“The Dead Don’t Die,” Sturgill Simpson
I could not have been more happily surprised by this film. I laughed the whole way through it, an actual full-belly laugh. This movie bumped Zombieland down to #2 on my “best zombie films” list.
The details of a film’s star rating in this blog generally go as follows:
3 Stars for beginning, middle, and end of the story
Star for casting/acting
Star for everything else- cinematography, soundtrack, etc.
Bonus Star 1- for marketing, release date, etc.
Bonus Star 2- for storyline fitting in with prequels/sequels, end credit scenes, etc.
If you would like to see a more detailed outline of how a film’s rating is created by me, there is a blog post on my dedicated page to just that. Also, I don’t do spoilers. I won’t mention any major plot twists or endings but I will hint at things and mention scenes that don’t give away any of those major points.
Let’s get into it.
Beginning: I haven’t laughed so hard at an opening in my whole film-loving life. The opening scene set up the character’s relationship with one another and the town of Centerville. It also had a fourth wall break that I thought was absolute genius.
Middle: This section of the The Dead Don’t Die was action-packed combined with slow pacing. The zombie fights were sprinkled throughout which worked to break up the sluggish dialogue and push the story toward its ending. My usage of the word sluggish was merely an adjective, not a negative comment. The dialogue in this film was crafted well. Case in point, the repetition of “This isn’t going to end well.” What I thought was crafted particularly well throughout was how so many different characters got interwoven together. The small town setting made that possible because everybody knows everybody in a small town. It also made the audience members feel more in the town and a part of the story. We got to know everyone in Centerville.
End: The ending definitely made me think. I had a second of “that was unsatisfactory” then immediately “that was probably the point.” The Dead Don’t Die is a case of ambiguous ending done right. There was also another fourth wall break, an entire scene worth, that brought us audience members to tears. There was also a twist that was completely unexpected and random and I loved it.
Casting/Acting: I was worried about the star studded cast. A lot of movies cast full rosters of well known names in the hopes people go to see their favorite star, instead of actually choosing actors that would be truly right for the roles. Where that is a good technique to use to get a film greenlit, it tends to lead to bad reviews. That was fortunately nor the case with The Dead Don’t Die. Every actor/actress was perfect for the role they were cast in. Bill Murray and Adam Driver worked so well in their scenes together I believed they had been partners on the force for a chunk of time. Also, there was a nod to Adam Driver in Star Wars that was done well. Chloë Sevigny was the perfect mixture of awkward and over the top. Steve Buscemi was...Steve Buscemi. Danny Glover and Caleb Landry Jones were great. Tilda Swinton was epic as always. Selena Gomez, Austin Butler, and Luka Sabbat were the hipster millennials a zombie film maker could have previously only dreamt about. Iggy Pop was a zombie. Overall, everyone was delightful.
Everything Else: I could go on and on but I won’t. Jim Jarmusch...I have so much respect for what he was able to accomplish with this film. Genius. I also enjoyed what they did in costuming, makeup, and VFX with the zombies. I cannot take a ton of gory/grossness so I worry about going to see a zombie movie. However, there was only one “yikes, close your eyes” scene and then it was just cool special effects. Oh, and…“The Dead Don’t Die” by Sturgill Simpson. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?
Bonus 1: I gave a half star for this section because the release date was good but the marketing was only okay. I felt that the marketing made it seem zombie movie first and comedy second but The Dead Don’t Die is definitely comedy first, zombies second.
Bonus 2: Another half star. I’m not sure if they plan to do a sequel. It’s not needed, but my issue is that I don’t have any sense of predicting whether or not they plan to do one. I need closure.
Overall: I enjoyed The Dead Don’t Die. I have seen negative reviews online about it but I don’t think the people writing them understood that the movie was supposed to be ridiculous. Those reviews are negating the film for, what I believe, was the exact reason it was made. It’s not a serious film, it’s a comedy. Not everyone is into certain types of films but that can lead to bad reviews when someone goes to see a movie they know they won’t like. Example, if you don’t like superhero movies, don’t go see Marvel movies, especially if you aren’t going to explain you don’t like superhero movies when you review it. Personally, so you know, 1. I wouldn’t go see a type of movie I thought I wouldn’t like because why spend the money and 2. If I did and I created a review for it, I would tell you that type of movie isn’t my thing.
Small rant aside (apologies), I think everyone should go see this movie in theaters. There was an atmosphere of us all together watching it that was like nothing I have ever felt before. I am almost 22 years old and everyone else there was probably 30+, which was only awkward until the movie started. Then we were all just laughing our butts off and “ah that’s gross”-ing together. It was a community event and it was great.
So let me know:
What did you think of the movie?
Do you like zombie movies?
Do you also think “The Dead Don’t Die” by Sturgill Simpson sounds familiar?
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