CONTAGION (2011)

[The Burgomaster]

Good . . . but not great.  In fact, you can wait for NetFlix or HBO without missing anything.

This is really an ensemble movie (even though they play up Matt Damon as the star).  Scenes switch back and forth between major characters in various parts of the world and no one really has a ton of screen time.  Laurence Fishburne was my favorite character: a CDC big-wig.  I liked the fact that just about all the characters were in some way flawed and selfish and there was no true-blue, larger-than-life hero.  Unfortunately, the movie never grabbed me the way I hoped it would.  I wanted heart-pounding suspense; I wanted to leave the theater worrying about contracting a deadly virus.  Nah.  Decent suspense . . . no panic about viruses.  This was not the JAWS or EXORCIST of virus movies.  It's pretty much a better version of OUTBREAK.  Good, solid entertainment, but it won't blow you away.