Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Steven Yeun | ... | Derek Cho | |
Samara Weaving | ... | Melanie Cross | |
Steven Brand | ... | John 'The Boss' Towers | |
Caroline Chikezie | ... | Kara 'The Siren' Powell | |
Kerry Fox | ... | Irene Smythe | |
Dallas Roberts | ... | Lester 'The Reaper' McGill | |
Mark Frost | ... | Ewan Niles | |
Claire Dellamar | ... | Meg | |
André Eriksen | ... | Colton 'The Bull' Snyder | |
Nikola Kent | ... | Oswald | |
Lucy Chappell | ... | Jenny | |
Olja Hrustic | ... | CDC Official | |
![]() |
Vladan Mirkovic | ... | SWAT Commander |
![]() |
Bojan Peric | ... | Miles |
Annamaria Serda | ... | Brenda |
Mayhem tells the story of a virus that infects a corporate law office on the day attorney Derek Cho (Yeun) is framed by a co-worker and wrongfully fired. The infection is capable of making people act out their wildest impulses. Trapped in the quarantined building, our hero is forced to savagely fight tooth and nail for not only his job but his life. Written by abothin
So this is one of those "tries to do lots of genres at once" type movies, and they're usually my favourite. The problem here wasn't so much that it felt particularly uneven or tonally conflicted: it was more just that for all the genres it dipped its toes into, it didn't really satisfy in any of them.
Was there comedy? Kind of, but I barely cracked a smile more than once or twice. Was there action? Kind of, but it wasn't particularly well-choreographed or satisfying or memorable. Was there horror? I mean... not really; I wasn't scared for a second about anything. Was there satire? Yes, but nothing the movie said was particularly exciting or substantive. Was it effective as a thriller? Sort of, in the sense that it was fast-paced and structurally sound.
However, the rest of the writing faltered, as the characters were mostly very simple, the dialogue stilted and predictable, and the resolution a little rushed. Steven Yuen does a very good job however and deserved a much better script to work with. Him, the solid direction, and the fact that the movie is not boring and moves at a good pace are a few of the reasons that keep me from wanting to call this movie "bad."
It was all just a little underwhelming, and I can't see myself remembering much about it at all by this time next week.