MovieChat Forums > The Dead Don't Die (2019) Discussion > Shaun of the Dead + Valium

Shaun of the Dead + Valium

posted 3 years ago by Ace_Spade (9601)
7 replies | jump to latest

This film felt like the famous zom-com with a horse tranquilizer; believe it or not, I don't mean that as a negative. It's Jim Jarmusch, so I expected low-key, arthouse stuff, and that's exactly what this is. I actually expected it to be a lot less funny.

If expectations were for a standard zombie film or a spoof/comedy, I get why people didn't like it, but if you're expecting "Wes Anderson chuckles at zombie flicks," you'll get what you came for.

The drawback was that it got a bit on-the-nose with some messaging, but maybe that was satirizing soapboxing?

I'm a sucker for meta stuff, so the fourth wall breaks endeared the film to me. Ronnie's low-key doomsaying was funny. The over-emphasis on the zombies = consumers thing felt like a good point, but also it was mocking the "cleverness" of zombie movies running that idea into the ground. Tilda Swinton was great. Bill Murray's a master of this deadpan humour. For me, it worked.

[–] tph890 (489) 3 years ago

It worked for me, too. And your post title is an incredibly accurate description for the film.
I was pleasantly surprised by the ride. The filmmakers found a decent balance between the bleak and the absurd. The meta level actually made it easier to digest, in my opinion, though I didn’t expect the story to go that route.
All in all, it was a very good dark comedy.

[–] Ace_Spade (9601) 3 years ago

I agree with you 100%.

Jim Jarmusch is hit-or-miss for me. Sometimes I love his artsy, quirky weirdness. Other times, I think he's gone overboard on pretension. But this one was just arty enough while side-stepping that self-importance that too many art films have. It was a lot of fun, pretty ghoulish, and I love me the meta.

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 3 years ago

Yeah, it somehow worked for me as well. I didn't expect to like stuff like this.

But then again, I don't like Zombieland, and I enjoyed Shaun of the Dead, so maybe there's a pattern to this.

[–] Ace_Spade (9601) 3 years ago

I liked Zombieland, too, but not as much as Shaun of the Dead or The Dead Don't Die.

This movie just kinda slouched its way into charming. It was delightful.

A lot of reviewers were lukewarm-cold on it, too, and it's one of (many) movies where I can't figure that out. I'm not sure what's not to love. I have a feeling it's one of those things where the reviewers' expectations were on Jarmusch's usual high-art level, and he instead delivered this quirky, little comedy.

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 3 years ago

I think your valium imagery was dead-on. But yeah, I think this straight combination threw people off.

Some reviewers expected a more elevated film.
But then I think a lot of viewers expected a more...energized, zany comedy.

What we got was neither: it's just a delightful, understated zombie comedy.

[–] JestersDead (485) 3 years ago

I'm sure it's very arty with all kinds of clever hidden meanings.

Unfortunately it's also one of the most boring films ever made.

BORING

TEDIOUS

LABOURED

If you're an insomniac, this is the cure.

[–] Ace_Spade (9601) 3 years ago

I had a totally different reaction. I wasn't so much thinking of it in "arty" terms, but I just appreciated the laid-back humour of it - its quirk - and the meta touches.