Verdict
Poor
Dead Trigger is one of Dolph’s weaker films feeling like a million other zombie movies that already did it better and it lacks any really exciting or innovative action sequences that would help it stand out.
Plot: A mysterious virus has killed billions and turned many others into bloodthirsty zombies. Unable to stop the virus, the government develops a video game, “Dead Trigger,” that mirrors the terrifying events that curse the world.
Review: The zombie genre has been rather tired for quite some time; even The Walking Dead stopped being interesting a couple of seasons ago so it’s hard to think anyone could bring anything new to it.
Dead Trigger is an adaptation of the 2012 videogame of the same name and stars Dolph Lundgren so I figured I would blind buy it while on vacation in the UK a few weeks back. I was intrigued by the cover art as I saw Dolph was sporting his Punisher style black hairdo so I expected badassery galore.
Sadly Dead Trigger fails to deliver any thrills and just comes off as a cheap knock off of other, better movies.
I hate giving bad reviews as I understand how hard it is to get a film made especially in this day and age however, I can’t give something a good rating as a sympathy vote.
Videogame adaptations are notoriously hard to get right and Dead Trigger is another inferior movie that will quickly be forgotten.
Dolph and the cast do the best with what they’re given but the dialogue is so clichéd with nothing that stands out and a plodding story that is completely devoid of originality or tension. The action is bland and derivative missing any gore which makes the zombie genre such a fan favourite. It does at least have a fight scene at the end but even that isn’t all that exciting.
It so wishes it was Starship Troopers judging by the mock ads at the beginning and end of the movie but it lacks the sophistication or satire that made Starship Troopers so successful.
It’s very much open for a sequel which I doubt we’ll ever see but it really doesn’t deserve one as I wasn’t invested in any of the characters or the story. I do want to see the female villain killed though as I hated her every moment she was on screen.
Overall, I won’t waste any more time talking about this movie; Dead Trigger has little to recommend it aside from the addition of Dolph Lundgren. It lacks any kind of excitement or thrills and brings nothing new to a genre that should probably stay dead… at least for a few years.
