Shaun of the Dead
I'm not really sure it makes a ton of sense to comment on movies that have been around as long as some of the ones I plan on seeing this year. In previous years, I just assigned the movies a letter grade and went about my business. So, not sure this is going to work. But what the hell...might as well give it a go.
I've wanted to see Shaun of the Dead for quite some time. Heard awesome things about it right when it came out, and a lot of people I know love this movie. My interest in it didn't really pick up until I saw Edgar Wright's excellent buddy cop flick, Hot Fuzz. Sheer awesomeness. At that point I knew I needed to see his earlier work, Shaun of the Dead. Of course, nearly four years later and I hadn't gotten around to seeing it...until now.
What a freaking awesome movie. Man, I love Wright's work. The comedy is dead on- particularly the wry, witty dialog. Just. Plain. Awesome. I was actually laughing out loud watching it. And, as I think I've mentioned elsewhere, I almost never do that. It was perfect. The thing about it...and they mention this in the featurette included on the DVD... it isn't like a typical spoof movie. Something like Scary Movie. Hell even Space Balls. It's not like they were openly mocking the genre they were spoofing. It's more that they inserted a comedy into a zombie movie. There was a distinct lack of ridiculous antics and lame puns. This is the kind of comedy I really enjoy. Restrained and subtle. I don't need Adam Sandler making all sorts of idiotic noises or speaking like a deranged four year old... no, one well-timed line of wry British dialog hits the mark a lot better. Definitely more high brow than a lot of what passes for comedy these days. I don't know, for me, it hit the mark. I really enjoyed it.
Not only did I love the writing and the typical Edgar Wright style, the casting was dead on as well. The chemistry between Simon Pegg's Shaun and Nick Frost's Ed was incredible to watch. This should come as no surprise considering the two were once roommates and remain close friends. I'd pretty much watch anything with them in it. Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, and Dylan Moran as Shaun's girlfriend, Liz and her friends Dianne and David respectively, round out the awesome cast. I guess the thing that made it all work is that no one really seemed to take themselves too seriously... but at the same time they were all committed to making a somewhat sophisticated movie. It was like they knew it was ridiculous but they were going to have a good time putting out a good product. It seemed effortless...which made it damn cool.
I'm struggling a little to really explain why I loved it. I don't know, it just worked. Wright and Pegg as a writing combo have proven to be winners... well they're at least 2 for 2 (having teamed up to write Hot Fuzz as well) in my book and I hope they have a few more tricks up their sleeves as well. Actually I've enjoyed all of the work I've seen from Wright and Pegg separately as well. Wright was again fantastic helming Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Pegg was excellent in the only other role I've seen him in as a young Scotty in JJ Abrams' reboot of Star Trek. So yeah, definitely hope they keep the good times rolling... but as for Shaun of the Dead... I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't yet. Really wish I had gotten around to it earlier. (Hell, I've even had the DVD from Netflix since June...)... but in the end, I suppose it was well worth the wait. Awesome, awesome movie.
Grade: A+
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