Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Movie review - "Land of the Dead" (2005) ***

I love it how movie makers always throw this left wing propaganda into zombie movies in an attempt to cover up how they are the biggest right wing fantasies - you get to shoot an inexhaustible supply of easy targets, loot shopping malls, drink beer and have a great time with your mates, don't have to answer to any government authority.

This one has the advantage of an excellent idea: the zombies pretty much rule outside world, forcing humans behind compounds (though again, the big irritant of zombie movies - zombies are so easy to kill the humans should have been able to knock the problem on the head ages ago; I'll just assume there was some extra social problem of which we're unaware which let things get out of control, eg break down of society, and go with it).

The film has a bigger budget than most Romero zombie films and looks handsome, with plenty of action and a decent cast. Simon Baker is a likeable hero; Asia Argento looks spectacular in her first appearance but is frustratingly restrained after that. There is some of the usual lazy social satire - the rich live in a luxury complex, the poor are on the ground, Dennis Hopper says we don't negotiate with terrorists - and Romero loses points by giving Baker a mentally challenged friend (have you no shame Romero?) but the zombie action is good.

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