SHAUN OF THE DEAD
dir: Edgar Wright
"Who died and made you fucking king of the zombies?" - Ed
Brief Synopsis
An electronics store manager's life is turned around when he decides to fix problems with his ex-girlfriend, visit his elderly mother, and bond with his step-father. All while the entire world around him is turning into zombies.
Why It's Here
To insult this film with the pun "bloody hilarious" would be a mistake and a grave understatement. "Shaun of the Dead" is the most original and hilarious British comedy in quite some time. Being made by the new British comedy dream team of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost, you have to expect good things. The film is cleverly written, brilliantly delivered and doesn't go cheap on the gore or zombie terror either.
Zombie films often don't get the credit they deserve. The premise is extremely simple but allows for a considerable amount of freedom for writers to make unique stories dealing with a human apocalypse. Zombie comedies have been tried many times before, but none are as effective as Shaun. Shaun is a pretty average guy, who naturally, must become extraordinary and a leader to survive the zombie outbreak. The film makes a lot of hilarious jokes about the sluggish pace of zombies, particularly with the characters often not even realizing someone is a zombie until they bite a chunk of out them. Or making a laugh out of the grunting noises zombies make by turning it into a drunken song. The lazy duo of Shaun and Ed are a great match for the equally lazy but also equally determined zombie force against them.
The film advertises itself as a romantic comedy which is suiting, the film has a humourous subplot of romance between Shaun and his on-and-off girlfriend Lizzy. There is the third-wheel character trying to earn his chances with Lizzy, causing difficulities for the whole group and once again spewing the typical zombie film message that humans are worse than zombies, blah, blah.
Zombie films are usually too serious for their own good, taken more seriously by the filmmakers than the audience, and "Shaun" plays with that, making it an enjoyable parody that even people who look down on zombie films can enjoy.
Zombie films often don't get the credit they deserve. The premise is extremely simple but allows for a considerable amount of freedom for writers to make unique stories dealing with a human apocalypse. Zombie comedies have been tried many times before, but none are as effective as Shaun. Shaun is a pretty average guy, who naturally, must become extraordinary and a leader to survive the zombie outbreak. The film makes a lot of hilarious jokes about the sluggish pace of zombies, particularly with the characters often not even realizing someone is a zombie until they bite a chunk of out them. Or making a laugh out of the grunting noises zombies make by turning it into a drunken song. The lazy duo of Shaun and Ed are a great match for the equally lazy but also equally determined zombie force against them.
The film advertises itself as a romantic comedy which is suiting, the film has a humourous subplot of romance between Shaun and his on-and-off girlfriend Lizzy. There is the third-wheel character trying to earn his chances with Lizzy, causing difficulities for the whole group and once again spewing the typical zombie film message that humans are worse than zombies, blah, blah.
Zombie films are usually too serious for their own good, taken more seriously by the filmmakers than the audience, and "Shaun" plays with that, making it an enjoyable parody that even people who look down on zombie films can enjoy.