Movie #22 - Shaun of the Dead

Ok, not my most intellectual offering.  But one I felt I should watch.  Having watched it, I feel I have a much greater understanding of certain males - in fact, the male species in general, if left in their native habitat.

If you are considering watching this, be warned - it is a bit gory.  And there is a bit of naughty language.  However, the goriness is not excessive (although I did cover my eyes for a bit, I'm becoming such a girl in that respect); and the naughty language is not as bad as what you might hear in certain areas.  It is very funny, in that "I can't believe that's funny - but it is!!!" way. 

It is also one of those movies you might think you've already seen.  The main character is played by Simon Pegg.  Simon Pegg is also in Hot Fuzz (which I watched earlier this year, as Movie #8), and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, and Run Fatboy Run.  Other things too, but I've seen all the movies just mentioned, and Shaun has references to all of them.

Plot (from IMDb): A man decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living.

Really, it's one of those 'everyday hero' scenarios, in which an ordinary (boring) bloke doesn't want to die, and doesn't want the people closest to him to die either, and so he acts accordingly.   His actions also show up the weak as weak, and expose other emotional undercurrents that would have been left unsaid if, you know, zombies weren't taking over the world.  And just when you are resigning yourself to seeing the last remaining non-zombies (is there a technical term for that?) be zombified themselves, massive firepower saves the day.

On the subject of heroes, though... In one of the verbal dueling matches (the insults in this movie are definitely up there), the twat says to Shaun "For a hero you're quite a hypocrite".  And that got me thinking about heroes.  Some are heroes because they run to the danger.  Others are heroes because no-one else stays to fight, they all melt into the background when something has to happen.  And it's those heroes we give a hard time if they turn out to be just regular humans after all.  It's all about expectations.  If you're doing all this fighting, you must be a hero, which means you need to adhere to my idea of a hero, which means you will now be flawless and if it turns out you're still human after all, then I will tell the world how terrible you are.  Even though you're the one who was brave in the first place and I wasn't.

Speaking of bravery...  I find it interesting that we are so eager to put people in the 'loser' box.  Shaun's childhood friend, Ed (played by Nick Frost, also in Hot Fuzz), is overweight, unemployed, plays video games all day and drinks beer all the time.  The two of them are still acting like adolescents, and the other flatmate tries to convince Shaun to kick Ed out of the house.  Shaun just can't ditch his oldest friend.  Lucky, too, as Ed is a great shot thanks to all the video games, and keeps the humour alive in otherwise dire situations.  So, trust your instincts, keep your friends around, and know that there is a place for everyone.  And maybe practice a video game or two, just in case the end of the world happens...