Shaun of the Dead - Review

Zombie apocalypse as joke material is really nothing new. In broad daylight the slow and mumbling undead are actually pretty pathetic sight as long as you don't let them get too close. I still don't think that the subject matter has ever been approached quite this way. Because when you really look at it, in Shaun of the Dead, the zombies aren't the source of the comedy, they're actually a credible threat to the everyday joes that inhabit this film. Rather most of the humour in this film stems from the sheer stupidity of mankind. Because let's face it, many of us wouldn't make it for a day if the gates of hell were to be opened. But there would be some individuals, who against all odds would survive through sheer dumb luck. And that's this film.

The director, Edgar Wright, along with the two main actors, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, would later go on to make Hot Fuzz, one of my favourite comedies of all time, and a lot of the same ideas show up in this film. The same bland non-interest in the face of danger, bizarre circumstances happening in the background and the absolutely brilliant interaction between Pegg and Frost are the saving graces of this film, along with the usual zombie jokes that you'd expect from a film like this.

This isn't Hot Fuzz, however, though it's still rather good. What I think it misses are likable main characters. The main characters in this film are really, really urban and bland. They're so boring and so lost in their everyday lives, not to mention the zombie apocalypse, that it's hard to root for them. I found myself cheering for the zombies occasionally when some of the more obnoxious characters were killed. Whether or not this was intentional, I don't know, but it does the film no favours.

That's my personal interests interfering with my viewing experience, though, because I've never really liked these kinds of characters that are so helpless and so socially awkward that even the local computer nerds pick on them. Some might find them hilarious, however, so I can't really call it a flaw of the film. It's just not something that appeals to me.

Aside from that grievance, the film is very good. The plot twists are very unexpected, but in a good way, the action scenes are not bad and the story, while a bit weird in some parts, manages to work, for some incomprehensible reason. Any fan of zombie parody should definitely give this one a watch.