On the surface, Shaun of the Dead is simply a parody of zombie movies (which actually functions quite well as its own zombie movie). If you are a fan of the genre, you can tell that they've put a lot of time into it and that it comes from a great love of those classic George Romero zombie films. There are homages and references to other zombie flicks that aren't necessarily obvious unless you're familiar with those zombie movies and you're really paying attention!
All of the Edgar Wright movies are genre movies on the surface, but what sets his work apart is that they are so much more than just love letters or parodies or full of referential humor. They actually have legitimate substance: an actual, compelling story, realistic character relationships, development. Shaun of the Dead is no exception. The first of Wright's conceptual "Three Flavours Cornetto" trilogy, it tells the story of Shaun - a man going nowhere, stuck with his slacker best friend, ultimately avoiding "growing up." His unwillingness (or perhaps fear) of taking control of his life and "doing something" causes conflict with his flatmate Pete - a man who clearly has his life together. More importantly, it causes conflict with his girlfriend Liz, who does not want to feel stuck anymore, constantly spending nights drinking in the old pub with her boyfriend and his slacker best friend.
Shaun's life is nothing incredible. He appears to co-manage a small electronics store, working primarily with cocky teenagers who mock him constantly. He is at odds with his step father Phillip, who hounds him to remember his mother more. He is also something of a complete screw up, constantly making situations worse through his failure to follow through on promised actions.
This changes, of course, with the outbreak of a zombie plague. Suddenly, he and his best friend Ed find themselves as among the last remaining survivors in a world now overrun by zombies. Together, they come up with a plan to save Shaun's mom and Liz - his now ex-girlfriend - and hole up in the Winchester - the favorite bar of Ed and Shaun that had become a source of contention with Liz.
With this zombie apocalypse as the backdrop, Shaun attempts to take charge. He makes decisions with conviction and takes control of each situation that arises. Of course, his plan ultimately fails and everyone winds up getting killed except for Shaun and Liz. Just before they discover an escape route, Shaun breaks down and acknowledges what Liz and her friends, Phillip, and Pete all essentially told him before: he just can't get it together. Liz provides relief by saying that it's not that he came up with a plan and failed; it's that he tried something at all. Essentially, the difference between this screw up during the zombie apocalypse and all of those seemingly more minor screw ups during normal life is that here, he was trying 100%. He had no reservations; nothing holding him back. Shaun's development has finally peaked and we see that he has grown up a bit and become a more responsible adult - ironically just in time to be eaten alive by the undead.
Like Hot Fuzz and The World's End, Shaun of the Dead is seemingly designed for re-watching. It exists on multiple levels. You can watch it a dozen times and peel back even more layers. Something Wright and Pegg love to do is play around with double meanings. Often, the first third of a movie is doing one thing. The final third is them doing the same thing again, but in a completely different way.
Take, for example, when Shaun leaves his apartment to run to the store. Immediately after passing the gate, a rogue soccer ball flies in and nearly hits him. Shaun looks at the kid and says, "Hey! You're dead!" It's a cliche threat, but if you've seen the movie before (or are just a really, really attentive movie watcher), you'll understand how accurate that line is. The next time we see the boy, he is a zombie. Or of course, during Pete's explosive speech toward Ed and Shaun. Referring to Ed, he says, "If he wants to live like a wild animal, he can go live in the shed!" And of course, that's exactly what happens. At the end of the movie, Shaun leaves to go to the shed where he keeps a shackled up, zombified Ed.
Then there's Ed's post breakup speech. "You know what we should do tomorrow," he says. "Keep drinkin'! We'll have a Bloody Mary in the morning, have a bite at the King's Head, a couple at the Little Princess, and stagger here to the Winchester for shots." This single line alone lays out the entire development of the movie. It's so obvious now that I can't believe it took me as many views as it did to notice it. Perhaps I was distracted by the relatively cheesy gag of Ed saying, "It's not the end of the world," just before a zombie knocks on the window of the bar.
The very next morning - completely oblivious of the zombie apocalypse - Ed is looking outside and notices a girl in the back yard. They go outside to investigate. Just before she attacks them, Shaun tries to ask her to leave. He notices her name tag says Mary (who you might recognize from the checkout woman in the opening titles). Of course, after she attacks them, they knock her over and she is impaled upon a piece of pipe. Another zombie shows up and the two pull out a shovel and cricket bat in order to bash their brains in - blood squirting everywhere. ("We'll have a Bloody Mary in the morning...")
