Zombie see, Zombie do

Rating: Null/10 (19 January 2012)

"The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy." - Charles de Montesquieu
Edgar Wright directs "Shaun of the Dead", a spoof of George Romero's "serious" zombie series and the "comedic" zombie movies of John A. Russo's "Return of the Living Dead" franchise. The film flattens and cheapens the politics of Romero's work, but is faster, funnier, slicker and more affable than all of Russo's.
While Romero's films went out of their way to encapsulate the social and political mores of different decades ("Night of the Living Dead" 1960s America, "Dawn of the Dead" the 1970s, "Day of the Dead" the 80s, "Land of the Dead" the 90s, "Diary of the Dead" and "Survival of the Dead" the first two decades of the 21st century), what "Shaun" says is more unconscious: the modern world breeds zombies and stifles ambition, being a zombie hampers upward mobility, upward mobility is necessary to draw in women, and women are all that rescue zombie spouses from total, slothful zombiedom (the film's climactic dues ex machina even features an army being led by a woman). Meanwhile, all couples embrace being zombies and all eventually become content in their zombie society, as all heavy work is outsourced to lesser zombies, freeing middle-class zombies to work in their white collar zombie society and watch zombie TV and play zombie video games. The film advocates zombiedom, because all zombie man and his zombie audience want, in their shared perpetual stupor, is media stimulation, sex, a relatively non-taxing 9 to 5 job, and various consumer pleasures. You are fine being a zombie, you want to be a zombie, being a zombie is good, is easy, as long as you have electricity, a wedding ring, and other zombies are doing all the manual labour. Unlike Romero's films, all this is sanctioned rather than presented as being abhorrent. See the 2007 remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", which likewise embraces defeatism, and advocates that its cast and audience become alien pod-people; you're better off without your brain. Submit.
Incidentally, the recent "Zombieland" does exactly what "Shaun of the Dead" does, using zombies as being representative of an aching longing for 1980s consumerism (the sweet, "brainless" embrace of video games, Atari, Ghostbusters, Bill Murry, 80s fantasy etc). Contrast this to Romero's "Land of the Dead".
7.9/10 – Though very funny and stylish, this is sitcom level drama and humour. Worth two viewings.