Review: Wyrmwood: Apocalypse

Playing the twin brother of the character he played in the first film, Luke McKenzie is a mercenary in the employ of the Surgeon-General, wandering the desert looking for zombies. Meanwhile, Jay Gallagher and his human/zombie hybrid sister Bianca Bradey are back, this time teaming up with the two nieces of the Indigenous character Benny from the first film, to fight off zombies. Eventually the two sets of characters come into contact, and an allegiance changes.

 

Watchable but disappointing 2021 follow-up to the zombie action flick from director Kiah Roache-Turner and co-writer Tristan Roache-Turner (makers of the first film), shortly following the events of the first film to mixed effect. The film gets off and running quickly, but at the expense of clarity. It takes a bit too long to get one’s bearings here, as lead protagonists are shifted to the background, actors turn up playing siblings to characters they played in the previous film, and other characters turn up to essentially perform the same function as characters from the previous film but under a different name. It bothered me to be honest, especially with regards to whether the Surgeon-General character was meant to be the same guy from the first film or not. It’s unnecessarily complicated. I also don’t think this film’s lead protagonists are as appealing as in the first film, though the performances overall are a bit more polished here.

 

Still, for all of my griping, it’s still an offbeat, violent, trashy action-horror film with some fun to be had. The action, costuming, worldview etc. is still fun. The film also looks better than last time, the cinematography is stunning. Funnily enough, the best moments are when it eschews “Mad Max” action in favour of just being plain weird. The “Fury Road” girl power influence is just a touch too obviously borrowed for my liking. I did like the upgrade to the vehicles and weapons utilised here, though. Typically quirky Aussie sense of humour is an asset too.

 

More of the same, but lesser. Narratively irritating, but occasionally fun and very, very weird action/horror/sci-fi hybrid. A big step down from the original, but there are moments.

 

Rating: C+

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