Slasher you seemed to like Land of the Dead, I still dont know if its good or not
Land of the Dead 3.5 out of 5
May contain a few small spoilers?
After many, many years of eager anticipation its finally here and well it kind of nearly pulled it off, it was a great film and I liked it. Its just a few things just didn't sit right with me and in the end it was flawed in many respects. Mainly the long over the top silly class system and money rules the world social commenting which isn't what I wanted to see really. Compared to Romero's Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead its not in the same league, but as far as 90 minutes go its a fine film and has some cracking parts to the zombie mayhem.
Zombies are evolving a bit, and its been a while since the zombie plague has spread across the world and wiped out most of human kind. Fiddlers Green is one of the last strong holds (well its not very strong at all really and has poor defences), and humans live enclosed in a class system of rich high rise skyscraper dwelling ponces and scummy lower class street bums. Its a stupid way of life really and It didn't make me believe for a moment this could happen, as cash makes the world go round now in normal days, but all the cash in the world will do crap all for you if zombies dominate the earth! Whoever thought of such a ridiculously inept idea needs a shot to the head as its crazy, and totally unbelievable to me. It isn't exactly even played out in any real form, it just makes the film feel wrong to me and life would never become like this in any situation, its silly basically and feels forced and heavy handed on Romero's part. Its some sort of social comment I am sure, but stupid comments don't make good ideas for films.
I think the actual simple plot of people surviving in a city is great, and will work and does work sometimes in the film, but the main idea behind its implementation in this movie sucks. I liked the idea of people surviving against all odds and sealing themselves off from the evil beyond and it doesn't have to be any more complex than that very simple thing, people inside and zombies outside. Shame they try to make it work as a political stab at the American government, less is more and Romero tried too much. I think the films setting is well established and the small community idea could work if explored more. Yet we see too much of small parts during the movie and we see just too much really and nothing is fully explained to us, we see underground gambling, streets of filth and poverty, places selling food and generally people living awful lives doing all the work. All the time the rich people sit in the skyscraper and do nothing, yet somehow have everything and live the high life even while the world is ending, its a big flawed idea as are we to believe rich people will inherit everything when times go bad? that's total crap if you ask me, even the rich upper class gimps would have to learn to become skilled at zombie killing and living more real, not just playing upper class morons still living it up.
Well after than bull is said and done the rest of the film is really entertaining and features some really well made zombie carnage which impressed me on many occasions. The actual zombies are creepy as they ever were and the introduction of this new breed of flesheaters is very well laid out for us in the opening scenes. I got shivers down my spine watching the first few zombies slowly plod along the dark streets and go about there zombie business and make there shuffling and groaning noises, very effective and just fun to watch really. Its apocalyptic stuff and the black and white old style TV intro sets up the scenes well enough, if lacking in anything clever or original. We are dumped into a food run where humans go scouting and hunting for food for the great remaining mini city's living inhabitants.
The feel of the film at times can be creepy and very involving, and you cannot help but to be sucked into the world we are seeing, even if it is a little crazy and unrealistic on occasion. The slow introduction to most of the cast works well and while none of the cast stands out as being really at the top of their game, I did like most of them and their characters. I cannot really single out anyone as being a memorable member of the film and compared to the other Dead films. They were not as rounded and fully created members of society as the other Dead films. We don't really get to know much about them apart from the odd comment or a passing glance at what they are like before the film starts. Most of the fairly flimsy cast get little told to us about them. What we are told is throwaway stuff, which is a shame as the film shows us a small community of survivors and obviously they know each other quite well and have been together a long time. It just doesn't come off to well that they are friends and comrades, or even just workmates.
