Post by Fickle81 on Jun 11, 2008 23:08:46 GMT -5
Minor spoilers
I'm sorry to say that this was a pretty big letdown...but not as big as it could have been. I really didn't have much expectations of it being good in the first place,because the more I kept hearing about it,the less pleased I got...I mean,I know that the Dead films are essentially timeless when it comes to their narratives and merely reflect the time that they are made,but essentially going back to when the outbreak begins and replacing 60s technology with modern technology was just too big of a stretch for me. Seriously,fuck going back just keep it in a forward progression like it was going...but I put that out of my mind when I watched the film.
The movie's biggest problem is that its execution just doesn't support its premise...it couldn't make up its mind whether it was trying to be a mock reality piece in the vein of Blair Witch and Cloverfield or a regular fictional narrative film. It just seemed WAY too orchestrated and structured in its cinematography to be believable as an ametuer faux-documentary (sorry,but the fact that they were student filmmakers doesn't excuse this,cause the people in Blair Witch were student film makers as well). Some people may scoff at this,but theres a reason films like Blair Witch and Cloverfield have their fair share of shaky cam shots,and thats to create believability that the viewer may be watching something that looks like reality. Another fucked up thing about it was the constint use of slow motion and there was even a score present...I mean what,did they actually edit the video and put that shit in? For what purpose (I didn't buy that "to scrare you" shit at all with the score,cause it would have been more effective in that sense without one)? If they wanted to document the raw truth,why would they make alterations like that that manipulate the authenticity? It made no fucking sense and once again,detracted from the realism of watching a faux ametuer documentation of something really happening.
The characters weren't anything to write home about either...in fact,with the exception of Debra and MAYBE the professor,pretty much all of them were poorly developed,paper thin,and rather boring characters. This is unacceptable for a Romero Dead film,cause if they are known for anything other than the gore and social commentary,it's memorable characters (yes,even Land of the Dead has some noteworthy individuals). And while they made all the fairly right moves for most of the film (except one,which I'll touch upon in a second),they REALLY got dumb in the third act. Why the fuck did that dipshit just leave the front door wide open (no the whole "I'm just stupid" thing doesn't cut it)? What the fuck was that shit all about with re-enacting the beginning sequence only with a real zombie,anyway? Why the fuck didn't that bitch just run back into the house instead of in the fucking woods? Why the hell did the guy just stand there and film it rather than,I dunno,DOING SOMETHING TO HELP HER?! And then why the fuck did she come back and just up and take the RV?
And there was plenty more stupid shit to be found here...like I alluded to before,early on,one of the characters decides to shoot herself in the face...eventhough she KNEW the people she had run over weren't human anymore...sooooooooo,WHAT THE FUCK?! There was no reason or any real mental stress involved,so what motivated her to shoot herself in the face? Well,I'll tell you...Romero wanted an excuse to go to a hospital so he just had one of his characters unrealistically attempt suicide in order to do that...yep,more of that unrealistic character stupidity/action in order to force the plot into a certain direction...cmon George,you know better! Another thing that grinded my gears was not 1,but 2 instances of zombies targeting specific people when they had to GET AROUND somebody else to get to them,particularly the part with Gordo in the hospital (it litterally looked like the zombie was holding the camera for a second) and the chase in the woods near the end that I already mentioned (the guy holding the camera was RIGHT IN BETWEEN the zombie and the girl,and the zombie just WENT AROUND him even after the zombie SPOTTED HIM?! THE FUCK?!?)...correct me if I'm wrong,although I'm sure I'm not,but don't zombies go after people that are DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THEM?!...Oh yea,and there was also zombie Ridley's knack for TELEPORTING (yea,you read that right...and why in the hell is he still wearing the mummy costume if he has other cloths in the house?).
Although I did appreciate some aspects of the social commentary of using the internet as a way to distribute the truth as a way to counter the mainstream media when they lie,even that was somewhat assbackwards due to the effects and music alterations I already touched upon because by manipulation the film in the ways that they did,they barely became better than the media they were countering with the video (they were only SLIGHTLY better in the sense that they didn't flat out lie like the mainstream media did)...and in the final product actually being produced and being able to be viewed,another problem arises. Before the party gets to Debra's house,it's heavily implied that all internet services and television are going down due to the undead overtaking society...so if the internet is now gone,how exactly did the final film make it onto the internet after they left the supply compound? Who's viewing the movie and how? Finally,I found the finding of a second camera in the hospital to be WAY too convienent.
It wasn't ALL downhill though...the film was never boring and went along at a nice pace,and as I said,I appreciated some aspects of the social commentary and there were instances where Jason's continued filming were justified (and of course,there were instances where it wasn't). I also appreciated Romero's distinct brand of humour thrown in,especially with that Amish deaf guy...that was definatly a nice touch. I also really grooved to the beginning exchange of dialogue about how dead corpses can't run. Finally,although the body ripping and feasting scenes were sorely missed here,I did appreciate all of the moments of gore when it came to zombies being offed (the defibrilattor and scythe bits being my favorites).
However,all of the good moments mentioned above couldn't damper the bad taste of mediocrity that was left in my mouth when the movie was over...while I wouldn't say the movie was bad,it's damn sure not good either...even if it's not bad,it's still a disgrace to Romero's Dead film legacy...I never thought I'd say this George,but I think it's time to put the zombies out to pasture...but of course,unfortunatly,there is apparently gonna be a second Diary of the Dead...great,just great...
3/5
And I'm sorry,but anybody that says this is better than Land of the Dead are grossly and offensively mistaken...
