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Movie Review by The Gravedigger
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06.10.04
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George Bonilla's zombie epic delivers the goods and provides some unique twists to the undead mythos.In the near future a diet drug is created to cash in on the low-carb diet craze-and it turns out to become the world's most consumed drug. But it has a horrible side-effect. Not only does it cause people to crave protein-it kills them and turns them into flesh-eating zombies.The United States has quickly fallen apart and the government lives in protected cities, guarded by the army. Everyone else is out on their own. In one Southern City two groups of live humans exist-the Dregs and the Upper Class. The Upper Class is really just a glorified gang of thugs, run by this jesus-looking guy named Adam, and they take advantage of the other group.Then, T.K. Kane comes into town. He's from the same mold as Snake Plisken, short on words, big on fighting. The main weapons he uses is a type of electric stun gun and a sword.You see, guns have been outlawed by the government, so the people can't rise up and take over their protected cities. If someone is caught with a gun or using an explosive device (which is monitored by satellite), they are killed. So the only way to fight the zombies is hand to hand. Anyways, T.K. joins the Dregs and antagonizes the Upper Class, who see him as a dangerous threat to their status quo.What I liked about the film was the sheer number of extras they had as gang members or zombies-I think there's two hundred people in the credits. Also, the makeup effects are decent, each zombie having their own 'look', from exaggerated green to the brown and decomposed look from DAY OF THE DEAD. And Frank Farhat as Kane has a good screen presence and is an effective anti-hero.The explanation of how the zombies came to take over the world is clever. And some of them are even able to speak, which threw me for a loop.What I didn't like was some of the dialogue, too awkward in places, particularly the lines for the primary woman character. Men are supposed to be fighting over her but I don't get it-the character is annoying, the actress just 'so so' and there are much better looking women in the movie. Come to think of it, my pet rabbit has a smaller overbite than this woman. It was the only casting decision that stood out like a rotted thumb.But these qualms aside, you should definitely check out this zombie epic. In fact, there's already a sequel in the works since there's still a story to be told. Check out www.zombieplanetmovie.com and also the interview with director George Bonilla that's on this site.
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Rating: 3.0 out of 10.0 - 1 vote cast total
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