"That's a nice-a donut."

Monday, June 27, 2005

Land of the Dead

After a 20-year absence George A. Romero, the renowned father of the modern-day zombie film, returns to his roots with Land of the Dead. In this land, humans are now an insubstantial minority compared to the vast army of the undead. Here we are told the tale of one city that has managed to separate itself from the zombie threat, and where Romero dares suggest that living, breathing people are pretty much zombies too.

From the very beginning, the ominous opening credits forebode a nightmarish but darn fun movie about to follow. And right away we learn that the zombies are evolving. A quarter of the lifeless beings stand in a gazebo trying to play musical instruments (because they were likely doing the same thing when they were alive), and nearby a big menacing zombie (the Big Daddy, played by Eugene Clark) comes out of a gas station at the sound of a car and picks up the gas nozzle. Big Daddy shows further signs of intelligence, by learning new things like picking up a gun, and communicating with his fellow zombies. For Romero, this is a natural progression that began with his groundbreaking original, Night of the Living Dead. In that movie, the zombies were all mindless and pretty much just there to eat people. In his Dawn of the Dead, they showed a memory of sorts by returning to what was familiar. In Day of the Dead, they showed the ability to relearn previous things. Now, they are learning new things as well.

The city in Land of the Dead (which is supposed to be Pittsburgh, I think) is run by a ruthless businessman named Kaufman (Dennis Hopper) who cares more about his own fortunes than of the helpless people in the prison-like city below. The city is surrounded on three sides by water and on the fourth side by a fence with a strong electrical current running through it. He owns a tall building in the middle of the city, Fiddler on the Green, where very wealthy people are able to buy their way into a life of security and luxury. These people are completely oblivious to the madness outside their building. There is even a TV commercial seen inside the building selling the virtues and desirability of being there!

Meanwhile, back inside the regular part of the city is a group of people who sort of serve as Kaufman's hired goons who are in charge of killing zombies on the outside and taking out the "garbage." Riley (Simon Baker) and Charlie (Robert Joy) are a pair of likeable fellows with dreams of hightailing it to Canada to escape this made regime. Cholo (John Leguizamo) is a bit more of a rogue, and when he gets angry with Kaufman he steals a valuable and powerful tank and threatens to destroy the city if he doesn't get paid. Kaufman then hires Riley and Charlie to get his tank back (the Dead Reckoning), and along the way they meet a down-on-her-luck woman (Asia Argento) and meet up with a ton of zombies - from the hilarious to the frightening.

The movie is very enjoyable and a lot of fun. There are a couple gruesome scenes of a group of zombies eating people (I guess you can't really call it cannibalism at this point), so the movie is definitely not for everyone. As you might expect, there is much gore - a lot of blood and guts, but it was not too over-the-top, the amount seemed just right. Most of the characters are great too. Simon Baker does a fine job in the lead role and Robert Joy gives the sidekick a nice, likeable, generally well-done personality that is easy to care about. Asia Argento, the daughter of the Italian horror master Dario Argento, also gives a much better acting performance than I expected by playing helpless, kick ass, friendly, and concerned as the scene dictated. She is reminiscent of Zooey Deschanel's characters in Almost Famous and Elf. Leguizamo is one of the weak points - his character is the stereotypical jerk, the loose cannon, described at one point as a "terrorist" but by the end he tries to redeem his selfish actions. The real bad guy is Hopper, who is decent, but seems held back and doesn't give what is he capable of. I wanted to see more of Frank from Blue Velvet. Instead I ended up hoping that he got eaten.

The movie has a few small plot issues that don't jive if you think about it too hard, but let's be realistic - this is a zombie film. Romero also goes a little too far with giving some of the zombie's intelligence. There is an unresolved ending; but in this case it is definitely a good thing. Though it may point to another sequel, sometimes it is better to imagine the fates of the characters on your own than to have their ending handfed to you.

In the end, Land of the Dead is a fine addition to Romero's zombie quadrilogy. It is right up there with Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, and ahead of Day of the Dead.

The Verdict: B+.

Michael Bentley 10:50 AM

"That's a nice-a donut."

Monday, June 27, 2005

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