Land of the Dead
Written and directed by George A. Romero
Universal Pictures
2005
Rating:


George A. Romero's "Living Dead" films, now a full-blown tetralogy, have provided some of the most damning indictments of American life seen in the movies. 1968's genre-defining "Night of The Living Dead" fed off government paranoia and disdain for the status quo, 1978's "Dawn of the Dead" attacked American consumerism and 1985's "Day of the Dead," once severely underrated, has come to be recognized as a condemnation of Reagan's America.

By "Day of the Dead," the zombies outnumbered the humans by 400,000 to one and were beginning to learn to use tools. "Land of the Dead" begins sometime later. The suburbs have all been abandoned in favor of the guarded, exclusionary, Pittsburgh-ian city called Fiddler's Green, a consumer-driven wonderland run by a privileged oligarchy where only the social elite are allowed to dwell and shop. The surrounding towns have been taken over by what the military calls "Stenches," and these zombies now go through the motions of proletariat life — they walk like couples through streets and in parks, attempt to play instruments in a gazebo and Big Daddy (Eugene Clark) comes outside to pump gas every time his bell rings, even though there's no gas to pump. In their simulation of humanity, the zombies have, for the most part, become more human than the residents of Fiddler's Green. A military unit led by Riley (Simon Baker) and Cholo (John Leguizamo) raids the town in search of supplies for Fiddler's Green. They distract the zombies by exploding fireworks and then cut down the defenseless, slow-moving undead. Big Daddy has learned to ignore the "sky flowers" and, after obtaining a gun that he eventually learns how to shoot, leads his zombies on a long walk to Fiddler's Green for revenge.

In Fiddler's Green, Cholo visits the community's self-appointed king Kaufman (Dennis Hopper) and expresses his desire to live in the city's exclusive luxury building. When Cholo is turned down for being the wrong kind of person, Cholo steals the armored assault vehicle "Dead Reckoning" and holds the city hostage unless Kaufman pays him $2 million. Meanwhile, Riley attempts to retire, but finds trouble when he rescues Slack (Asia Argento, daughter of Italian master Dario Argento who worked on "Dawn of the Dead") from being bait in a cage match between zombies and starts a shootout in a carnival bar. Kaufman will let Riley, his sidekick Charlie (Robert Joy) and Slack go if Riley retrieves the "Dead Reckoning," the vehicle Riley designed. Cholo's decision to declare war on Kaufman's caste structure allows the Dead to invade Pittsburgh, offering a frightening glimpse at humanity's instinctual proclivity to destroy itself.

It speaks to Romero's greatness as a storyteller that the viewer feels split between who he wants to see succeed: Cholo's and the zombies' class destruction or Riley's saving of humanity. Cholo embodies the working man tired of serving the rich and only being spit upon in gratitude. In some ways, you hope he succeeds in destroying Fiddler's Green, thereby toppling the class structure with it. Riley balances Cholo's impetuous class warrior by latching on to a clearly defined moral compass. He sees the tyranny inherent in the system, but rather than kill thousands of people, Riley wants to leave and start over in Canada. Even if he's determined that America is beyond saving, he still has respect for the freedom fighters within the city raging against the system whose idealism may one day overcome. Not much separates the zombies from the humans (both apparently love luxury condominiums), and the Dead serve as a magnifying glass on the imperfections within ourselves. In Kaufman's view, there's no difference between the zombies and the working class since both pose an equal problem for his ivory tower. The similarities between the two "Others" does pose something of an allegorical problem, however.

The subtext gives way to an array of grisly action sequences. No one explodes a head or feeds upon carrion quite like Romero and his increased budget has allowed for some stupendously gory violence, including a nearly headless Nick that provides a surprising bite. The opening battle where fireworks explode overhead as soldiers mow down zombies allows for a surprising image of beauty amidst the carnage. Similarly, there's a fantastic sequence in which the Dead emerge from the Monongahela River like a band of undead brothers ready to wreak apocalypse now.

"Land of the Dead" uses the threat of a zombie-run society to create a film that's as smart as it is scary.

Posted Sunday, July 3, 2005

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