Land of The Dead Visited

Finally got around to catching George A. Romero's latest zombie-fest "Land of The Dead" this past Sunday at the Burbank AMC. After the initial attempt on Friday . . . ahem ahem . . . I was glad to be able to catch a movie that's pretty much been twenty years in the making.

So, apart from the zombies . . . what's going on with this movie. After the initial credit sequences, we learn that some time ago, the dead and recently deceased had started to rise and attack the living. It's not an isolated incident, and soon most of the world is overrun. Cut back to the present, and we meet a rag-tag group of mercenaries that work for Kaufman (played by Dennis Hopper), the man in charge of Fiddler's Green.

These guys are led by Riley, who's on his last outing. He's retiring as of that night, and he wants to have an uneventful supply run. The group descends on a small town, raiding the supermarket and the liquor store. Liquor not being an essential, but Cholo (played by John Leguizamo) gets it for its value on the black market, and he also wants to impress Kaufman.

All Cholo wants in this post-apocalyptic world is have his spot on the luxurious Fiddler's Green building. This is the glowing spire in one of humanity's last bastions, and it comes complete with restaurants, shopping areas, and its very own Enron-esque logo. Cholo has been doing these supply runs for Kaufman, as well as taking care of his "garbage" for almost three years now, and he feels his time has come.

The band of mercenaries return to the city with their take after losing one of their own to a zombie, Riley and his "idiot" Charlie go off to look for his ride out of town. Cholo goes off to meet with Kaufman to make his proposal for prestigious membership in Fiddler's Green. This is when he realizes that he is not good enough, and never will be good enough in Kaufman's eyes to be a part of that. Cholo manages to escape turning into "garbage" at the hands of Kaufman's goons, and decides to take his team out and steal the "Dead Reckoning" . . . a truly badass tank/truck/missile launching platform. His purpose, to have Kaufman cough up a large amount of dough in exchange for not blowing the crap out of the city.

Meanwhile, angered by the repeated attacks by the humans, the zombies are starting to mobilize. After years of just stumbling around, they are now led by a former gas attendant only known as "Big Daddy". He leads the zombie horde to the glowing tower he sees in the distant. They are going to take the fight to the aggressors, and they learn how to overcome obstacles. They have become problem solving zombies.

Riley in the meantime, learns his ride has been taken, tries to figure out what happened to it, and learns Kaufman is behind it, and doesn't want to let him go just yet. He's got another purpose for him, as he sends Riley out to retrieve the "Dead Reckoning" from Cholo. He reluctantly agrees, and with his ol' pal Charlie and hottie Asia Argento (the daughter of horror legend Dario Argento), they head out into the wastes to do Kaufman's dirty work . . . but is that what they truly intend on doing?

Telling you more about this would mean wandering into spoiler territory. What you can expect from this movie is lots of zombie action, some great set pieces, and a general sense of dread mixed in with some really funny socio-political commentary. It's a bit subtle and played for laughs when it appears, but still relevant. Don't let the box office numbers fool you. When I went to see it, the theater was packed, and it was 4:15 on a Sunday afternoon. I predict this will make it's 15 million budget back by the end of next week, and I hope it does more business after that. The stage is set for at least two sequels to this that Romero is already tentatively talking about. I want my zombie action, and I want it soon. Don't miss out on this. And if you don't think it's a family movie, don't worry, I saw a fair amount of young'uns at the theater. Depending on your point of view, that could either be bad parenting . . . or pretty much the most awesome parenting known to man.

I know I'll be taking my offspring to watch horror movies when they're three or four . . . much to my wife's future chagrin.