Review of Land of the Dead (2005) by Jennifer A — 15 Oct 2009

"Land of the Dead" feels elss inspired than it's predecessors.

Land of the Dead (2005) - 5.5/10.

Director - George Romero.

Starring - Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy, Eugene Clark, Joanne Boland.

George Romero created an instant classic with the no-budget "Night of the Living Dead" in 1968 and "Land of the Dead" is his fourth installment in his zombie series. In "Land of the Dead" the survivors have fortified themselves in large cities. The rich still live in luxury in skycrapers while the less fortunate fend for themselves on the streets. Dennis Hopper stars as Kaufman, the capitalist that runs the city. It is he who decides who lives in luxury. Working for Kaufman are a group of mercenaries, including rivals Cholo (John Leguizamo) and Riley (Simon Baker). They make frequent forays outside the city to retrieve food and luxury items for Kaufman.

Romero's first zombie picture in 20 years shows off the techinal and makeup advances of two decades; his zombies never looked better. However this doesn't necessarily translate into a better zombie film. It's not inventively transcending like the "Night" nor is it as humorous as "Dawn of the Dead". Although traces of Romero's past films exist (social commentary on the class system for example) it's pretty much your standard zombie picture. He's got bigger named actors here (Hopper, Leguizamo and Baker) and a bigger budget to work with yet the film feels less inspired. Less humor and more conventional. Still a fairly enertaining romp.