On the phone with his mom right after, Shaun learns that Phillip has been bitten. They plan to go rescue her from him, but he hasn't quite turned when they get their. Phillip, of course, is Shaun's step dad with whom he has a rocky relationship with. Phillip has always been stern and strict with Shaun: always hounding him to do things, never giving him rewards or trust. In essence, Phillip is sort of like a tyrannical king in the eyes of Shaun. Although he was already bitten off camera, we do see him get bitten again as they try to leave. ("...have a bite at the King's Head.")
And of course, Shaun has to stop by Liz's flat to make sure that she's alright. After a close call, he climbs up the wall (something he tried and failed to do earlier), he finally gets in to rescue her. She is, essentially, his princess. He's come to rescue her (she even has a flat at the top of the apartment building - kind of like a damsel in distress sits in her tower). Her friends David and Dianne are there as well and ultimately decide to tag along. ("...a couple at the Little Princess...")
The final part took me forever to finally pick up as well (I actually didn't notice it initially until I started to talk about the Bloody Mary connection, then it all just clicked). When they finally get to the block the Winchester is on, the street is full of zombies (including an awesome, zombie Tyres from Spaced!). Their plan to get into the Winchester? Act like zombies! They quite literally stagger to the Winchester, only instead of being drunk, they are acting like zombies. Additionally, this is where they hold up. A regular joke throughout was the argument about whether or not the Winchester rifle hanging above the bar were real or not. Turns out that it is and they use it to take out a few zombies. (..."then we'll stagger to the Winchester for some shots.")
Just to touch upon something else: though Liz is essentially Shaun's princess, she is by no means a damsel in distress character throughout the movie. (Wright and Pegg write female characters better than perhaps anyone in Hollywood.) She ultimately makes the decision for her and her friends to go with Shaun. She is engaged in helping them succeed. She is supportive and constructive. And she is often more helpful in dealing with zombies than the other male characters! When Shaun pushed through a fence and attacked by a zombie, it's Liz and Dianne who rush in to help him. They don't even miss a beat. Meanwhile, David stands around watching while Ed just stands there texting. So even though in terms of the story, Liz functions a bit like a cliche "princess" character, she is by no means a damsel in distress nor a half character that only exists as a reward for Shaun. In fact, they only really get back together after working together. Shaun doesn't exactly do anything for Liz to function as a "reward" for his heroic behavior. Yet because the two of them work together, each pulling their individual weight, they both earn the return to relationship status.
Wright and Pegg are very meticulous, organized writers, rarely leaving anything as random. Upon review, I couldn't help but imagine that Shaun and the zombies essentially switch roles. At the beginning, Shaun appears to just be going through the motions of daily life. Even going to the pub with Ed - something they do for fun - seems like just the regular routine. The lack of ambition and enthusiasm for anything he is doing makes him seem like a metaphorical zombie. He only turns his life around after being attacked by literal zombies.
The references to other zombie classics will keep many viewers searching. There are many! They refuse to call them zombies in a reference to Danny Boyle's refusal to do so in 28 Days Later. (They also reference 28 Days Later with a news report at the end that has the anchor saying, "New reports of the virus originating in raged monkeys has been dismissed as bull..." before getting cut off.) There are references to Night of the Living Dead with the radio early in the film referring to a space probe returning to Earth prematurely. The anchorman who says to "remove the head or destroy the brain" is also a reference to the genre-sparking film. Shaun's place of employ is even a reference to Evil Dead (Bruce Campbell's character works in a similar establishment). He even references that he is in charge today because, "Ash is out." (Ash of course is the name of Campbell's character.) There are a few others as well - in addition to some Star Wars references, a Clockwork Orange reference, and even some inside jokes for "Spaced" fans! ("Fried gold.")
The movie functions very well as a sort of "coming of age" story for mid to late 20 somethings who increasingly seem to be avoiding "growing up" these days. At the same time, it functions pretty well as a zombie movie. And at the same time as that, it functions very well as a comedy!
One of my favorite movies, this is just always going to be my Halloween tradition. This movie has honestly gotten better with every viewing I've ever had of it. I love films that are built on structure and exist on multiple levels. Few do a better job than Edgar Wright.
Reductive Rating: Amazing!
(Scale - Terrible..., Pretty Bad, It's Fine, Pretty Good, Amazing!)
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