Outbreak Starring Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland. Directed by Wolfgang Peterson. Category II. Opens Thursday at Golden Gateway, Golden Lee Theatre, Kornhill Broadway, Majestic, Mongkok Broadway, Silvercord, Tsuen Wan Broadway, UA Sha Tin, UA Times Square, UA Whampoa, Windsor.
WOLFGANG Peterson's In The Line Of Fire was one of the more mature action-thrillers of 1993, its success confirming the German emigre as one of Hollywood's big directors, after many years of critical disclaim following his claustrophobic epic Das Boot.
Accordingly, Outbreak is being launched with all the trappings of an 'event movie': a big-star noise fest, 'a message movie with muscle', and with a high enough body count to please dumb America.
At first, it is hard to put the finger on what it is about Outbreak that is lacking. It is a generally intelligent summary of a complex subject - that of deadly viruses being unleashed as man intrudes further into the ecological unknown of the rain forests (including obvious parallels with popular theories about the emergence of AIDS).
It is quite well written, succeeding in magnifying microscopic 'action' to big-screen proportions, while keeping the global implications of such a contagion at levels manageable for the cinema. The science is cut into bite-sized morsels for easy consumption, although not without the odd clumsy piety.
It is generally well directed - Petersen is nothing if not competent, and for an action director, he is refreshingly allergic to the sensationalist cheap shot and the superfluous spectacle.
If the pace is often almost plodding, that may not be all Petersen's fault. He does not have 15 minutes of plot followed by 90 minutes of explosions to play with here; he has an involved detective story to tell, and a whole lot of emotional responses to deal with.
