Shaun of the Dead
by Donna Liu
Shaun’s mundane, underachieved middle aged character braves the zombie crisis that infects London and in attempt to save his closed ones he becomes more or less the hero of the story (well, he saves the girl at the end at least.) Shaun of the Dead creates itself a new category of “rom-zom-com” because although emotionally eventful and momentarily terrifying, the movie itself never takes itself too seriously. Sometimes spoofs don’t work out well but Shaun of the Dead proved witty and mimics the awkward moments to be laughed we can identify with. The success of anticipation and thrill to the viewer, mastered by the sudden fast angles and zooms are identifiable to Edgar Wright’s production style are used similarly in his other film, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (one of my favourite films!) Edgar’s motifs in Shaun of the Dead are also well produced. The reused far joke by Ed, the Winchester Pub, Shaun’s morning stretch and routine, with the second reappearance being affected by the zombie crisis creates a familiarity and joy for the viewer. Though it is my second time watching the movie, I again enjoyed it, and watching a movie for class….who can complain!
Middle aged?! Oh, Donna!
And it’s true that the film doesn’t take itself too seriously (could the same also be said of Austen’s novel?), but perhaps it does have some serious things to say (and also Austen?).
Donna, it would also probably be worth turning off comment moderation. To do that…
Go to your Dashboard. Go to Settings > Discussion. Under “Before a comment appears,” uncheck “Comment must be manually approved” and probably also uncheck “Comment author must have a previously approved comment.”