I'm sorry to say that this was a pretty big letdown...but not as big as it could have been. I really didn't have much expectations of it being good in the first place,because the more I kept hearing about it,the less pleased I got...I mean,I know that the Dead films are essentially timeless when it comes to their narratives and merely reflect the time that they are made,but essentially going back to when the outbreak begins and replacing 60s technology with modern technology was just too big of a stretch for me. Seriously,fuck going back just keep it in a forward progression like it was going...but I put that out of my mind when I watched the film.
The movie's biggest problem is that its execution just doesn't support its premise...it couldn't make up its mind whether it was trying to be a mock reality piece in the vein of Blair Witch and Cloverfield or a regular fictional narrative film. It just seemed WAY too orchestrated and structured in its cinematography to be believable as an ametuer faux-documentary (sorry,but the fact that they were student filmmakers doesn't excuse this,cause the people in Blair Witch were student film makers as well). Some people may scoff at this,but theres a reason films like Blair Witch and Cloverfield have their fair share of shaky cam shots,and thats to create believability that the viewer may be watching something that looks like reality. Another fucked up thing about it was the constint use of slow motion and there was even a score present...I mean what,did they actually edit the video and put that shit in? For what purpose (I didn't buy that "to scrare you" shit at all with the score,cause it would have been more effective in that sense without one)? If they wanted to document the raw truth,why would they make alterations like that that manipulate the authenticity? It made no fucking sense and once again,detracted from the realism of watching a faux ametuer documentation of something really happening.
The characters weren't anything to write home about either...in fact,with the exception of Debra and MAYBE the professor,pretty much all of them were poorly developed,paper thin,and rather boring characters. This is unacceptable for a Romero Dead film,cause if they are known for anything other than the gore and social commentary,it's memorable characters (yes,even Land of the Dead has some noteworthy individuals). And while they made all the fairly right moves for most of the film (except one,which I'll touch upon in a second),they REALLY got dumb in the third act. Why the fuck did that dipshit just leave the front door wide open (no the whole "I'm just stupid" thing doesn't cut it)? What the fuck was that shit all about with re-enacting the beginning sequence only with a real zombie,anyway? Why the fuck didn't that bitch just run back into the house instead of in the fucking woods? Why the hell did the guy just stand there and film it rather than,I dunno,DOING SOMETHING TO HELP HER?! And then why the fuck did she come back and just up and take the RV?
And there was plenty more stupid shit to be found here...like I alluded to before,early on,one of the characters decides to shoot herself in the face...eventhough she KNEW the people she had run over weren't human anymore...sooooooooo,WHAT THE FUCK?! There was no reason or any real mental stress involved,so what motivated her to shoot herself in the face? Well,I'll tell you...Romero wanted an excuse to go to a hospital so he just had one of his characters unrealistically attempt suicide in order to do that...yep,more of that unrealistic character stupidity/action in order to force the plot into a certain direction...cmon George,you know better! Another thing that grinded my gears was not 1,but 2 instances of zombies targeting specific people when they had to GET AROUND somebody else to get to them,particularly the part with Gordo in the hospital (it litterally looked like the zombie was holding the camera for a second) and the chase in the woods near the end that I already mentioned (the guy holding the camera was RIGHT IN BETWEEN the zombie and the girl,and the zombie just WENT AROUND him even after the zombie SPOTTED HIM?! THE FUCK?!?)...correct me if I'm wrong,although I'm sure I'm not,but don't zombies go after people that are DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THEM?!...Oh yea,and there was also zombie Ridley's knack for TELEPORTING (yea,you read that right...and why in the hell is he still wearing the mummy costume if he has other cloths in the house?).
Although I did appreciate some aspects of the social commentary of using the internet as a way to distribute the truth as a way to counter the mainstream media when they lie,even that was somewhat assbackwards due to the effects and music alterations I already touched upon because by manipulation the film in the ways that they did,they barely became better than the media they were countering with the video (they were only SLIGHTLY better in the sense that they didn't flat out lie like the mainstream media did)...and in the final product actually being produced and being able to be viewed,another problem arises. Before the party gets to Debra's house,it's heavily implied that all internet services and television are going down due to the undead overtaking society...so if the internet is now gone,how exactly did the final film make it onto the internet after they left the supply compound? Who's viewing the movie and how? Finally,I found the finding of a second camera in the hospital to be WAY too convienent.
It wasn't ALL downhill though...the film was never boring and went along at a nice pace,and as I said,I appreciated some aspects of the social commentary and there were instances where Jason's continued filming were justified (and of course,there were instances where it wasn't). I also appreciated Romero's distinct brand of humour thrown in,especially with that Amish deaf guy...that was definatly a nice touch. I also really grooved to the beginning exchange of dialogue about how dead corpses can't run. Finally,although the body ripping and feasting scenes were sorely missed here,I did appreciate all of the moments of gore when it came to zombies being offed (the defibrilattor and scythe bits being my favorites).
However,all of the good moments mentioned above couldn't damper the bad taste of mediocrity that was left in my mouth when the movie was over...while I wouldn't say the movie was bad,it's damn sure not good either...even if it's not bad,it's still a disgrace to Romero's Dead film legacy...I never thought I'd say this George,but I think it's time to put the zombies out to pasture...but of course,unfortunatly,there is apparently gonna be a second Diary of the Dead...great,just great...
3/5
And I'm sorry,but anybody that says this is better than Land of the Dead are grossly and offensively mistaken...