Review of Land of the Dead (2005) by Tyler M — 31 Mar 2012

In a world where the dead are returning to life, the word "trouble" loses much of its meaning.

The second I saw the trailer for this my hopes were low. Within the first minute of the film, my hopes were raised, as at first glance it looks like the atmospheric zombie flick you've been waiting for the original Night of the Living Dead. Within the first ten minutes of it, my hopes were crushed and I realized that this is in fact not what was to be expected.

The Story: From what I understand, this film takes place some time after the original "Night of the Living Dead", and it was made by the same guy George Romero... So with a legend like that going back to his roots you would think that this was going to be the greatest zombie flick since 1968, but if you think that than you're dead wrong... This film had so much potential! What happened?! I'll tell you what happened... He decided it would be great to attempt some sort of deep story line... Not that there's anything wrong with a deep story, but this one feels really shallow and really generic...The story is this, after the world has been overrun by the dead we find a city that has taken certain measures to protect itself the infestation. Okay, so it's already lost what made the Living Dead franchise so great, the originals all had that great sense of isolation ordinary people overcoming extraordinary obstacles while seeking refuge. This film completely misses the mark on that sense of isolation, and instead of ordinary people trying to survive, it's professional zombie killers taking to the streets to rid the world of them. Add to that a new twist on the minds of the dead. The zombies are no longer mindless, instead they've "evolved" they've become more aware of their surroundings and have become more intelligent. Giving a zombie a gun doesn't exactly make it more menacing and scary. It's about the equivalent to giving a monkey a gun... It's still a damn monkey! This film was meant to be about the evolution of the dead, but they haven't really evolved! Add to that a slow paced story that's almost more drama than carnage and you've got yourself a big let down. On the plus side though, some of what's made the franchise so great is still in tact, the makeup is good although sometimes the zombies look like they're made of plastic, and the trademark gore is still there, so be prepared for a lot of zombie bloodshed, and a fair amount of overblown action.

The Cast: Simon Baker, John Leguizamo... Not the best cast, but not the worst... Simon Baker is Riley, he's the good zombie killer... He's got a little bit of actual story but not enough to really make you care too much about him. His performance is pretty good but he's not going win over too many new fans with this one. John Leguizamo is Cholo, the bad zombie killer... Not bad as in not good at what he does, but the villainous one... Just thought I'd clarify a bit... This is definitely not his best work, but it's definitely not his worst work either. He's usually a hit or miss actor with me, but his performance here is better than miss, but not as good as hit. He's some how managed to find himself in the limbo of good and bad acting. Fans of his will enjoy this, but he's not going to increase his fan base with this one.

One to Five Scale: 2.

What little of the past is still in tact, isn't quite enough to cover a boring and generic storyline of it's many boring characters. There's better zombie alternatives.

Tyler.