 20,000 years before the area becomes habitable again. An
exclusion zone (dubbed the ‘Zone of Alienation’) was subsequently created and covers
approximately 1,004 square miles. The Chernobyl disaster is widely considered to
be the worst in history and is only rivaled by the Fukushima Daiichi disaster
in 2011 due to the devastating Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Now, it serves as
the inspiration for “Chernobyl Diaries” from director/producer/writer Oren
Peli, the creator of the “Paranormal Activity” series which revitalized the
found-footage subgenre. Filmed on a production budget of $15,000, the original
“Paranormal Activity” received critical and commercial acclaim but the sequels
elicited a mixed reception despite continued box office success. While
“Chernobyl Diaries” features an interesting premise and some tense scenes, the
film ends up being largely derivative and is marred by the sheer idiocy
displayed by its characters.
Three friends: Chris (Jesse McCartney), his
girlfriend Natalie (Olivia Taylor Dudley), and their mutual friend Amanda
(Devin Kelley) are traveling across Europe, stopping in Kiev, Ukraine to visit
Chris’ older brother Paul (Jonathan Sadowski) before heading to Moscow. After a
night on the town, Paul suggests that they go on an ‘extreme tour’ of the
abandoned town of Prypiat, which was evacuated due to the disaster at the
nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986. Chris is vehemently opposed to
the idea but he is outvoted three-to-one. They meet with their tour guide Uri
(Dimitri Diatchenko) at his office, who reveals that he is a former Spetsnaz
operative and has been giving guided tours of Prypiat for the past five years.
A newlywed couple, Michael (Nathan Phillips) and Zoe (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal),
round out the rest of the tour group and together they set out for Prypiat in
Uri’s camo-painted van. After driving for two hours, the group arrives at a
security checkpoint on the edge of the exclusion zone but the guards stationed
there order them to turn back due to maintenance work being done. Uri decides
to take a back road through an unmanned checkpoint into the city. The tour
group spends a few hours exploring Prypiat and take pictures while Uri explains
some of the local history before the city was abandoned in the wake of the
Chernobyl nuclear disaster. As the group prepares to leave, Uri is unable to
start the van and discovers that the wires have been chewed through. He radios
for help but no one answers and as night falls, it becomes apparent that
Prypiat may not be abandoned after all.
The initial previews for “Chernobyl
Diaries” left me intrigued and I was interested in what Oren Peli (who only
serves as writer/producer) and first-time director Bradley Parker would bring
to the table. The premise actually has some basis in reality as the exclusion
zone is relatively safe to visit and guided tours can be provided as long as
you have the necessary paperwork. Instead of shooting the film ‘found-footage’
style like in the “Paranormal Activity” films, Peli and Parker opted for a
third-person, documentary approach and utilized ‘shaky cam’ to keep the action
grounded and create suspense. With its post-apocalyptic backdrop, the ghost
town of Prypiat is suitably atmospheric and Parker takes full advantage of this
as the tour group wanders through the abandoned streets and explores the
dilapidated buildings. There’s a quiet eeriness to the city and it’s hard to
believe that the film was actually shot in Eastern Europe (mainly in Belgrade,
Serbia and Budapest, Hungary) thanks to the excellent production design from
Aleksandar Denic and Matthew Sullivan. These two went to great lengths to
recreate Prypiat using a combination of practical sets and CG to fill in the
blanks.
Unfortunately, the rest of the film never lives up to its premise and
setting, devolving into a blatant rip-off of “The Hills Have Eyes,” both the
1977 original and the 2006 remake! The
latter half is spent with the film’s one-dimensional characters running around
in the dark and behaving in an idiotic manner such as screaming someone’s name at
the top of their lungs while being chased by creatures in the dark or turning
your attention away from your friends just to satisfy your own damn curiosity.
In fact, the group’s behavior defies all logical reasoning so it’s ironic when
one of the leads remarks at one point that ‘we need to be smart about this.’
Maybe you should try heeding your own advice? Despite not being a found-footage
project (there’s only one scene that takes place from the point-of-view of a
video camera), the film borrows several elements from the subgenre such as the
heavy use of ‘shaky cam’ to supposedly
ratchet up the tension but all it does is create a blurred mess of struggling
bodies. Many of the scares are ‘Boo!’ moments but they are so obviously
telegraphed (What’s lurking behind the sheet?!) that it ultimately dilutes
their impact. As for the creatures themselves, the revelation of what they are
is uninspired and a serious letdown but it’s not like you ever get a good look
at them thanks to the camera having a schizophrenic seizure. “Chernobyl
Diaries” could’ve been a scary good time given its concept but Parker’s execution
leaves much to be desired, making the setting a total waste given how dull the
final result is.
Much of the cast won’t be recognizable to casual moviegoers
but Jesse McCartney is a singer/songwriter who starred in ABC’s now-cancelled daytime
soap opera “All My Children” during the late 1990’s while Devin Kelly appeared
on “The Chicago Code” in 2011, a crime drama on Fox that was also cancelled. Jonathan
Sadowski was in the short-lived 2010 CBS comedy “S#*! My Dad Says” with William
Shatner and Australian actor Nathan Philips made his American debut in 2006’s
“Snakes on a Plane” alongside Samuel L. Jackson. Individually, the performances
are competent enough but despite the improvised dialogue, the chemistry among
the group often comes off as stilted and forced on-screen. None of their
characters are particularly interesting to begin with nor are they sympathetic
given the lack of common sense they frequently display.
Released on May 25,
2012, “Chernobyl Diaries” has received overwhelmingly negative reviews with 21%
on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics found the film ‘mostly short on suspense and
originality’ despite an ‘interesting premise and spooky atmospherics.’ There
was a minor controversy leading up to its release where charity organization Friends of Chernobyl Centers, U.S. deemed
the plot to be insensitive to those who were affected by the disaster but Peli
stated that this not the case and that another charity group, Chabad's Children of Chernobyl, had
already written him a letter expressing their ‘admiration’ and ‘kudos’ for his
film. Whatever the case may be, it provided a nice boost in publicity. This is
also not the first time where the disaster was used as a basis for an original
story and the most famous example is the PC video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl from Ukrainian developers GSC
Game World. Opening against “Men in Black III” during Memorial Day weekend, the
film ended up with a four-day debut of $9.3 million and has earned $15 million
domestically, which is a far cry from Peli’s “Paranormal Activity” films.
However, the production budget was reportedly $1 million so it has already
turned a small profit for Warner Brothers even with such low numbers. The
real-life event that “Chernobyl Diaries” is based on will likely fascinate
viewers but the film itself squanders all of its potential with well-worn
horror clichés, offering little in the way of suspense or payoff.
Final
Rating: 2 out of 5
“Uri,
who is really excited to take us there, is an extreme tour guide. He's going to
show us this city that was abandoned overnight…literally! They had no time to
take anything. Factories, schools, stores, homes apartments—everything's still
there. Imagine the photo shoot you could have there, Amanda.”
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