Fond of the Dead

Rating: 8/10 (28 September 2013)

Taking a satire and turning it into a real movie takes an incredible amount of talent, all-around. Sure, everyone, including me, loves Simon Pegg and his (best) boyfriend, Nick Frost, and they get huge credit, on screen, in turning Dawn of the Dead's spoof Shaun of the Dead into a raging success, even by today's standards. But, it was mainly the writing by both Pegg and (also, Director) Edgar Wright.
I used to be a huge spoof fan, until 2000's Scary Movie, one of my all-time favorite comedies, put an end to actual funny spoofs. Four years later, unbeknownst by me, came Shaun of the Dead, another great parody. I didn't know about it because it fell far under my radar and I probably didn't see this the first time until 5-6 years later. Just recently, (8/31/13) I watched it for the second time.
I am fully aware this lands on a ton of people's top list, and I truly liked it, myself, but I wouldn't go as far to land it in my top whatever list. Okay, maybe spoofs, since there's so few really good ones, but that's about it.
My only real problem is the movie runs out of breath in the last act. Gore replaced comedy in the last third and yeah, it's to remind us this is *also* a zombie movie. But, to me, it felt more like they ran out of jokes and lost focus on what the first two-thirds were all about.
That said, the first two acts were fantastic. Absolutely hilarious and ingenious use of both comedy and the zombie genre, all with deadpan deliveries. Basically, Shaun (Pegg) lives the same droll life and this is affecting his relationship with his girlfriend, but not so much his (best) boyfriend, Ed (Frost.) Unfortunately, for the threesome – eh, maybe also the world, a zombie outbreak occurs and, not coincidentally, mirrors Shaun's existence.
There were many opportunities to exploit the potential humor in a zombie outbreak film, and I doubt writers Pegg and Wright missed a single one. Leading up to our heroes finding out what's going on, and a little beyond the acknowledgment, it was one hilarious scene following the next. Mercifully, they chose the (much preferred by me) slow-moving zombies in order to give the cast a lot more time to give us more entertainment.
If you haven't yet seen this, and are a fan of zombie films, or even dislike them and would like to see them ridiculed, this is your movie. It is also the teaming of Pegg and Frost's absolute best film, even though they would make a couple more enjoyable flicks.
Gotta love lines like: "We're coming to get you, Barbara!" – Ed.