Gory. Exciting. Action-packed. Socially lame! The so-called opus of George Romero's zombie classics falls very short of just that. The living dead have overtaken humanity. The last remnants of the human race live inside a walled city as they come to grips with the situation. The wealthy live in sealed skyscrapers as the poor fend for themselves on the streets. Protecting them is an enormous tank called Dead Reckoning, controlled by a group of people led by Riley. But when Riley loses command of the tank to an insane man bent on destroying the city, he must save it from Dead Reckoning as the zobies who walk beyond the walls of the city slowly develop new abilites and become a much greater threat to humankind. Whoa man. Sounds pretty cool, but actually felt like a TV show. That's it. It felt like I was watching an "R" rated TV show in a movie theater. Not to mention can you hit us over the head with all this social society stuff anymore. What happened to the subtlety of the original three movies. And (caution: may be a spoiler) when does anyone start to feel empathy for zombies. They are flesh eating monsters. They will kill you! "This was suppose to be a battle. It was more like a massacre." says one of the characters in the movie after a tank like vehicle mows down several zombies in a suburban street. OF COURSE it was a massacre! You actually want to give the frikin zombies a chance! Give me a break! They have destroyed your way of life! They are nothing but dead tissue! Dispose of them! Another thing that got me angry was the obvious politically correct viewpoint of "the people who live in this well put together commune all deserve to die but all the street bums should make it through almost untouched. Oh man, when has Hollywood ever taken a different stance. And really, it is not so much the stance, but the bashing over the head of this social politically correct bull crap! Plus, it just doesn't make sense. Are you telling me that the zombies got a few of the poor people and then killed all the rich. I think there would be more casulties on both sides. You know, make the zombie movie and yes, make sure it is about people more so than the zombies, but don't bash us over the head with political viewpoints and obvious social alliterations. Filter them in, but don't, please don't, bash us over the head with them. The movie makes the zombies look like an oppressed racial group that fights back against the wrong doings people have inflicted on them. Ok maybe a little interesting, but I don't think it works. Like the 1968 "Night of the Living Dead" states "Shoot em in the head." Another thing...the movie had no cunning stylization. It all just looked like another movie that came out for the weekend. The opening credit sequence was the most visually stunning part of the film. I'm sorry peeps, but I am still going to have to keep putting my money on the "Dawn of the Dead" remake for a new zombie film. Any complaints, please email me at whisperingbells@comcast.net. Now, I can say a couple of good things about this movie too. My favorite part...Tom Savini as THE MACHETE ZOMBIE! That was tough, man! The make up effects were incredible thanks to the brilliance of KNB. The puppeteered zombies looked fantastic. The practical gore effects were great and the CGI blood wasn't actually all the bad. But still, CGI blood! Come on! Spend a little more time and do it right is what I say. Use real effects unless you absolutely need to use CGI to make an army of a million zombies or something. And last but not least, I'm sorry to say this, but the leader zombie of the film is probably the worst looking zombie I have ever seen in any well known well funded zombie movie. Come on, at least make a chunk of his head missing or an eyeball gouged out! He looks like a character on Star Trek The Next Generation! Sad man!
3.5 out of 7 martinis (i should probably rate this lower, but like I said, the gore effects and some of the action was pretty neat.)
