This movie has a slick aesthetic and a stock plot. The sleek visual style is definitely the draw here, but the story is good enough to keep the audience’s attention through to the end.
Closest comparison: It’s like The Untouchables by way of La La Land, without the singing.
Setting: Crime
Plot: Action
Tone: Adventure
This movie is pedal-to-the-metal funny from start to finish. Of course, it’s zombie-themed humor so if that turns your stomach then definitely skip this one. The action is fun, but it’s the interpersonal dialogue that is the real highlight of this movie. It was one of the first movies to heavily feature text digitally inserted into the space of the scene, and its comedic impact hasn’t been matched since. And it has a pitch-perfect mid-movie character turn that raises the whole movie to another level.
Closest Comparison: It’s the fun comedy version of movies like 28 Days Later and I Am Legend.
Setting: Post-Apocalyptic
Plot: Adventure
Tone: Comedy
It's not that bad, it's just bland. Its best use is as a guide for what not to do in editing, writing, and music selection. There were several clever things they tried to do, which is good, but the only parts worth watching again are the parts with the two main leads whose interpersonal chemistry was surprisingly genuine. It's about on the level of Spider-Man 3.
Sorry, I can't go the full 5/5. It's the ending. It was ok, but kind of a let-down after the rest of the film. If I did half points it would be 4.5/5, but it is what it is. I'd say it's the best musical since Moulin Rouge, but not better than. The last 5 minutes of a movie are half the movie, and where Moulin Rouge's ending was poetic this just felt a bit rocky. That being said, I'll probably have the songs pop into my head for the next week.
This movie's strength is in its moviemaking. It is shot to look like it's all one continuous, unbroken take, using very clever invisible cuts to make it possible. There are also quite a few mirrors in the film but never the camera reflected in them, a feat which I'm still not sure how they were able to accomplish. The story is pretty weird, though, and there's a lot of sexual dialogue and situations that don't actually add anything to the film. Also the ending undercuts itself. The film could have been going one of two directions, basically, and has an unclear ending that doesn't come down on either side. Instead of making both interpretations meaningful and valid, it only serves to make neither of them interesting or satisfying. If you like dissecting film-making techniques it's really cool, but otherwise I'd skip it.
