“Shaun Of The Dead” is a British/Romantic Comedy/Social Satire/ Zombie flick, which translates into one extremely funny, side splitting good time.
What sets “Shaun Of The Dead” apart from other similar successful cross-genre films such as “Army Of Darkness” and “Return Of The Living Dead” is that “Shaun of the Dead” is first and foremost a comedy with the zombies and gore taking a backseat to some wicked humor and hilarious performances.
“Shaun Of The Dead” opens with our hero Shaun getting dumped by his girlfriend Liz. Why? Because all Shaun wants to do is hang out with his best friend Ed, play video games and get smashed every night at the local Pub. Shaun and Ed are such out of touch slackers that they don’t even notice that a few days later London’s been hit by a zombie plague (referred to as Z-Day) until zombies show up on their doorstep, literally.
Armed with a cricket bat a shovel and their record collection Shaun and Ed spring into action as they attempt to save Liz her flat mates, Shaun’s parents and themselves as well as Shaun and Liz’s relationship. Hilarity ensues as the not so sharp gang uses what little they’ve got to work with (including some hack acting) in their attempt to escape Z-Day.
No one is safe from Shaun and his friend as they make their way through zombie-infested London including other zombie films. “Night of The Living Dead”, “Dawn Of The Dead”, “28 Days Later”, everyone one them is referred to in one way or another some more obvious than others including a very gruesome Tom Savini homage to “Day Of The Dead”.
If I do have one complaint about Shaun it’s that the third act of the film plays out as a straight ahead zombie film, the same stereotypical zombie film that “Shaun Of The Dead” had made fun of for the first two acts. When this happens the jokes start to slow down and the gore starts to fly. But this is a minor complaint, and hey, it is a zombie movie.
But it’s the sharp humor and the fast and furious delivery of jokes that makes “Shaun” such a great flick. Think of it as a young, more smart-a*s cousin to Peter Jackson’s “Dead Alive” and to some extent “Bad Taste”.
