Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Pandemic'

​Written by Scott Edwards

Getting assigned to a new job is never easy, but if you are able to adapt to it, the better off you are. No matter the position, you should be assigned to it based on your skill set and even though you may not be happy about it, it happened for the greater good. Even if it seems like a step back, you might find yourself enjoying the new position even more than your previous one. Keeping your eyes open for the next change, you should always invite it as becoming complacent is never good when you are looking to climb the ladder to success.

Being moved to Los Angeles, Dr. Lauren Chase is being hit with her first assignment. After an infection has ravaged the world, she is now in charge of bringing survivors back to the base and being directed on how to proceed by Dr. Greer, she will have her work cut out for her. Being present for the fall of New York, she has an insight of what the infection can do to the people, but Lauren has an alternate plan in mind when hitting the road. With her team in place, she will need to keep her head up and earn her keep, or else she may find herself being left on the side of the road, never to return. 

As Wheeler pulls out of the compound, Lauren sees how the world has changed as the infected try to disable the bus. Not being able to defend herself, she relies on Gunner to take care of the threat, but he is not a babysitter and cannot take care of everyone on their mission. When Wheeler deviates from the direct route to find the survivors that they heard about, Lauren starts to understand how grave the situation really is. When finding a survivor in the middle of the street, Lauren does not know how to assemble the testing device and the rest of the team is starting to question who she really is.

Only a block away from their destination, another bus is spotted and Gunner needs to check it out to see if his wife is still aboard it. Seeing her lifeless body in the back, Gunner has found out that there is something else about the infection that has not been passed on to anybody, the infected are starting to eat people. After arriving at St. Mary’s, the group finds that the survivors are all dead, but are able to connect with the previous doctor that was on site and get a new destination. But Lauren is still on the hunt for her family and after being able to connect with her daughter, she knows that there is a way to make it all work out for her best interest. Not being who she says she is, Lauren comes clean to Wheeler about the only reason she is on the road with the diminishing team and will stop at nothing to get her family back to safety, but with so many infected in her path, it may be easier said than done.

A pretty good look at what might actually be done if an infection over takes the world. Only wanting survivors, they will be monitored for a long while to make sure that they do not have any signs of the virus, and if they do, they will be tested on and eventually killed. As no one on the bus wants to go through with the mission at hand, Gunner takes the leader role and forces them to go through with it. While learning more about the characters, you get to see that they each have their motives for leaving the compound. I liked the group dynamic in this movie, it shows that teamwork is essential to staying alive in the situation, but you cannot achieve this if no one is telling the truth. Action, betrayal, blood and yes, infected, this is  not a bad movie to check out if you want a small taste of almost zombie culture.

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