Cockneys vs. Zombies is a horror comedy starring Rasmus Hardiker, Harry Treadaway, Alan Ford, Honor Blackman, Ashley Thomas, Michelle Ryan, Jack Doolan, Georgia King, and Tony Gardner. The premise is pretty much right there in the title.
So! It's a zombie movie set in the East End of London. While doing some excavating in preparation for some kind of building project (which ultimately is going to result in destroying an elder care home, which is important to the plot), a couple of workers (Gary Beadle and Finlay Robinson, I think) crack open a tomb sealed in 1666 and unleash the zombie plague!
(Side note: This kind of hints at a more supernatural origin to zombies than we usually see in these movies, but it never really goes anywhere and it doesn't need to. I just thought it was kind of a cool start to the whole thing.)
Anyway, as the plague spreads, a pair of brothers, Terry (Hardiker) and Andy (Treadaway) are embarking upon a desperate plan to save their grandad Ray's (Ford) care home by robbing a bank. They recruit their idiot friend Davey (Doolan), their batshit insane acquaintance Mickey (Thomas), and their kick-ass cousin Katie (Ryan), take the bank, grab a bunch of cash, and get waylaid by the police...just as the Rise happens, and before they know what's going on they're trapped in an industrial yard with two hostages (King and Garnder).
Plot-wise, it's a fairly standard zombie movie. The zombies provide an obstacle that traps people in places so they can conflict with each other, though once Mickey dies the interpersonal conflict largely dies down and it really is about getting to Ray and saving him and the handful of other old folks that haven't been eaten. The gore and violence are nicely done, I'm sure some of it is CGI but none of it is egregious, and the humor mostly lands. The performances are fun, if a little shallow. Ray and Katie are far and away the most interesting characters, and I'm glad Mickey doesn't stick around to be the dick-in-residence for any longer than he does.
It's a little uneven - we get flashbacks establishing character traits for some folks (the brothers, Ray, Mickey, Davey) but not others (especially Katie, who is super-competent and I'd really love to know why she's such an amazing shot, because she takes headshots like it's nothing). Davey kinda goes out like a chump, shot by accident when one of the hostages gets tackled by zombies. They use the "there are zombies behind you." "Do you think I'm stupid?" CHOMP gag a little too often. But these are minor offenses, and it's exactly what it sets out to be - a fun horror comedy about the folks of East End getting overrun by zombies and fighting back to take care of each other, and that's something I can always get behind.
My Grade: B+
Rewatch Value: High
Next up: The Doctor & The Devils
No comments:
Post a Comment