Let me start off with explaining the background of Chernobyl. The Chernobyl Power Plant was, well, a power plant, located in Prypiat, Ukraine. The plant suffered an explosion to one of it's power cores, resulting in a nuclear disaster, essentially on a biblical scale; Prypiat was abandoned, Soviet Russia's economy was crippled, most of Europe was radiated, over thirty-one people died, many babies were born with deformities, and countless more were either ill from radiation or developed cancer-related illnesses from the radiation. It was the biggest nuclear disaster in history, only matched by the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan last year.
Thanks to 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare', Chernobyl became a fascination to many, including myself. Then there's books like 'Beauty in Decay' where we see pictures of Prypiat, and it actually does look spectacular, you do see the city in a new light.
So I had mixed feelings going into this. I felt interested in the film because it's about Chernobyl, but I was also worried that the film was essentially going to spit in the face of the people who were affected by the Chernobyl disaster. And...the film doesn't really do that. SPOILERS The ghouls or zombies or whatever hunting down our heroes aren't ghouls or zombies or whatever. They're "patients" of some sort, the location was just basically a coincidence. But why were the Ukrainian authorities doing this? What were these patients for? Why was this film called 'Chernobyl Diaries' when it had virtually nothing to do with Chernobyl nor was a diary ever mentioned? I guess since Oren Peli was behind this and the 'Paranormal Activity' films, we'll have to wait for 'Chernobyl Diaries 3' before we get any answers.
The fact that this film wasn't filmed for critics should have been a warning. For the first half of this film, nothing really happened apart from some minor jump scares. It doesn't really explain the Chernobyl Disaster beyond "there was an explosion" and any scenes where we should be seeing the characters interact with the eerie location, is ruined by the characters filling the whole screen or stupid looking CGI.
To be fair the first half of the film develops the characters and the story, or how much I don't care about the characters anyway. Chris (Jesse McCartney) is generally a dick who tries to be sensible but comes off as someone who looks down on everyone, in particular his brother. Natalie (Olivia Taylor Dudley), Zoe (Ingrid Bolso Berdel), and Amanda (Devin Kelley) are effectively underused and we learn virtual nothing about them; Amanda is even apparently one of the main members of the group, and yet I felt she hardly did anything. She did chose the weirdest time to look through the pictures she took though. Paul (Jonathan Sadowski) is one of the better characters since he seems more realistic in his actions, but Michael (Nathan Phillips) was probably my favorite character; he was caring, funny, and honest. Uri (Dimitri Diatchenko) is a mixed character, I did like him, but you weren't really sure about him. Overall though, the characters were bland people who had no background.
Then again these characters are stupid. When they go off looking for a missing cast member, they go in the complete opposite direction that he last seen in (Though by the magic of plot convenience they come across his walkie talkie, trail and inevitable corpse), leave members of their group alone so that they're an easy target, and willingly go in the dark whilst knowing there's something out there.
So the first half was effectively boring, including a scene where the four main characters interact with some thugs, which results in nothing. The second half where the local dogs and monsters attack is where the film picks up. But, and this is a huge but, the scares are too predictable. I pretty much saw every single cheap jump scare coming, including the fake out. The film did create a tense and scary environment, then again it is set in the world's most famous ghost town. Okay, the film creates a tense atmosphere which fans of 'Paranormal Activity' will enjoy, but for seasonal horror fans, you might as well take a nap. Then again there was that one kid. Kids are scary.
Not that you'd know what's going on half the time mind you, due to the shaky-hand camera. Not only does this disorientate the viewer and hinder their enjoyment, it makes no sense. None of the characters are doing this through cameras like 'Chronicle' or 'Paranormal Activity' did, this film isn't part of the lost tape genre, there just appears to be an extra member of cast who no-one acknowledges. Kind of like what they did in 'Episode 50'.
In all fairness this isn't a horrendous film. Sure it has its problems, the scares are annoying jump scares which occur every five minutes, the characters can be shallow, annoying or stupid, the acting can be off at times, but the film does pick up in the second half and is a great choice for fans of Peli's work. The problem is the makers tried to make this film too much like the 'Paranormal Activity' films rather than its own, which is a shame since they essentially ignored the Chernobyl setting which could have offered so many opportunities. I won't say don't go and see this film, but don't be too shocked if it's not everything you wished it was.
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