Simon Baker as Riley is what can be classed as the star and hero of the film. He seems to fit the part well, its just he doesn't exactly light up the screen and just seems a little strange to watch at times, he works, but he aint exactly memorable. Asia Argento as Slack is another person in the film who while she is there in front of me, she just doesn't stand out and do much of anything apart from look fine and say the odd fun line of dialogue, again she works, but she aint exactly much of anything and her introduction in the arena was pretty stupid if you ask me. She didn't exactly progress much from being there for the men to look at. John Leguizamo as Cholo did the job and came off as a sour little man who seems to like his job as a zombie killer, but again he didn't seem to strike me as a great character and blended in with the rest sadly.Dennis Hopper as Kaufman is not a good bad guy, he just crept into the whole rich man social commentary bit of the movie and came off as an ignorant fool who somehow with his cash made this place happen, its unbelievable and silly of course and I didn't feel much for the guy. I love Hopper in many films and I know he can do a lot, but here he just didn't sit to well in the film and didn't get to grandstand and upstage anyone and was a wasted character really apart from a few funny moments like him shooting one of his staff members. Its the writing and plot which gave him such a normal role to play, when really the plot needed a lot more to integrate Hoppers style and acting into the film.
The best parts seem to go to the zombies! Eugene Clark as Big Daddy for instance plays head smart zombie and really he stuck in my mind a lot more than the human cast. Watching him care for his fellow zombies during the slaughter sequences is quite interesting and I did kind of feel for the big dumb flesh eater. He seems an evolution of Bub from Day of the Dead, but a little smarter and quicker off the mark, able to develop some simple skills to get around some of the problems laid out in front of him. He is really the big bad guy of the film who leads the rabble of walking dead to wipe out many humans, but I did feel he stood out and while he isn't the most developed and interesting looking zombie ever made, with no really stand out special make up effects work or actual death blows. How did he die for instance? as we don't see any notable gun shots or accidents. Still he did his job well and organised his fellow zombies well, even if the communication between them was a little odd to watch happen, and not sure if I liked that part of it as smarter zombies is one thing, talking zombies is another. Big Daddy shows us maybe to much progression for a zombie and maybe he is too smart and too emotional, but hey they have to learn one day I guess and it did kind of work well, I just like my zombies really stupid to be honest.
The rest of the zombie quad of endless cannon fodder are all fairly well brought to the screen and plenty of them get quite big roles. Some get plenty to do as they go on their little journey thru the film. Some have fairly nasty wounds, and the make up on the whole is really well implemented throughout the film. The use of special effects on the zombies is as good as you can expect from a modern film and some shots did look a little CGI at times, but its really hard to tell whats real and what's digital in today's horror and gore films as you can only assume what's what. Plenty of zombie death is dished out and seeing a big groups of zombies mowed down by heavy gunfire is always a delight to watch as they wobble all over getting ripped up by bullet hits. Heads are blown off and really we see plenty of zombies die in some great ways. Leading female zombie number nine with the baseball bat has some impressive facial tearing and a semi headless zombie gets a great bite to perform, but its the human deaths which to spring to mind in the aftermath of death and dinner as the zombies chow down on their fallen lunch dates.
Some images stick with me, such as the arm being ripped in half in silhouette, or the zombie fisting a mans mouth and pulling out a handful of fleshy tongue and ligaments to gobble up for din dins. Really the film throws many a scenes of death in front of our eyes. Some spring to mind and some don't, as its a lot top take in and a lot of the shots skim around and over the carnage before us, so we don't exactly get to see everything as clearly as I would have liked to. Things have to be special to stand out from the masses of people and zombies killed in the film and off hand a week later its hard for me to remember many of them, so I guess I need to see the film again, or it just isn't as memorable as it should have been. It is violent and full of buckets of blood and gore. The fact it has a 15 rating in the UK is a surprise really as hey Resident Evil has a 15 rating for gods sake! and that film had barley no blood in it at all. Land has tonnes and shows us a lot of the red stuff that's for sure and knowing the film was digitally censored is a bit of a disappointment, its not noticeable while watching the film, but hey it all will be unmasked for the Unrated DVD in a few weeks time. Just a shame they didn't go all the way to start with and get it right first time around in the cinema, but this version is pretty violent and bloody and doesn't seem to be holding back, its just not as clearly brought to the screen as other zombie films and can be dark and muddy to watch as you strain thru the film to see the effects work.
