More akin to "Mad Max" and other post-apocalyptic films than Romero’s canonical "Night of the Living Dead," "Land of the Dead" is still a neat set of stories.
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The early 21st century has served as a wonderful breeding ground for a Zombie revolution. Films such as the new "Dawn of the Dead" and "Shaun of the Dead" showed that the idea of zombies wasn´t stale, only the execution has become routine; with a little pizzazz and flash, these stories of survival against all odds and an inexplicable terror can become fresh and interesting again. Unfortunately, as "House of 1000 Corpses" and the recent "Resident Evil" films proved, it´s quite easy to screw up a simple genre.
Enter the godfather of the zombie, George Romero. Credited with creating just about every convention that has become canon in the undead genre, Romero takes on the challenge of evolving Zombies for the next generation. And it´s more than just the quick cuts and suddenly rapid-moving zombies seen in "28 Days Later" or "Dawn of the Dead;" Romero intellectualizes the next stage in zombie evolution: they learn to use tools.
"Land of the Dead" isn´t a typical zombie horror picture. It isn´t set in one night when the world goes haywire without explanation. Instead it is a Post-Apocalyptic look at what would happen a few months or years after the "Night of the Living Dead." Humans are still populating the planet, but they´ve been forced into sheltered cities. Even still they try to live normal lives and the status quo class system is still in place. Those with money and affluence (i.e. white people) live in an ivory tower in the last living city, enjoying shopping, wine, and every comfort of the world before the fall without ever having to get their hands dirty dealing with the "Stenches," the film´s term for zombies.
Meanwhile, down on the street level, there are two types of people. The military, which has a loose organization and lots of guns, go out on raids looking for supplies and essentials that can keep humanity alive a little bit longer. The film´s protagonists come from the military class. Riley (Simon Baker) has served a long time, organizing raids and helping to keep the world running smoothly. The problem is; he´s had enough. The film opens with Riley´s last raid on town – he´s bought a car and plans to take it to someplace remote and live out the rest of his days in peace, away from the stench of the packed masses in the city.
That last raid is complicated by the film´s erstwhile antagonist, Cholo (John Leguizamo). A cocky, headstrong social climber, Cholo wants to curry favor with the brass in the ivory tower to gather entrance for himself. He´s been doing Kaufman´s (Dennis Hopper) dirty work for months, special favors and less-than-honest side jobs (like killing people who object to his way of ruling) in an effort to endear himself to the upper brass. Unfortunately for Cholo, Kaufman´s a bad man who plans to reneg on his promises. That sets up one of the major conflicts in the story… but more on that in a minute.
The second groups consists of… well… everyone else; the middle class, the poor, the preachers and the prophets of doom are all lumped together within the gated walls, eking out a living. Amazingly enough, they too have found ways to amuse themselves, including betting on zombie fights and other illicit activities. Enter Slack (Asia Argento). She´s used as bait during a zombie fight, something the war weary Riley finds disgusting. Riley frees her and she becomes a fighting companion during the rest of the film.
There are two major conflicts in the film, both developing simultaneously and yet completely independently. The first consists of Cholo stealing the city´s major war weapon and threatening to blow up the city if he´s not paid a hefty ransom he feels owed. It´s a fairly standard number, but plays heavily in the second plot of the film, which deals with the evolution of the zombies.
Early in the movie, Riley and his slightly slow, yet sure-firing friend Charlie (Robert Joy) observe the zombies attempting to act human; doing things that they would have in their ordinary life: Playing musical instruments, working at a filling station and so forth. It´s an idea that Romero began playing with in his original "Dawn of the Dead." What is significant is that they slowly become able to think in the abstract and can figure out what things are for. Lead by the zombie version of Louis Farrakhan, (I view this film as a commentary on social movements and though the comparison was apt, what with the million zombie march and all) the Zombies learn to use guns and use their lack of mortality to their advantage in storming the city, one left undefended by Cholo´s ploy.
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[release]16764[/release]