Shaun of the Dead Movie Review

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

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Written by: Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Rafe Spall
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
The uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.

Verdict
This is absolutely excellent. Very few movies are so joke dense. From wordplay to what's happening at the edge of each frame, to repeated dialog, multiple rewatches aren't just mandatory, they're welcome. This inventively folds upon itself where dialog and situations before the apocalypse have a very different meaning after. It's a clever script that works as a comedy and a zombie movie in equal measure which is no easy feat. It's fun, funny, and worth rewatching a few times.
Watch It.

Review
I had never heard of this movie but years ago someone recommended it. I was blown away. It's the reason I follow Pegg, Frost, and Wright's careers. This was the first of the Cornetto trilogy, composed of this, Hot Fuzz, and At World's End. Hot Fuzz is the best example of the trio's collaborations. If you like these movies, definitely try to find their series, Spaced.

I love the opening. We see several people at work looking like zombies, making a connection between actual zombies and being a corporate zombie trapped in a nine to five job. Shaun (Simon Pegg) is at that age of leaving his twenties and the party lifestyle behind for a steady job and serious relationships. Shaun's girlfriend wants him to grow up and distance himself from his lazy roommate Ed (Nick Frost). His girlfriend is pushing him, but he's not quite ready. That and Ed is still living like he's in his twenties, often convincing Shaun to join in.

Nick Frost, Simon Pegg play Ed, Shaun

This features heavy foreshadowing that can only be appreciated upon a second watch. This is a movie that's so well plotted and the jokes are incredibly deep. This isn't slapstick humor. It relies on wordplay and repetition. It's clever comedy. The dialog is a dark joke in relation to before the apocalypse. I love the sense of humor. This has so many jokes happening around the edges of the frame that you need to watch the background characters.

Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Simon Pegg, Lucy Davis play Ed, Liz, Shaun, Dianne

The symmetry of this movie is unparalleled. It repeats actions, phrases, and scenarios but the context transforms them completely. An apocalypse happens and Shaun is too hungover to notice. When he finally does, his plan to survive the zombies is the same as a date night with his girlfriend; enjoy drinks at a local bar, the Winchester. Shaun becomes the unlikely leader of his friend group. With the zombies outside he also faces the tensions between his girlfriend, mom, and best friend.

This is a great zombie movie and a great comedy. So much of the dialog is quotable, even more so with the symmetry and repetition in the movie. You've got this slacker Shaun working a retail job having just been dumped by his girlfriend. He and his best friend become unlikely heroes in a zombie apocalypse. The writing is absolutely stellar.