George A. Romero presents... Land of the Dead
Released: June 24th
Directed by: George A. Romero
Review by: jlosh126
In a world full of stupid movies and dumb endings; there once in a while comes a filmmaker that has the intent to make the greatest movies that anyone could make. While the director of Land of the Dead (George Romero) isn't trying to make the greatest movie of all time, he sure in the hell can make a **BLEEP** great zombie movie. Romero is known for works like Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and remakes of a lot of his older well known movies, so he knows what people want.
The movie acts as if it is a sequel to Dawn of the Dead, yet it has none of the characters from the other movie. It has a brand new cast of characters that, maybe not well known, create an experience like none other. Such actors like John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, and Asian Argento are heard of, and well respected, but the lead character (Simon Baker) has one of the best character roles that Romero may have ever created.
Much like other movies that Romero has made, there is a stand out character that takes control of the situation. Riley (Simon Baker) is a well rounded individual, that has a sense of humor and a sympathetic side that make him a well worthy character to take control. Riley has a company that goes out and picks up items for people that are blocked in at the city. With people such as Cholo (John Leguizamo) and Charlie (Robert Joy).
Charlie is a very close friend of Riley because Riley pulled Charlie out of a fire, which left Charlie physical scars on his face. The reason Riley sticks with him is that Charlie is one hell of a shot (he thinks he is the best). The relationship between the two is fully realized as the movie goes on.
In the beginning, the movie lets you know that the world is not the same place... it is dead. The zombies have been around for a long time considering the people have figured out a way to stop the zombies for a little while to gather supplies. Cholo is a partier in some sorts because he takes a small detour from the route to pick up some booze for some odd reason right? Well he actually works for the guy who owns the building that they are staying in (Dennis Hopper), taking out trash and other dirty work for him.
While these things are going on, one of the zombies they were spying on earlier has become smart and is able to get a bunch of zombies together to go to the city. It is exactly like the new game Possession coming out for next-gen systems. Well he takes the zombies to the city while Riley gets in trouble for shooting the owner of the club for trying to kill him. While he is in the club he meets a hooker named Slack (Asia Argento) while trying to save her from some zombies in a game called Red and Black, were you bet on which zombie will eat her first.
They become allies and have to go save this huge fighting machine from his old buddy. The truck like machine is called Dead Rising and is a 2 million dollar machine paid for by the boss Kaufman (Hopper). He wants it back and tells Riley to get it back for him because he can get it easily, considering they worked together. When they are about to leave they get help from a fat guy name Pillsbury that works for Kaufman. When they get to the machine, he gets in pretty easy, but Cholo knows what is going on. He takes him and Charlie captive in the machine but Slack and Pillsbury help them.
The zombies start to learn how to use weapons like guns and are making there way to the city. I won't give away much more, but let’s just say there is a lot of biting and screaming. In fact, it is a great ending. the zombies live and the people live. I know, but you gotta watch the movie to understand.
Final Thoughts:While I may think that Shaun of the Dead is awesome, and Dawn of the Dead is great, and Night of the Living Dead is classic, I personally think that Romero may have struck gold with this new entry in the series. While the bits and pieces of flesh flying in the air are great, the story is one of the best with its constant action and plot twist galore. The stinches (as the zombies are called) are great looking and almost look to good to be true. The actors are great (great job by Baker) and the merc. like part they have for Cholo in the end is a baddass part of the movie. Also, the respect I gained for zombies rose almost 50% when the zombie named Big Daddy took control of the zombie horde and took them to the city through thick forest and deep rivers while gaining knowledge.
It is the ultimate zombie movie for the whole family (rated R) and I recommend it highly.
Final Rating: 9.5 second rating from my brother was: 9.75 George Romero is the King!!!
Fine, just for Ehko...
Presentation: The movie had lots of actors (over a thousand) in full zombie makeup. The music was as you would expect, rock with a bit of techno BS. Overall the feeling is just totally darker than any zombie in recent memory, but not to the point that it is scary, just very entertaining. The action scenes are beautiful, and the uses of lighting effects are great considering the darkness of the movie. The thought process that went into every part of the movie is something that even my twisted-ass mind couldn't ever think of. From using fireworks to keep the zombies occupied, to just straight shooting everything in site. The quality of the movie is good of course, and I even saw some geeks (like me) wait to see if they had anything in the credits (which they didn't), but the movie was good enough to make up for all of that.
Sorry if that is not enough...