I am Legend, released in December 2007, follows Robert Neville (played by Will Smith) three years after a mysterious virus was accidentally released upon the world. While searching for a cure for cancer, American scientists accidentally created the virus, which killed most of the world’s population. Those that didn’t die were turned into creatures much like zombies (of the fast moving, more lethal variety). Robert is for some reason immune to the virus, and is the only uninfected person still living in New York City. He works to find a cure for the virus and struggles to survive on his own, especially after he finds a young woman and a boy who come to NYC after hearing his daily radio broadcast in hopes of finding other survivors. This film, while a bit predictable at times, was good. I especially enjoyed the little idiosyncrasies Neville develops after having no one but his trusty dog Samantha to talk to. Every few days he travels to the local video rental store, where he’s working through the DVD collection alphabetically, and has pretend conversations with mannequins he’s moved, dressed, and named himself. It also boasts some pretty creepy and suspenseful scenes involving Neville navigating abandoned buildings in search of zombies to run experiments on, where they like to hide in the dark.
Another good zombie apocalypse movie is 28 Days Later, released June 2003. Jim (played by Cillian Murphy) wakes up from a coma to discover the hospital and surrounding London to be completely deserted. He soon finds out why: 28 days earlier, primates carrying a virus that induces mind-numbing rage in all that come in contact with infected blood were released from a testing facility, turning much of the population into rage zombies (again of the fast-moving variety). Jim is quickly joined by a group of survivors who attempt to make their way to a military base in hopes of seeking help. But once they get to the base, they learn zombies were only a fraction of their problems when compared to the tyranny of the military officers. I really liked this one. It was truly eerie to watch Jim wander around the empty hospital and deserted London, attempting to figure out what had happened while he was asleep. The soundtrack is also surprisingly excellent.
Finally, Shaun of the Dead, released in April 2004, parodies the zombie apocalypse story through the average Shaun (played by Simon Pegg). Shaun is tired of his mediocre life and decides to start doing something about it by winning back his ex-girlfriend. Unfortunately, this is also the day that people in London begin to turn into zombies. With the help of his best friend Ed (Nick Frost), Shaun gathers his ex, friends and parents together to fight the zombie onslaught (of the slower-moving, not so bright variety) in true British fashion: barricaded in a pub armed with a cricket bat. This movie was hilarious. It parodies all the staples of zombie legend. It also takes a stab at human nature, creating truly funny moments like when Shaun and Ed find a zombie woman in their backyard, and being oblivious, assume that her state is due to being extremely drunk, and not being the undead.
Side Note: I’ve always wondered… why is it movies always portray zombies as flesh-eating monsters? Isn't it enough that they come back from the dead? Do they have to eat people, too? What would make them want to do that? If I had just come back from the dead, I think I would want to relax a little. Maybe watch some TV. Play some cards. And then if I got hungry, maybe I would have some pizza. Brain pizza...And in case there ever is a zombie apocalypse (let's hope they're the slow-moving kind), here's some tips from the Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks.
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