Shaun of the Dead
Review
by : Li Rapkin
Shaun of the Dead bills itself as “A romantic comedy.
With zombies.” This is, for the most part, fair and
accurate. There’s plenty of zombie action, and except
for the gratuitous disembowlment of a Welshman, it’s
got a relatively low ick factor. It’s also extremely
funny–even to someone without much zombie-fu. There
are cheeky references to everything from Star Wars, A Clockwork
Orange, and Reservoir Dogs to 28 Days Later and the Romero
canon. Mixed into the usual scatalogical and physical comedy
are some fabulous lines, visual gags, and commentary on middle-class
British mores. (It’s hard to the scene in which the
characters are discussing which records from Shaun’s
collection should be flung at the approaching zombies. Purple
Rain, no; Batman soundtrack, yes.)
Screenwriter
Simon Pegg has the title role–an electronics-store clerk
who’s just trying to hold together some semblance of
a life. He’s a decent, if below-average, overage slacker
trying to keep the peace between his roommates, avoid his
stepfather, and get back together with the woman who’s
just dumped him (Liz, played by Kate Ashfield). And as we
all know, there’s nothing like a crisis to bring people
together. Eventually, Shaun (and his underevolved, unemployed
roommate, Ed) notice that there is indeed a crisis, and they’re
off to rescue Liz and Shaun’s mother. What follows is
a brilliant homage to the genre that remains accessible and
enjoyable to those not normally intrgued by the walking dead.
For those in the know, it could take a couple of weeks to
process every last in-joke.
One of
the best touches in the film is the zombie-like way the living
stumble through their lives at the beginning of the film.
Shaun’s bleary-eyed trips to the corner mini-mart are
brilliant. The soundtrack is fairly subtle most of the time,
but includes little joys such as Kernkraft’s “Zombie
Nation” and the mall music from Dawn of the Dead. There’s
plenty of clever editing, such as the channel-surfing sequence,
though it rarely calls attention to itself. Overall, Shaun
of the Dead is both good and entertaining, and although I
hate to actually use the phrase, sure to become a cult classic.
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