Review: Apocalypse Z – New World

A couple of years ago, the Spanish zombie flick Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End was released. A Prime Original. It received rather lukewarm reviews, but as a long-time dystopia nerd, I was curious despite the genre being quite watered down and it not looking like anything special beforehand. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Carles Torrens zombie film, based on books by Manel Loureiro, turned out to be—while nothing new under the sun—both stylish, tense, and highly entertaining. So I was certainly pleasantly surprised when I read a few months ago that Torrens had gone ahead and produced a sequel with Apocalypse Z: New World. Now it’s here.

The plot of New World: Following the virus outbreak, the Canary Islands are one of the few safe havens, even though a couple of the islands have also fallen victim to the contagion. But supplies are running low. A provisioning mission to virus-ravaged Spain becomes complicated when Roberto joins with secret intentions. The team struggles against hordes of infected and a lack of trust, while they must weigh survival against humanity. This is a sequel to the first film, but standalone. The first film takes place on the mainland, following a lone man’s struggle for survival. Roberto and his plotline are entirely separate, which means you can watch the film even if you haven’t seen the first one. I do, of course, recommend starting at the beginning.

Carles Torrens has a few films and series episodes to his name. He has, among other things, directed a segment in ABCs of Death 2.5 and a few episodes of the series Sky Rojo. Both Apocalypse Z films are written by Ángel Agudo, who in the first film also had the author of the books to assist him. Carlos Alcaide plays the lead character, Roberto. He is a new acquaintance for me. In other roles, we see Julia Martínez, Mario Mayo, and José María Yazpik. The latter plays Pritchenko, a Ukrainian pilot. The reason I mention him is that he is the only character (as far as I remember) who actually appears in both films.

The acting is generally of a good standard, even if nothing particularly stands out. The script might contain a few holes and doesn’t exactly deliver memorable dialogue, but it gets the job done. I have a weakness for dystopias that don’t come from the US. New World reinvents the wheel just as little as its predecessor, but that doesn’t matter. You don’t go into a zombie action movie expecting to be floored by innovation. What it does deliver, however, is nearly a hundred minutes of exciting and action-packed entertainment. There is actually barely a dull moment here, and sometimes not much more than high speed is required—at least when they actually manage to nail the suspenseful moments.

New World is also a generally good-looking film. Some CGI might look a bit clunky, but it doesn’t bother me. The action sequences still deliver. The large hordes of attacking zombies and the scenes from the ground look, at least to an untrained eye, to be based mostly on actual extras. Okay, there isn’t much creative makeup or masks on offer, but on the other hand, these aren’t traditional zombies but “infected,” similar to Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, so it’s actually enough that they look crazed and a bit bloody in the face. Not much more is needed. You don’t care a great deal about the characters, but the suspenseful moments still manage to deliver. It is effective and keeps the heart rate up. It’s perhaps not a film you’ll think about or remember for an excessively long time—even though I obviously remembered and liked the first one enough to get hyped for a sequel—but it gets a lot right. If you’re a bit tired of the mediocre American streaming movies released as often as I change my boxers, then maybe this is something to spend your time on instead? It does what it should and also delivers an ending that opens up for a part three—something I’m actually looking forward to. And maybe Manel and Roberto’s timelines will merge there?