Romero's direction is maybe a problem for the whole film, its too dark at times and too cheap looking other times. The film reminded me of some very cheapo straight to DVD film from the early 90's and the settings in the human slums, or the arena give a general feel to the human controlled town as one of cheapness and seen it all before. It just feels wrong many times and looks nothing new at all watching extras dressed in end of the world clothing eating rats and acting like sick, poor people being ruled over by the super powerful rich people, it sort of reminds me of many very cheap action film end of the world settings which have seen so many times and this film needed more than that. The outside world ruled by the zombies worked far better and not seeing the silly extras really helped a lot. Just a nice quite, dark and foreboding empty street really sets the scene well, and in that respect the film gave us a few great shots.
The mobile zombie killing machine called Dead Reckoning also stands out as something you can imagine really working in a world like this. It is a massive train long tank machine, which has more guns and gadgets than The Batmobile. It lets rip with front mounted heavy machine guns and blows the hordes of zombies to pieces and really its an effective zombie slaughter train of death. Its a nice idea and sure beats the appalling open top cars some ignorant people drive in the film! what planet are they from, no roof, no protection! are these people really that stupid? some fools even ride motorbikes, you would drive the biggest, hardest machine you could get your hands on and not unsafe vehicles some moppets drive during the outside scenes. Some of this logic must have sprung to mind in some way while filming as they even make a joke about it in one scene. If you gonna drive anything pick a mobile fortress like Dead Reckoning, as no way in hell them zombies could ever stop one of them or get to anyone inside, unlike an open top car!
I may sound like I coming down hard on the film and I guess I am, but there is plenty to like in the film, I think. The first 15 minutes or so really did the job for me and its an exciting set up as we have no idea what is to come, or what is really going on until its all spelled out to us. Watching Big Daddy and his zombie goons get slaughtered was really well played out and as the penny drops that Big Daddy cares for his fellow rotters its a nice thing to watch evolve as he gets more and more upset as the humans basically wipe out his mates. His anger then gets the most of him and he decides that is enough! revenge time and lots of dinner if I can get it. He starts the long walk to human city with as many of his mates as he can muster, and watching them slowly pick up more and more stragglers is exciting. The few obstacles in front of them are overcome in some basic, yet fun ways. The sight of the zombies on the river front is a really stylish image, they sort of muster on the edge of the docks and look out towards the city beyond them, then Big Daddy takes the leap of faith and drops into the dark water below and the next time we see the zombie mass emerging ominously from the water on the other side of the river all geared up and ready to wipe out them pesky humans. The zombies got the best music too especially Big Daddy's little tune which accompanied him on his quest for meat, it was nice, quiet and tinkered along in the background giving him a little more humanity and feeling, but apart from that tune the rest of the music was not something that springs to my mind now. Ot wasn't a great soundtrack that's will stay with me like Dawn and Days superb classic scores.
Is the film satisfying? yes, but its flaws did get on my nerves and such small things can grate on me. I am picky I guess and I do forgive it as much as I can, but its hard when some parts just made me so angry at what I was seeing, if you can forgive the actual plot and some settings and seen it all before bits I really don't see anyone not liking the film. Embarrassing is how I felt on occasion and that's not how I like to feel while watching a film I want to love, the end for me did embarrass me where the slaughtered humans (including on briefcase carrying upper class moron!) are mainly wiped out, then out from the shadows some the survivors are all in one big group! where the hell did they hide? why didnt they help? it just felt like some joke to me and wasn't a good send off for the film.
To round up this rambling mess, I like the film and really cannot wait to see it again, but the crushing disappointment just takes over at times and makes me want to not like it. I guess its not what I wanted and not what I expected in a way, shame on the writer and director for doing some things which did not need to be in the film and really some small changes here and there and a more simple plot would have made the film far more enjoyable for me. I think adding maybe an hour to the running time would help, as it just goes by far to quick for me and nothing seems to be deep or meaningful as it just has no time to put us in with the characters and make us care too much. Still its zombie getting killed and on that level its fine, but try not to think about the stupid parts too much like I do. Where do we go from here? god knows! but I now have to hope a part five comes along and improves on this, not that this sucks, its just not perfect.
Next time build a massive brick wall around the city! not wire fences! another stupid plot point! like so many before it.
) I'm willing to give it credit as it was Tung's FIRST film. As you said the cinematography is excellent and I did like the imaginative fights. The finale mustve been really dangerous to film! 
That doesnt make sense
