Movie Critique #3: Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead

To start this off, let's talk a bit about the overall feel of the movie. Shaun of the Dead is a horror/comedy placed in London with essentially 3 main characters. Shaun, a 29 year old electronics salesman who can never seem to get things right. He messes up things at work, he has a bad relationship with one of his housemates, and on top of that, for he and his girlfriend's 3 year anniversary, they went to the Winchester (a pub that they frequent). Shaun's girlfriend, Lizzie, is a... well she's an... um... a... uhhh... girlfriend? You don't really get to know what Lizzie does (or maybe you do and I'm just not observant enough). The third main character in this movie is Ed. Now Ed, he's a... um... well he does... actually, he sells small amounts of pot for a little extra cash. Other than that he just lives with Shaun free of charge.

So, to start off the movie, Shaun and Lizzie are having a conversation at (you guessed it) the pub. A seemingly normal conversation in which they talk about not spending enough time together. At that moment you realize that not only does Ed follow Shaun everywhere, but two of Lizzie's friends follow her around everywhere, and all they end up doing is going to The Winchester! Shaun has a couple of chances to redeem himself but doesn't, so he and Lizzie break-up. The rest of the movie is filled with a bunch of silly coincidences and has you chuckling to yourself for the first 30-45 minutes because of the way that they set up ironic situations.

Then come the zombies. There is kind of a struggle not to say the word zombie in the movie, which makes the point of it very funny. Here is a bit of dialogue between Shaun and Ed. (Shaun's words in bold, Ed's words in Italics)

"I think its clear."
"Any zombies out there?"
"Don't say that!"
"What?"
"That!"
"What?"
"The zed-word, don't say it."
"Why not?"
"Because it's ridiculous!"
"Well... are there any?"
"I don't see any. Maybe it's not as bad as all that. Oh, no, wait, there they are."

This hilarious back and forth between Shaun and Ed is only one of what seems an endless battle between Shaun and Ed (as friends of course). One of the minor characters comments on the nature of Shaun and Ed's relationship by calling Ed Shaun's boyfriend.

[about Ed] He's not my boyfriend!
[handing beer to Shaun] It might be a bit warm, the cooler was off.
Thanks, babe. [Shaun winks]

Basically, the story goes: Shaun breaks up with Lizzie. Shaun and Ed are confronted with the task of rescuing Shaun's mother, step-father, ex-girlfriend, and his ex-girlfriends two best friends. Throughout the movie (as can be expected from horror) several people die quite grotesquely. One man is torn completely apart when a group of... um... zombies grabs him and tears out his insides then dismembers him. It might sound gross, but... well I guess it is gross. This movie is not for the faint of heart because there is definitely blood (in excess) as well as the use of the "F" word at least 20 times.

All in all I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone with a sense of humor, or a soul. Use extreme caution when renting this movie as you may be tempted to not return it to the rental store! Overall Rating: 9.8/10

Shane Yetter