Shaun of the Dead
Comedy (Zombie, Horror)
2004
Rated: R
Running Time: 99 minutes
Starring: Simon Pegg, Kate
Ashfield, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy
Directed By: Edgar Wright
Rating: 9 out of 10
Outline
A reluctant leader takes
charge and tries to lead a small group of people to safety during a zombie
apocalypse.
Review
I hate calling a movie
brilliant but this movie is F-ing brilliant. It created a genre affectionately
known as Zom-Com and helped rocket zombies into mainstream conversations. I am
sure one of my readers will credit some movie prior to this that invented
Zom-Com, or mention George A. Romero in some way but ease up zombie nerds I am
not that well versed. Shaun of the Dead is the story of a man named Shaun. He
lives in England and it follows how he and small group of people try to
survive a zombie apocalypse that has broken out on the island.
This film has hilarious
dialogue, it has hilarious situations, it is hilarious in it’s subtly, it is
just hilarious. The film opens up and we are introduced to the two key
characters being Shaun and his best friend Ed. They may be adults but they are
children at heart. Their relationship is what makes this film so funny. They play
video games, drink obsessively, and generally just like to party to the
detriment to their personal relationships. The film is a slow build up of a
zombie apocalypse. Shaun thinks he sees a homeless guy eating a bird, there are
troubling news updates of an epidemic, and there are even zombies stumbling along in the
background. While all this is happening, Shaun and Ed go about their lives
oblivious to the lurking horror. When the zombie outbreak finally hits its
zenith, the film somehow gets even better. Shaun and Ed attack the zombie hordes
with an amateurish fervor. They use a wide variety of household items to try
and kill the zombie menace. Records, ashtrays, paper towel holders, and a
cricket bat are all used to bash in zombie craniums. The film alternates from
bloody sequences to laugh out loud scenarios for the entire film.
Shaun is played by Simon
Pegg and Ed is played by Nick Frost. The two of them are genius together as man-children.
You will either be able to really connect with their personalities or at the
very least find them entertaining. They always are able to provide a laugh even
though there are people dying all around them. They sing songs while zombies
groan in the background, they drive like maniacs when slow and steady would
work just as well, and they drink when they should have clear heads. They would die
in the first two minutes of a real zombie apocalypse but in this you are
pulling for them to survive.
Now the film probably
would have been boring (not really) if it was just Shaun and Ed acting like
idiots, so Shaun becomes a reluctant leader of a small group of people. He
tries to save his parents and his on and off again girlfriend as he leads them
across the city to safety. They face many hardships like tall fences and
internal bickering, not to mention zombies at every turn. Will they survive? That
is a question I hope you will get the answer to by watching this fantastic
film. It has some gory scenes of blood and death but it is worth it (if that is
not your cup of tea) for the jokes and an unlikely soundtrack that involves the band Queen.
Director Edgar Wright’s
first feature film is a huge achievement. It has a tiny budget (4 million est.)
but maximum payoff. The zombie’s makeup is good if not excellent and the
seamless mix of humor and blood is perfect. The film never is slow and it just keeps
getting better and better. Wright had a vision and delivered one of the best zombie
movies ever. This truly is a great film and I watch it once every couple of
years.
I give this movie a huge
recommendation and not just to zombie lovers. All I can say is check this shit
out.
T Factor + If you like zombie movies then this could
score higher on the rating scale.
T Factor – If you do not like zombie movies then this could
score lower on the rating scale.
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