Monday, May 11, 2020

Movie review: The Dead Don't Die

 
 The moon is changing colors, daylight is unpredictable, and animals are behaving strangely. Something is definitely wrong in the small town of Centerville and as the dead begin rising from their graves, it only gets worse.

Bill Murray (Chief Cliff), Adam Driver (Officer Ronnie), Tom Waits (Hermit Bob), Chloe Sevigny (Officer Mindy), Steve Buscemi (Frank), Danny Glover (Hank), Eszter Balint (Fern), Tilda Swinton (Zelda), Sara Driver (Coffee Zombie), Iggy Pop (Coffee Zombie), Selena Gomez (Zoe), Sturgill Simpson (Guitar Zombie), Charlotte Kemp Muhl (Fashion Zombie).

The Dead Don't Die starts off with some laughs and just keeps going. Though not well explained, the dead begin rising until we have a full-on zombie apocalypse. In the meantime, the police force realizes something is amiss and begins to investigate. Before we know it the townsfolk are struggling to survive, and failing, but the laughs don't stop. Forget about the plot, although the zombies are interesting, this is more about the cast and the laughs.

Acting here was just plain fun. Murray brought the humor as always and delivered well. Driver was solid as a straight-man and seemed to work well with others. Waits fit his quirky role and seemed to have fun with it. Swinton was in-type and added nicely, as did Glover, Gomez, Muhl and others with a lot of dead-pan comedy that landed perfectly.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds are good with nice use of natural scenery and reasonable amounts of CGI. Action scenes were fun, funny, and fitting throughout. Dialogue was campy, corny, silly, and at times hysterical. Sound and soundtrack are surprisingly good.

If you enjoy watching an experienced cast have some fun with zombies, check this one out. It moves along at a good clip and brings some good chuckles. If you are looking for a serious film with plot and character depth, move along.

With some foul language, disturbing images, blood, gore, and of course zombies, this one is rated R but probably fine for teens and above.

Released: 2019
Reviewed: 5.11.20
Star rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: Zombies, Comedy, Fantasy, Horror

copyright ©2020 Dave Riedel

No comments:

Mine mine mine!!!!

Blog disclaimer and copyright information. . .

-I hope to make this blog revenue generating in the future and as such any posts found here may be paid posts. If you want to pay me to post for you, let me know!
-Content may change over time resulting in inaccuracies. I also make mistakes, some will be here.
-I have no control over what is at the other end of any links you may find here.
-Film pictures, dvd covers, film banners or whatever you like to call them are copied here from widely available public locations. I did not create them nor do I own them.
-Any files, programs or downloadables are provided only for convenience and fun. I in no way warrant, represent, or otherwise imply they won’t cause you problems. Use at your own risk! If your computer blows up I don’t want to even hear about it.
-Reviews posted here are my opinion and meant as informational for prospective viewers and are not meant to malign, defame, or otherwise harm anyone or anything. They also are not meant as advice or counsel , not necessarily factual or absolute, and the author will not be held responsible for the results of their use.
-Comments are NOT the opinion of this author, nor is he responsible or liable for the comments or their results. I will try to moderate them in a reasonable (to me) manner.
-Translation of any portion of this blog may result in other than desirable language for which the author is not responsible. Furthermore, I’m not an English major so there will be bad grammar and punctuation found here. There may also be language that is intentionally objectionable to support my opinions. Tough.
-Copyright: All reviews and opinions expressed here by the author are owned by the author. Please enjoy reposting and/or linking, I ask only that you give proper credit and inform me you have used my content for your own pleasure and devious purposes.
-Legal limit on damages: .02 cents, U.S. (Yes, I will give you my 2 cents worth if you abuse me in court).