[REC]³ GENESIS

Koldo and Clara have finally realized their dream and got married. During the wedding lunch, something strange happens and Uncle Pepe, who until that moment had shown obvious signs of not feeling well, starts biting the other guests. From that moment, a dangerous epidemic spreads, transforming the infected into aggressive beings with murderous instincts. Koldo is desperately looking for Clara, from whom he was separated during a moment of chaos, and must find her before it is too late for his newlywed. In 2007, "[REC]" had the merit of (re)launching the mockumentary after the long post-"The Blair Witch Project" hiatus. An excellent film, directed by a duo of talented directors - Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza - and a major international success that generated an unnecessary American remake - "Quarantine", with its respective sequel "Quarantine 2" - and an equally excellent number 2, with the same directors behind the camera and a multiplication of viewpoints. Obviously, when things are going so well, you can't stop and so Balagueró and Plaza promise two additional chapters, a prequel and a sequel that would put an end to the saga. For this, the two separate and while Balagueró takes a thriller break with the beautiful "Bed Time" before dealing with "[REC]4: Apocalypse", Plaza embarks on the adventure of "[REC]3: Genesis". On paper, as the title itself would suggest, "Genesis" was supposed to be a prequel capable of explaining the origin of the contagion, but in reality, Plaza has made a film that tells a story parallel to that of the first chapter, explaining even less what lies behind the whole story. The connections to the two previous chapters are reduced to the bone and if it weren't for a television screen that shows from the outside the quarantine in the Barcelona building, it would be difficult to give a sense of continuity to this number 3 compared to the "[REC]" saga. First, Plaza decides, with a certain intelligence of intent, to distance himself from the style of the other films and although "Genesis" starts as a mockumentary and follows this language for three-quarters of the footage, he suddenly abandons this style to transform into a classic film. In a cunning and at the same time brilliant way, "[REC]3" begins with the wedding video, thus justifying the initial first-person footage. Thus, goodbye to the always more complicated narrative ornaments that go to justify the "amateur" footage - often very little credible - in this film, the handheld video camera and the subjective are used for a common and really credible practice like the shots for a wedding party. When switching to the classic style, with a symbolic break of the operator's camera, we find ourselves facing a full-fledged zombie movie. If in the two previous chapters the threats were furious infected, here they are Romero-style zombies, often slow and staggering, which create some difficulty for the viewer in assimilating the connection. The insertion of some religious references that go to designate the demonic nature of the virus, seem futile franchise pretexts, while the scientific dimension characteristic of the other films is here completely neglected. The main feeling is that "[REC]3: Genesis" was conceived as a standalone zombie film and then readapted to be part of the saga, since, even taken on its own, Plaza's film could "live" quite comfortably. This limit, but also advantage, of "[REC]3" nevertheless defines a very enjoyable, well-made and really fun film, which if on the one hand proves clearly inferior to the two films that preceded it, on the other shows itself as a valid entertainment product. At some points it shifts towards the side of irony without ever falling into the comic or the demencial, it keeps instead a taste for excess that in some cases becomes grotesque especially for the high splatter rate, which in the second part reaches really excessive levels, yet always remaining an innocuous ludic ornament. Excellent Leticia Dolera who plays Clara, the bride, who appears as fragile and sweet in the first part as super badass zombie killer in the second, armed with a chainsaw and completely covered in blood and guts. "[REC]3: Genesis" is therefore an enjoyable zombie movie that stands out from the crowd for some good ideas and for the overall production skill. There is the limit of not keeping the promises, that is presenting itself as a prequel of a famous saga without being it and above all proving frankly useless to the narrative economy of the same saga. But the film entertains and "[REC]" or not "[REC]" those 90 minutes of good lightness manage to make them pass.