Shaun of the Dead: King of the Zombies

And we're back! You didn't think I'd abandon all of you, did you? Law school certainly is a time-suck, but so far, I'm enjoying it (hey, I enjoy analysis; doesn't this blog attest to that?). Though I think it's weird that the first post in weeks is being delivered on the same day that one of my professors made a derogatory comment about blogging (I will admit I hate the term) AND the newest issue of Angel: After the Fall was released, wherein a spectral Cordelia told Angel that one of the most boring things he could have done was to start a movie review blog (ouch). I also want to say thanks to the few of you who voted in my little poll; it looks like readers here are huge The Office and 30 Rock fans out there (I voted for Pushing Daisies, but I am certainly hoping that my schedule will allow me to watch 30 Rock as well).

Anyway, whereas Spaced was about pop culture in general, Shaun of the Dead focused on horror movies. Wright and Pegg (Hynes has a cameo role in the film, which is why I tagged her) used horror cliches to tell a story about life today; basically, we are so self-absorbed and zombified that we'd barely notice if the dead started to rise. Of course, there are practical applications of that in addition to the social satire, but I'll get to the analysis in a moment.

Pegg plays Shaun, a 29-year-old slacker. He still works at an electronics store that was probably where he worked when he was a teenager. He spends nearly every night at a crappy pub with his bored girlfriend Liz, boorish best friend Ed (played by Spaced alum Nick Frost), and Liz's two roommates. Ed represents one extreme in that he is pretty much a coherent zombie when the movie begins; all he does is lay around playing video games and doing things that benefit only him. Liz and her roommates aren't model examples of humanity, but they are aware that if they stick around with Shaun and Ed, they will be doomed to be zombies as well. Shaun is caught somewhere in between. He is perfectly happy in his meaningless existence, where he often walks around with a blank stare and sleepwalks through many parts of his life. But he would prefer to stay with Liz, and if that means having to grow up a little, so be it.

The first twenty minutes or so of the movie show Shaun's daily routine, and we see him, as well as half the population of London, barely going through the motions of life. So when actual zombies start showing up (the movie goes out of its way to never state the cause for the epidemic), no one really notices. Shaun assumes that they are homeless, drunk or listening to their iPods, and pays them no mind until he accidentally impales one on an umbrella stand. At first, he's horrified with the thought that he killed a woman, but when she pulls herself up and is seemingly unharmed, that is when things start to click for our heroes. But most importantly, when Shaun and Ed have a chance to see what's going on by watching the news, they decide to change the channel to play video games.

As I said, I think there is more to the lack of recognition of the zombies than just the social commentary jokes would lead us to believe. I mean, what would you do if you saw a ramdon zombie walking around? Would you think, "Oh crap! Zombies! Run!"? Or would your thought process be more like, "Oh hey, a crazy person". The social commentary is definitely there, but this movie is meant to be (fairly) grounded in reality and character-based. The action doesn't really start until at least half an hour in, and in that time, we are slowly introduced to the characters, allowing us to get to know them. This will give us a reason to care for their safety later in the film. Everyone has a place in the film, and everyone has their flaws and strengths (except David; he was always kind of a prick). Even Shaun's step-father, who starts out as a "wicked step-parent" archetype shows that he has more depth than he originally lets on (and I think its worth noting that while Shaun's mother is more sympathetic, she knowingly puts the group in danger, whereas the step-father understands the situation and knows what must be done when he is about to turn).

Many horror films don't succeed in causing any fear in the hearts and minds of the audience (aside from temporary jolts from loud noises or gory images) because we don't care about the characters (though this isn't a problem that only horror films have), and this film definitely fixes that. Also, Shaun uses horror cliches to keep us on our toes, since it both adheres to and openly rejects many such cliches. Shaun is both a horror hero who finds that he can do many things he couldn't before (such as climbing up the side of a building to rescue Liz and her friends), but he is also still very much a normal guy, which was best shown when he tried to use a rifle to keep the zombies at bay. Whereas in most movies, the hero, who may never have picked up a gun in their life, suddenly becomes a crack shot. Not so here. There are plenty of overly dramatic (and often funny) deathbed confessions, and the token character who never seems to understand that everything they do exacerbates the situation. At the end (SPOILER ALERT... obviously), the military rides in to save the day. Oh, and this movie probably has the most novel approach to solving the zombie problem that I've ever seen.

Shaun of the Dead needs to be viewed at least twice, since the foreshadowing is incredible. Whether it derives from double entendres (that have one meaning when they are stated, and take on a more twisted interpretation later) or commands and desires put out by characters (like telling Ed to go live in the shed), the movie is full of jokes that take on whole new meanings the second time around (sort of like Arrested Development).

Up next: The Fuzzy blue line...