LAND OF THE DEAD (2005)
Long considered the
master of all things zombie George A Romero hasn’t stopped churning out some of
the best stuff. Admittedly I attempted to watch this once about a year ago and
only made it through the first half hour. This time I gave it a chance and fortunately
after that first half hour things got much much better. Now LAND OF THE DEAD
ranks somewhere in my zombie movie top 30.
This one takes place like a lot of
zombies well after the infection has gone down. Rather than giving any details
as to how it happened all we are told is that there are a few safe zones
guarded by militant folk and that for the most part zombies are easily
distracted by fireworks. The zombies are getting smarter and finding ways to
get to their food at any cost. Their food is of course…us.
Shot more in the tone of
DAWN OF THE DEAD this one is a bit grittier and looks like they actually used
some decent lighting and worked really hard on getting the sets right etc. This
is where all that pays off because you get dynamic production and you create
all those moods you want the audience to feel. The effects in this are top
notch and the use of CGI is pretty sparing.
What was done right –
Casting. Simon Baker (THE MENTALIST), John Leguizamo (THE BABYSITTERS, but is
probably mostly known for his voice work in the ICE AGE series), and Dennis
Hopper (who bugs the crap out of me but can act his way out of a hostage
situation by convincing you he isn’t even there). We also get a solid performance
from Asia Argento (XXX and MARIE ANTOINETTE), who could have probably been
introduced earlier in the movie and improved it. Romero’s zombie flicks are NOT
my top kind of zombie movie to say “yes, that is what you need to see”, but
there is no denying he’s got the most solid grip overall on the concept and you
rarely walk out of one of these films not having seen something a little
different.
For some out of the box zombie genre thinking I give this film at 4
out of 7.
Rating definition : VERY GOOD This movie leaves you with that feeling
that although everything may not be okay, girls can kick butt and one man can
save the world with either one bullet left in the chamber some special power he
discovered 5 minutes ago. This movie is a good time and makes you wonder how many
people you can tell about its awesomeness the next day at work.
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