I rarely write reviews but wanted to make the effort as I don't think the overall rating does the movie justice. As with all movies, your degree of enjoyment depends on your expectations, favored genres and mood at the time of watching. For me, the title caught my eye as I'm an avid fan of disaster / post-apocalyptic movies. I was a little skeptical seeing the Spanish names of many of the cast, assuming it would be subtitled throughout. I gave it a shot, and found there was good mix of English-spoken lines and subtitles for Spanish to English translation, which actually enhanced the film and made it more 'real-world' for me. A reasonable amount of time was allowed for main character-building, so I was able to form an opinion of each, understand their relationship with each other, and decide whether I liked them and could empathize with them. As with any good character plot-line, your judgment is over-ruled when the **** hits the proverbial fan and the ones you initially disliked become your heroes / heroines. Cutting to the plot-line itself, I found it refreshing that unlike many other lower-budget and less-known disaster movies, the viewer is given time to settle into the scene and characters before all hell breaks loose. That said, often the storyline gets silly after the special effects set in (usually because money is running out) but I didn't find this true with 'Aftershock'. Although the story is fast-moving (and some may say, far-fetched), it's entirely believable from first-hand accounts of real-life survivors of similar tragedies, where law and order can break down so fast that it becomes more of a threat than the disaster itself. In summary, after the main event, the action is non-stop and relentless, and there is sufficient blood-lust for those viewers who enjoy it. The ending was predictable (but most movie endings are these days!) but should be taken in the black-humored, tongue-in-cheek way it was intended. Worth a watch.
Review of Aftershock
