Aftermath

Arnold Schwarzenegger has to be one of the biggets action Hollywood stars of all time. Just look at his catalogue of films he have made, and you realise what an impact he have made within the movie industry. Looking back at his career, he have made some really good films, and some less good. We could talk forever about all the classics from Conan The Barbarian, The Terminator, True Lies or a personal favourite of mine called Predator ? Let´s not forget to mention how wonderful it has been to see him do all three Expendables films so far ( hopefully to see him return in a 4th one ). Arnold´s charismatic screen presence is one of the things i think many people love. He can get away with saying cheesy lines, he can combine bad dialogue during action scenes and make it more fun. Arnold have always followed a certain path, and of course he knows people want to see him do action films. He have tried comedies, and did pretty good with Twins. We could discuss Junior, but honestly, did many of you enjoy that one ? At least we got to see Arnold pregnant, so we did get something unique out of this film. When it comes to other genre films over the years, Arnold have hold back to try something different for a very long time. Until we found out through news, that he would be in an apocalyptic horror drama called Maggie. This was something i did not expect him to see do in his career, but i was pleased to see him try something completely different. Maggie is an interesting film, where you follow a desperate father, trying to help his infected daughter. The film, directed by Henry Hobson, gives you a different view on the zombie genre. This film is not really about zombies, it is more about how to handle very difficult situations in life. I have to say that Arnold did one of his better performances in this film, that he actually tried to act, more than usual. Sometime during spring this year, i started hearing about another more dramatic role for Arnold, in a film called Aftermath. I started doing some research, and found out that the film is actually based on true events, based on the Uberlingen mid air-collision, back in 2002. Of course i just had to see this film, to see if Arnold could manage to do another good dramatic role again after Maggie. So i finally got a chance to watch the UK blu ray release of Aftermath. Is this one of the highlights of Arnold´s career, or should he go back to action films and stay away from dramatic films ?

Roman Melnyk ( Arnold Schwarzenegger ) is a construction worker, who is excited about celebrating christmas with his pregnant daughter Nadyia ( Danielle Sherrick ) and his wife Olena. They are on flight AX 112, on their way to New York. But out of nowhere, Roman is infomed that the plane have collided with another plane, and all passengers on board AX 112 are all dead. Roman´s life is damaged forever, as he lost the two people he loves more than anything. In another angle of the story, Jacob ( Jake ) Bonanos ) is an air traffic controller, who is completely devastated about seeing the planes AX 112 and flight DH 616 collide, and there was nothing he could do. He feels guilty over this, although he did not cause these planes to collide. It is reported that 271 people lost their lives. Roman head out to the crashing site, as he tries to find any belongings to his wife, or daughter. He discover their bodies, and his daughter´s bracelet. Roman locks himself into his home, with to many thoughts in his mind. A journalist named Tessa Gorbett ( Hannah Ware ) who approach Roman at his home, as she tries to express her interest in writing a book on the accident. She leaves some articles of plane disasters, on articles she have written, to see if he would be interested to tell her his story. Because of the seriousness of the accident, Jake´s lawyer suggest that he should move to another state with his wife and children, to make sure they are safe. A year later, all the families of the victims are gathered to a newly completed memorial at the crash site. Jake have started a new life, at a travel agency. Roman have also tried to start all over, working as a carpenter. But their paths are about to be crossed, where their lives will be faced with a very serious situation.

When Arnold gave a very different performance in the horror drama Maggie, you could tell that he wanted to try another path in his long career. Maggie turned out to be an interesting film, and it was nice to see Arnie do a more dramatic role. In this film Aftermath, we also get to see a much more dramatic performance than we usually see Arnold do. I like to see big Hollywood stars take some chances, and do something that people don´t expect them to do. Aftermath may be the most serious film i have ever seen Arnold Schwarzenegger do. I personally feel that he is doing the right thing, because you can tell that he fits in a film like this. Knowing that this is based on a true story, makes the film feel more interesting. How do you deal with your life, loosing both your wife and daughter in a plane accident ? Is it possible to live with the grief, or is your life over ? Arnold actually give us a performance, where he tries to act more dramatically than he usually does. Is this his best performance ? No, but i still think he manage to do ok. Another interesting role in this film, is the role of Jake Bonanos, portrayed by actor Scoot McNairy. His guilt over not being able to help the planes on time, makes him suffer everyday. Scoot give a performance that feels natural, and not too dramatic. You don´t really see anything from the crash itself, with exceptions from a few scenes, at the crashing site. So the film is more focused on how you handle grief, and trying to deal with this horrible accident. Aftermath does have a few problems. One example is that the story is not as deep as i would have wanted it to be, through the eyes of Arnold´s character Roman. I would have wanted to see him show more anger. I also would have liked to found out more about the accident, since we don´t get to know much information throughout the film. A part from this, i can still say that Aftermath does manage to make me interested. To see Arnold do a drama film, and manage to make a good performance, is something we should be happy about. Is Aftermath a film for everyone ? No, i think this is a film, especially for Arnold fans, that wish to see him do something completely different. Director Elliott Lester is perhaps known mostly for his action film Blitz with Jason Statham. I personally think Aftermath could be his best film so far, because it was a very big risk to let Arnold do a film like this. Give this film a chance on dvd or blu ray, you might actually think it is better than you expected.

Rating: DDD