I have been a real fan of George Romero for years. The irony and effects of his previous zombie films were a joy and contributed greatly to my appreciation of what horror movies could be.
"Land of the Dead" is a disappointment when weighed with the hype and the comments here of the easily pleased. The special effects are better than any previous zombie film and that alone could compel horror fans to attend a screening of this latest entry. John Leguizamo is miscast and overplays the villain all too cartoonishly, with dialog that is meant to appeal to 10 year-golds. The character he was intended to play is a good one (you can tell by the dialog and script) but Leguizamo just doesn't bring out the malevolence. Only the lead played by Simon Baker is worse. Whether it's in the editing or in his acting skills (I suspect more of the latter), some of Baker's reactions appear to come out of 'left field'. (Think of the bad acting of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and you'll get what I mean about Baker). Someone delivers a innocuous throwaway line and he emotionally explodes, but when someone says something threatening, he's calm? Is this character supposed to be a manic bipolar?
I give the film a 6 because of the effects and my basic like for zombie films. But it is as if the biggest chunk of the budget went into the special effects and Romero's and Hopper's salaries and little or none went into dialog coaching for Baker and Argento. Dennis Hopper was excellent and I promise you will actually find yourself rooting for him to overcome despite the villainy of his character. Either Hopper should not have been cast in this in the first place since he makes all the other actors (except Big Daddy zombie and Legless zombie, who has a small role) look like beginners, or Romero should have cast actors equal to or at least half of Hopper's abilities. Here, it looks like they threw in some kids with Sir Laurence Olivier.
Romero may have given away too much control to the effects wizards and not enough to the script. I'll give him another shot to get it right.
Keep "Big Daddy zombie" (Eugene A. Clark) and Legless Zombie (David Campbell) next time around. Only Clark and Dennis Hopper were worthy of the ticket price.
Clark is not in any publicity stills nor do I see him in the 28 photos of the premiere. That's a shame. This is as much his picture as anyone else's.
"Land of the Dead" is a disappointment when weighed with the hype and the comments here of the easily pleased. The special effects are better than any previous zombie film and that alone could compel horror fans to attend a screening of this latest entry. John Leguizamo is miscast and overplays the villain all too cartoonishly, with dialog that is meant to appeal to 10 year-golds. The character he was intended to play is a good one (you can tell by the dialog and script) but Leguizamo just doesn't bring out the malevolence. Only the lead played by Simon Baker is worse. Whether it's in the editing or in his acting skills (I suspect more of the latter), some of Baker's reactions appear to come out of 'left field'. (Think of the bad acting of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and you'll get what I mean about Baker). Someone delivers a innocuous throwaway line and he emotionally explodes, but when someone says something threatening, he's calm? Is this character supposed to be a manic bipolar?
I give the film a 6 because of the effects and my basic like for zombie films. But it is as if the biggest chunk of the budget went into the special effects and Romero's and Hopper's salaries and little or none went into dialog coaching for Baker and Argento. Dennis Hopper was excellent and I promise you will actually find yourself rooting for him to overcome despite the villainy of his character. Either Hopper should not have been cast in this in the first place since he makes all the other actors (except Big Daddy zombie and Legless zombie, who has a small role) look like beginners, or Romero should have cast actors equal to or at least half of Hopper's abilities. Here, it looks like they threw in some kids with Sir Laurence Olivier.
Romero may have given away too much control to the effects wizards and not enough to the script. I'll give him another shot to get it right.
Keep "Big Daddy zombie" (Eugene A. Clark) and Legless Zombie (David Campbell) next time around. Only Clark and Dennis Hopper were worthy of the ticket price.
Clark is not in any publicity stills nor do I see him in the 28 photos of the premiere. That's a shame. This is as much his picture as anyone else's.