The Crazies is an average outbreak movie with blank slate characters trying to survive in a bland world. A small town in Iowa is shaken when the townsfolk start to become violent and our group wants out. That's about the breadth of the entire story. I love Timothy Olyphant and he does what he can with what he's given, but none of the characters are really characters and none of the story beats are anything other than little pushes to keep the story going. There aren't any fun kills and the gore level isn't enough to raise the entertainment value. The only thing I can credit The Crazies for is not being like every zombie movie (The Crazies isn't a zombie movie, but the comparison is obvious) and keeping the location small. We never have giants waves for crazies running down main street and we don't have to sit through a scene of crazies pushing up against a building's window pounding on the glass. The crazies are smart and still seem to be themselves, just thirsty for a little indiscriminate murder. The last half hour is lame and the ending is eye-roll inducing, but they are serviceable. The Crazies is a painfully average horror movie that is fine way to kill 90 minutes, but it's not creative or thrilling enough for you to remember you even watched it a month later.