Movie Reviews
Land of the Dead 
Rated R (2005)
Starring: Dennis Hopper, John Leguizamo, Simon Baker
Direction: George Romero
Production: Mark Canton, Bernie Goldmann, PeterGrunwald
Screenplay: George A. Romero
by Vincent St. James
The Lowdown:
George Romero's warped zombie-nation is back, this time with more meat- eating than ever before. If you're a cannibal, you'll love this picture.
No veggies
So, Riley (Simon Baker) and Cholo (John Leguizamo) are the heroes of this film, according to how they off walking dead people in the first minutes of the movie. But wait...there is some tension between the living. This while most of the known world is lacking in warm-blooded humans- instead its infested with zombies. The real problem occurs when the zombies are seemingly able to communicate with one another. Now the "good guys" have got to deal with a pack of suddenly smarter meat-eaters. Meanwhile, Cholo attempts to get in good with Kaufman (Dennis Hopper) so that he, too, can live in comfort in Fiddler's Green amidst the violence of the outer world.
The main problem with this film is that it focuses on the wrong issues. Romero is smart enough
to make a zombie movie that somehow ties into today's world, but he choses to show excessively
the eating of the bones and the chewing of the skin. Now, I'm aware this is a zombie movie, but
if you're going to give me two hours of something at least have a balance between raw carnage
and something resembling a story. This is 2005. This much blood and violence alone won't
impress me.
The best thing of this film is the portrayal of Fiddler's Green and its main man, Kaufman. It reeks of social injustice to see Kaufman, such a dislikable guy, living the good life when honest people outside of Fiddler's Green's walls are dead, dying, or trying to kill someone . Dennis Hopper shows gusto in playing his part, and it works. Conversely, John Leguizamo's movies seem to be spiraling on downward- I once envisioned him playing better roles. Simon Baker...well, after leaving the theater someone had to remind me that he was even in this movie. The performances on the whole are rather lame efforts, but who can blame the actor's when the script smells like eight month old cheese? How can anyone in the audience connect with any of these characters? Like them? Care about them? The only thing the script does well is make Kaufman a worthy guy worth hating.
Another good thing is the portrayal of everyday life in zombie town. You can take pictures with them, wrestle them in a steel cage match, feed them,...its just like going to a modern zoo. One thing I've gotta give Romero is his vision- he knows exactly what the world would look like if zombies were to roam free. Again, though, I wish he would develop these ideas more instead of focusing on mundane subplots that resemble romance, revenge, and zombie's version of "Survivor."
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